If Mohanlal's performance in this film is anything to go by, then Vinayan will have to wait for ages before the superstars retire or before the producers stop approaching them for their new films.
Don't blame yourself if you end up thinking about 'Cellular', the Hollywood thriller starring Kim Basinger.
It's now time to get to the story. Mohanlal is Shivaraman, a once-brilliant advocate who now seems to be on a self-destructive mode. Almost al the time you're bound to find him in a highly intoxicated state. His clients had abandoned him a long time ago. But he has a very devout follower in Chaandy Kunhu, played by Jagadi Shreekumar. Whenever Shivaraman gets into one of his drunken brawls, it is Chaandy who rescues him.
Strangely, that doesn't diminish Shivaraman's public relation skills. After one particularly bad fight, he ends up becoming good buddies with three notorious rowdies in the area- Vadakkanchery Vakkan, Batherry Babu and Pattambi Ravi, played respectively by Spatikam George, Bheeman Raghu and Kirikadan Jose. Soon, they too join his gang of loyalists.
The reason why this once-hotshot advocate had hit the bottle is revealed later- he was in love with a girl named Priya. But, his father and brother weren't happy about it. They come up with a very cruel way of ending the relationship. They send a gang of henchmen to kill her. When Shivaraman finds out about it, he is devastated. That's when he becomes an alcoholic. Then one day, he receives a phone call on his mobile phone from a stranger named Parvathi. She reveals that she is the daughter of a local Marwari banker. On the phone she tells him that her life is in grave danger and begs him to rescue her. The phone call changes his life...
Parvathi is the daughter of Bada Bhai, the owner of a very successful bank. The bank is jointly owned by him and his brothers and relatives. They want to take control of the bank by killing Parvathi. When Shivaraman finds out that the threat is from her family, he takes her home and pretends to be her husband. Then begins the battle of wits and muscles with her greedy relatives. Slowly, Parvathi gets impressed by his brilliance and ends up falling in love with him.
Sometimes you might get a feeling that there are a bit too many dialogues but that is a very forgivable "crime". The story also looks like it was influenced by lots of films from India and abroad. But then, Mohanlal is a treat to watch as the drunkard advocate. The rest of the team supports him very well with the story and comedy timing.
Parvathy Melton, the US-based model who makes her Malayalam debut with this film looks gorgeous. She emotes well enough too. Technically, the film is neat. Frankly, the story didn't need technical wizardry either. But who needs distractions like technical wizardry in this beautifully woven story. Of course, there are instances where the film's pace slackens. But, that's very forgivable. Rafi-Mecartin have a good grip on the audience's pulse. It shows. Music is, well, nothing extraordinary. It doesn't distract you from the story. Everything has come together in just the right proportion to make this story work.
