How will a middle-aged Malayalam graduate survive in a big city as an insurance agent when he loses his first job at a publishing house? ‘Immanuel Daivam Nammodu Koode’ by Lal Jose probes a similar situation through the life of a lower middle class family headed by Immanuel (Mammootty), his wife Annie (Reenu Mathews) and son Robin (Gowri Shankar).
Though a simpleton and ignorant of the corporate dynamics, Immanuel’s ability to sell quickly manages him a job at a multinational insurance company headed by Jeevan Raj (Fahad fazil) where Gopinathan Nair (P Balachandran) and (Ramesh Pisharody) are his colleagues. He has to brace for many unpleasant situations, challenges and truths. He has to run with men much younger than himself for the survival and meets Jabbar, a weird millionaire (Nedumudi Venu), Khadeejumma (Sukumari), a victim of his company’s tactics in course of his journey as an insurance agent. He has to face it all; the cut-throat competition, unethical mode of business during his stint with the company and the film tells how he tackles them.
The director is one the few of his tribe in Malayalam who has made popular films sans superstars. So sky is the limit when he teams up again with the top star of the industry after the gap of a dozen films. This film gives a big relief to the star as he had hit a rough patch and it clearly cuts a chord with the audience unlike his last 12 endeavours. We had so many simple, rustic and innocent protagonists played by Mammootty himself. But most of them lacked intelligence to cope with the changing times. ‘Immanuel’ does not belong to that genre as he takes up the challenge of the new era. However, he keeps his basic virtue close to heart even at the cost of his job as it is not the end of his life.
It is very pleasant to watch Mammootty as a common man again while Fahad excels in his characteristic style as the tough, religious and ruthless manager.
Debutant A C Vijeesh offers a clean and crisp screenplay with sharp and witty dialogues. One among them is Immanuel’s exhortation to the comrade in Che Guevara T-shirt. There are some references to the challenges in the ‘NewGen era’ may be hinting at the industry itself.
He, along with the director, has managed to provide a fine balance between both the actor and the star in Mammootty. Though it lacks the usual ingredients of a super hero there is an overdose of virtue in the protagonist. The songs move closely with the background score and the music by Afsal Yousaf and lyrics by Rafeeq Ahmed have really blended into this. Pradeep Nair’s frames suit the mood and Ranjan Abraham has kept the pace well.
‘Immanuel’ evokes a positive mood in a poignant manner and Lal Jose is sitting pretty on the track which he found with the recent flicks like ‘Diamond Necklace’ and ‘Ayalum Njanum Thammil.’
