Maadambi – Mohanlal, Kavya Madhavan, Jagathy, Sreenivasan, Siddhique
Director - B Unnikrishnan
Madambi is a typical Mohanlal-style caper which delivers what it promises- fun galore. Director by a debutante, B.Unnikrishnan, it is an unadulterated family entertainer in the truest sense. The movie never steps out of the realm of formula and religiously adheres to the principles of a superstar film. However, no ones complaining as it’s a good value for the money and that’s what matters these days.
The basic story is nothing new and has been conveniently lifted from various tearjerker Malayalam fares of the yore and a few Tamil village movies. However, credit to a large extent has to be given to Mohanlal, as the film works purely on the basis of his on-screen charisma. Even director Unni’s contribution is quite evident, as he ably utilizes Lal in all the aspects of a commercial cinema-comic, action and emotional scenes. The movie reiterates the fact for the umpteenth time that Malayalam cinema is all about M-power, Mohanlal and Mammootty.
The story is set in Ilavattom village in central Travancore's Pathanamthitta district against a Nair feudal backdrop. Mohanlal is Puthenveetil Gopalakrishna Pillai, a smart, shrewd, moneylender and local banker who only craves for money. Reason - a tragic past. His father (Sai Kumar), a patron of arts and temple festivals, blew up his entire wealth and was ditched by good friend Kurup (Sriraman), who usurps everything including his house.
After his father's death, Pillai at a young age takes over family reins, consisting of his mother (K.P.A.C Lalitha) who always curses him, and his brother Ramakrishna Pillai (Ajmal), who wants to be a movie star!
Pillai has a brief less lawyer Jagathy, the local 'Karayogam' president (Innocent) and a guy (Sooraj Venjaranmoodu) who sells foreign cosmetics to girls in his tutorial college as his friends.
Now enter the beautiful Jayalakshmi (Kavya Madhavan) to set up the Grand Bank which leads to a clash of interest between the two. Pillai's sworn enemies are- Kurup& Sons (Siddique, Vijayakumar, Kiran Raj), who use all dirty methods to trap him. At the same time Pillai's brother falls in love with Kurup's daughter (Malika Kapoor), creating further twist to the plot.
After marriage arranged by Pillai, things take a turn as the baddies get the support of his younger brother and they gang up to bring the hero down. How our hero emerges victorious against the evil designs of some unscrupulous characters, form the rest of plot. Though, no prizes for guessing that!!!
The first half is a fun fest, but the second half peters out to be a melancholic sojourn, with a contrived and clichéd climax. The rest of the cast in the film like Jagathy, Innocent, Siddique, Biju Pappan (the ham-handed cop), Gopakumar, Narayan Nair, K.P.A.C Lalitha, Sriraman and others simply hang around our protagonist to provide secondary support.
Sooraj Venjaranmoodu, the new comedian in Malayalam filmdom, is getting not only predictable but irritating as well with his self-styled humour.
Ajmal as the brother just passes muster; Malika Kapoor doesn’t have much to do and Kavya Madhavan is good in a miniscule role and, thankfully, not paired romantically with Mohanlal.
The music department of the film is handled well by M.Jayachandran and the number Kalyanakacheri… sung by Shankar Mahadevan is foot-tapping, while the other sentimental song by Yesudas Amma Mazhakarinu… makes you moist-eyed.
Special mention must be made about the fight sequences as well especially the one where Mohanlal makes good use of a moneylenders huge Thakkol Pootu as a knuckle duster. All stunts are efficiently orchestrated by the veteran Thyagarajan.
As said earlier, it’s basically a Mohanlal film all the way. He easily plays to the gallery and his negative character is laced with funny punch lines as well. Mohanlal is in top form and truly a delight for the audience.
Let hard-nosed critics be damned, this one would surely be lapped by Mohanlal fans!
