Film: God for sale,
Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Anumol
Director: BABU JANARDHANAN
Things fall apart in Babu Janardhanan’s latest flick ‘God for Sale: Daivam Vilppanakku’. Though the title of the movie makes you believe that the film is about gods and god men, it turns out to be a stale drama of a man who searches for his own identity. Untimely mention of historical events, misusing the liberty of a writer, the monotonous monologue of the protagonist, dwarfing of some characters and wandering away from the crux are some of the unforgivable mistakes made by the creators of this movie.
The film opens with the arrest of Poornananda Swami (Kunchacko Boban) who is accused of child sacrifice. His story slowly unravels through him and his brother (Suraj Venjaramoodu). The story unwinds in Attingal village of the 1970s. Kamalasanan Pillai (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a tailor, meets a Swami in front of his tailor shop. Surprised by his prowess, he invites him to his house and starts an Ashram adjacent to his house. Days pass by and the Ashram starts drawing devotees. But then comes a twist in the tale, when Pillai is found dead under dubious circumstances.
From there, the plot shifts to 1990s. Prasannan (Kunchacko Boban), son of Kamalasanan Pillai, is now a hardworking daily wage labourer. Kamala (Jyothi Krishna), a mason like him was his lover. Without any cue and adding to the utter confusion of the audience, the backdrop changes and suddenly the protagonist is seen as a brilliant law student in a prominent college. Shoving his philosophy to the back burner, he turns out to be a zealous communist from an ardent RSS activist.
As time flies, he ties the knot with a woman from an affluent family. The marriage lands him in peril and leaves him an alcholic. His emotional downfall once again shakes his belief and from atheist he becomes an evangelist. Though not impressive the movie has more surprises thereafter.
Apart from a tricky title, the film lacks everything, most importantly a well carved script. In his avatar as a godman, Kunchacko Boban fails to make his mark. The regional dialect fails miserably and adds hardly any value to the film. The forward-backward narration style is not at all impressive. It is unfortunate that the director could not tap the potential of veteran actor Thilakan in the movie which was his last. His character Comrade Vareethu loses its significance in the overflow of unwanted incidents. When the movie concludes you will lament the other nice things which could have been done in 2 hours and 15 minutes you wasted on it.