Ramante Edenthottam

Ranjith Sankar's 'Ramante Edenthottam' would have actually made excellent material for a 20-25 min short film. But the film runs for a good 2 hours to get its point across..'Happiness even in its mildest form, is steadily required for human beings to keep their sanity afloat'.

That said, the film is strictly performance-driven. Ranjith Sankar, as a director, has consistently been successful in extricating neat performances from his ensemble. 'Ramante Edenthottam', unlike its title is less about Raman (Kunchacko Boban) and his garden of Eden, and more about a woman's journey into rejuvenating and reinventing herself. Malini (a home-maker and mother, played by Anu Sithara) is brow- beaten on and off by her significant other Elvis (a film- producer, played by Joju) who is hell-bent on making a successful comeback into the industry after his films started flopping one after the other.

Elvis is an occasional womanizer and often too business-minded to provide the kind of attention that Malini seeks. Malini eventually finds solace in Raman and his foresty estate and looks forward to spending time at the spot every year, post her vivacious first visit. It is a kind of 'perfect getaway' for Malini, who craves a bit of genuine affection from the male gender and wishes her life was a lot better than it looked. Raman brings about a positive change in her, without complicating their relationship at any point, although things ultimately get out of hand owing to Elvis' heavy-handedness.

While the 'reinventing-the-self' part of the film is appreciable, certain other factors bog it down..such as the humor from Pisharady seldom triumphant in raising guffaws, the dead-weight cameo from Aju Varghese and the less impactful climax. The garden of Eden does have its simple yet exotic charm, captured beautifully by Madhu Neelakantan. Music by Bijibal ideally fits the film's milieu (although background score could have been better, especially during the climactic portions).

Verdict: Anu, Joju and the locales make it worth a viewing!

Absolutely loved this movie! Shows the evolution of a beautiful relationship. The movie exposes the hypocrisy and indifference inherently seen in many men, and their complete disregard for the feelings of the women in their lives. This is where the charming and sensitive Raman emerges as a breath of fresh air to the lovely and subservient Malini. The reason this movie didn't do too well at the box office is because many malayali men don't like to be told the truth about themselves. Kudos to Ranjith Shankar for making this film.

Ranjith Sankar is perhaps one of the most promising filmmakers of modern Malayalam cinema. Yet this romantic drama is his weakest.

Malini (Anu Sithara) is a young homemaker who is married to Elvis (Joju George), a philandering, alcoholic filmmaker who is almost bankrupt. One day, together with their family friends, Malini, Elvis and their daughter drive to a resort in Vagamon to spend some quality time. There she meets Raman (Kunchacko Boban), the pseudo-intellectual owner of the resort. It is Raman who gives Malini the strength to try new experiences, especially as a method to add happiness to her otherwise slavish life. Things go for a toss when both Raman and Malini get enchanted with each other...

The story is something that a four-year old can guess, yet the makers portray it as something philosophical. Philosophy and toothless, pretentious wisdom is primarily what Raman's character is woven with, which apparently has a certain impact on Malini's life and motivates her to take control of her life. The dash of romance in the middle is cringe-worthy, which makes the film annoying from the first sequence itself.

The only natural thing about the film is the resort (Vagamon Heights); rest everything is contrived and forced. Like the parts where Malini is left alone so that she can bond with Raman. How convenient! There are some cool conversations here, but other than that nothing much entertains in this film that primarily preaches the importance of self-centered hedonism and attributes it to natural causes.

Sankar's writing is below par, compared to his other recent screenplays. The sequences do not gel well with each other, nor do the subplots. Aju Varghese plays a character so shoddy that he wreaks havoc with the whole flow, even though it was already crooked. Viewers are going to be reminded of Bash Mohammed's 2015 film, "Lukka Chuppi" where couples meet up, exchange wits, and go back with hard truths about their own matrimonial lives in their hands. While that one was logical enough to be considered as one of the best of that year, Ramante Edenthottam does not even touch the sensible path.

Why is Raman attracted to Malini? Is it because she shares her name with someone who was close to him? Malini is vulnerable because of her patchy married life, but why does she change her stance all the time? The film pillars on these unanswered questions, ultimately giving its viewers naught.

The only real character here is that of Elvis, played wonderfully by George. This may be the story of every other household where verbal abuse is omnipresent and physical one just around the corner, thanks to the patriarchal attitude. Both Raman and Malini are faulty characters, not because they are brutally original, but because they are written shoddily. Boban is slightly annoying, thanks to his character. Sithara puts on an average show, and I'm personally not a fan. Both Pisharody and Varghese fail at comedy, resting the film on the secret love affair between the central characters.

Other than the exotic location, the song "Kavitha Ezhutthunnu", and George's performance, there is nothing worthy in this film. It starts and ends up as a huge disappointment, especially coming from talented people like Sankar and Boban.

BOTTOM LINE: Ranjith Sankar's "Ramante Edenthottam" has a very nice and appealing title, none of which can be found in the content. A huge disappointment.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

This movie is dealing with the issues which a majority of Indian couples are going on. Post marriage life becomes a totally routine exercise and the beautiful things in life is limited to children. The lead character in this movie, Malini ( yes . this is a heroine oriented movie )is living such a life . Just by coincidence he is meeting a Raman during a vacation trip to his Eden resort. As a friend he shares his life view point and that gives he a new mood to her and she re-starts her dancing career as dance teacher. The relation between Malini and Raman goes to a very deep level and next year also they meet at resort.

This movies goes against all conventional expectations for a climax. If you look at the sequences alone , it will not be an interesting movie. But if you can travel with the thoughts of Malini , which is very well portrayed by Anu Sithara This movie can be enjoyed in its full extend.

Raman played by Kunjako boban is also good , But lack of detailing of his emotions is a big minus . Joju as elvis also performed very well .

This movies should be watched for the novelty of its them and also for the fine location of Eden garden. But I think a conventional movie goer will not like this movie because of its slow pace. wish director should have made is little more pacy , so that it should have been liked by all . The three characters in the resort have no role to play and the scenes which they are there is not bringing laughter .

Overall Ranjith shankar deserve an applause in taking such a bold theme and making a movie by bringing the best out of lead actors.