Malayalam Movie Reviews

[Anu]

Sibi, Sidique, Priyadarshan, Mohanlal, Mamooty, Kalabhavan Mani, Dileep, Gopika, Navya, Manichithrathazhu, Kireedom..

Letz talk Malluwood :-)

[Anu]

Nandanam

The best feel-good movie I have seen in ages (agree, little too late - watching the movie almost 10 years after its release :-) ).
If you don't believe in God, you can stay away from this movie. It is a very light hearted movie with spiritual undercurrent. It has all my favorite actors in key roles: Prithviraj, Navya nair, Revathi, Kaviyoor Ponnamma.

The movie revolves around a servant maid Balamani played by Navya Nair who is a ardent devotee of Guruvayoorappa. Navya Nair has played the role with excellence - she transforms from cheerful bubbling young girl to strong girl who had been through lots of difficulty in life but still puts on a brave face, to shy & so-in-love girl, to very practical girl who knows the rules-of-life. All I can say is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. I can't think of anyone who could have done justice to that role.

Prithviraj, who is the landlady's grandson, falls in love with her almost instantaneously. Due to lack of a convincing reason for him to fall in love, everytime he flirts with Balamani, my cynic mind kept prompting that he is just exploiting an innocent maid girl. Having a crush on Prithvi, How could I think like that? But, knowing how convincing Prithviraj can portray negative and positive roles alike, one cannot blame me for thinking so.
On the other hand, within minutes, seeing how Balamani confronts the hero about his intentions makes you take a deep breath and trust that Balamani is not the kind who can easily be taken for a ride :-)
I loved the scene when he offers to dine with her, as she usually dines all alone at night, after her work. She pours her emotions and describes her life so far - it moves your heart.
And then again, when she expresses her anger to Guruvayoorappan and then after a while apologizes for having lost it! That was beautiful. The strength of the character is portrayed beautifully by showing the ease at which she bounces back from heartache and involves herself full-fledged in preparation/arrangements of hero's wedding to someother girl.

I mentioned about the spiritual undercurrent in the movie. I liked some of the dialogues by "Unni Krishna" like:
"Miracles are a must to instill faith when the trust is shaken"
"At times, little pain(heartaches) that are caused now, lead to bigger happiness tomorrow."
So, who is this "Unni Krishna" - you gotta watch the movie for that

The beauty of the movie lies in the fact that you dont have scheming villains, etc. Everything is circumstantial and people hurt themselves out of love and respect to one another.