Lal Salam

Lal salam is one of the many classics of the golden era of malayalam films between 1985 to 1995. Among this Lal salam stands out because of its political genre.

Lal Salam is loosely based on the real life story of Thomas Vaidyan , Gowri Amma and Thomas Vaidyan. It tells the story of the transition of Communist from being banned outlaws to the corridors of power. D K (Murali), Nettooran(Lal) and Saidu( Geetha) are leaders of the communist movement in Central Kerala. Nettooran is also in love with Anamma(Uravashi) daughter of a landlord Madhu.The communists are banned and in the process of strengthening among workers.

Performances : Lalettan as Nettur Stephen has delivered a masterclass performance. Murali, Geetha and Uravashi also show their class. Murali in particular has got one of the best roles in his career as D K. Murali and Lalettan together carry this movie.

The movie shows the transformation of the communist movement and the setting of the rot of power in the party.

Must watch

Lal salam has everything a good movie should have.. great story, good direction and an impeccable cast. Mohanlal, Murali, Urvasi , Nedumudi Venu etc . From the protagonists, to even a small role, each character was well developed and protrayed on screen. First half of movie took time to establish the characters , their relations and their involvement in the communist party formation and strengthening in the state. Second half compensates the drag with a well knit plot line, fiery dialogues and careful yet fast paced direction. Beyond the mask of communist party and the politics involved, this movie is held upright by the friendship between the two leads- brilliantly portrayed by Mohanlal and Murali. Even though it is almost 3hours long, the movie does engage the audience really well with the only shortcoming being the climax, where we are left craving for more of the story, rather history. Even though there are umpteen movies based on communist party- some glorifying, some criticizing, and some using it for publicity- only a few manages to hit the heart of the viewers, and this tops them all. To understand the value of this movie, one has to simply guide their gaze to the other films revolving around same subject- Communism. Slow motion sequences, unwanted fights with the cops, protesting against ruling party, threatening the rivals and claiming "feeding the unfed is communism" doesn't make a communist or a communist movie. This movie, holds up the fundamental principles of the party, even when the party members and leaders in real world, fails to acknowledge or even understand them.

Lal Salam is a very haphazardly directed movie. The first half is extremely drawn out and boring, with fervent and unnecessary flashbacks. The movie picks up pace only after the characters' hairs start graying out. It then becomes a treat to watch, with some terrific dialogue scenes, with Mohanlal especially standing out. He pretty much owns the movie. And then you cannot help but feel disappointed, with such a contrived ending. A movie with great potential is dragged down by bad direction and an overall bad plot line (of course excluding the great parts in the second half). I'd still rewatch it for those few classic scenes though.