Sci-fi has never been Malayalam cinema's forte and previous efforts in the genre have largely been half-baked. Android Kunjappan is probably one of the most hard-hitting sci-fi entries in Indian cinema, and for that effort, writer-director Ratheesh Poduval deserves applause. The all-too-ghastly opening scene gives hints of a sci-fi spectacle. But in a jiffy, it cuts away to a by-now-familiar village setting in Kerala. The scene introducing Bhaskaran (played by a nuanced Suraj Venjaramoodu) and his notoriously grumpy attitude is terrific. It's a post-death-ritual scene laced with plenty of humour and it showcases
Bhaskaran's shades sufficiently well.
Subramanian is the son of Bhaskaran who hasn't made it big in life largely because he was forced to be around his ageing, needy dad. When the opportunity to take up a job in Russia pops up, he tries to pull off every trick in the book to ensure that he gets out of the small-town life and from the clutches of his dad. But his miseries don't end even while he's away in a different continent. Home-nurses leave as quickly as they arrive, citing Bhaskaran's tough-to-deal-with attitude. This is where the adorable Android (a prototype-project that Subramanian's employer is working on) superficially enters the life of Bhaskaran as a helping hand.
While the intentions of the writer/director are genuine, how the way-too-old-fashioned Bhaskaran takes to the robot's growing presence in his life isn't portrayed properly. It feels more like a storyline contrivance that the writer does not want to address. The film asks its viewers to conveniently accept this because the scenes revolving around the idea are supremely entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud funny. It also helps that the humour is always situational and the lead characters are handled by actors such as Suraj and Soubin.
The film is tonally all over the place. While it poses contemporary and relevant ideas, it also appears slightly regressive in its approach on very few occasions. That said, the bigger theme that the writer is trying to convey is of the sense of belonging that human nature comes packaged with and that every human being (however their outlook towards life maybe) long for care, affection, and attention. The point is not completely driven home through that detached finale though. This may also be the reason why the scenes in Payyanur can connect better with the audience than the ones that play out in Russia.
The Russia sequences also feature a romantic development between Subramani and Hitomi (a half Malayali, half Japanese engineer and Subramanian's colleague) which aren't the film's most convincing stretches. But Kendy Zirdo does amp up the cuteness quotient of the already-cute flick (thanks to the appearance and mannerisms of the actual robot). Android Kunjappan's strong points also include the humour-filled dialogues/one-liners that writer/director Ratheesh Poduval offers to the supporting (fellow-villager) characters played by Saiju Kurup, Rajesh Madhavan, Unni Raja, Sivadas Kannur, Maala Parvathi, and many more.
The film is very E.T-like in its approach. An unfamiliar entity landing in a regular neighbourhood and the impact it has on certain people - that's the core of Android Kunjappan as well. It does go the route of Joaquin Phoenix's Her for a bit, but thanks to the more-humour-and-less-depressing-philosophy treatment of the script, the film stays afloat. It's the little things that work in favour of Android Kunjappan and that's a fair reason to give it your time!
