'Manikyakallu' (Malayalam, Comedy)
Director: M Mohanan
Cast: Prithviraj, Samvrutha Sunil
A government school that has a notorious history of 100 percent failure in SSLC examinations is on the verge of being shut down. Everybody, the teachers as well as the parents and the locals, have lost all their hope of an improvement in the condition of this school.
Into this crisis situation walks in a young teacher, Vinayachandran, who has actually sought a transfer to the school.
And with this, a perfect stage is set for director M Mohanan to unfold a melodrama, ornamented with natural humour and a pinch of nostalgia. The director, who also penned the script, has succeeded partially in his efforts. And the result – the movie which could have been an excellent venture ended up as another average flick.
Mohanan had marked a promising debut with the well-received ‘Katha Parayumbol’, the story which revolved around the friendship between a superstar and a barber. It seems that the ghost of his first movie is still haunting the director as the influence of ‘Katha Parayumbol’ is evident in many parts of this movie.
The background score by M Jayachandran and the shots by P Sukumar too remind us of the friendship between Superstar Ashokraj and Barber Balan and Kadha Parayumbol in many scenes.
Typical Sreenivasan characters are plenty in this movie. Chandni, a PT Teacher – who is a miserly character portrayed by Samvrutha Sunil - being one such.
But the biggest surprise comes in the form of Nedumudi Venu as the headmaster, which very much resembles the role that he portrayed in ‘Doore Doore Oru Koodu Kootttam’. Nedumudi played the role of a headmaster of a school in a dilapidated condition in ‘Doore Doore Oru Koodu Koottam’.
If that headmaster spent most of his time in farming and activities other than looking after the affairs of the school, in Manikyakallu, he sells manure and is nicknamed ‘Factomfos’. Salimkumar’s ‘Thampuran’ is clichéd. Likewise is the teashop owner portrayed by Indrans.
Actor Prithviraj, however, has done justice to his role as Vinayachandran. Vannanmala LP School and Vinayachandran Master would have been an unforgettable experience if the direction and the script had been a little tighter. Yet, even with several loose-ends, the movie is a breather and stands out among the so-called “Mass masala entertainers”.