#Mohanlal – Gopal's views

Malaikottai Valiban, an orphan wrestler succeeds in every battle he gets involved in. But, he gets into a bigger conflict where either he or the opponent will survive after the battle. Watch the movie to know more about the journey of Valiban.

This movie takes us to an unknown place where Valiban arrives to begin battle with the best wrestler known in that village. Valiban’s brother and master gives more than enough buildup for the character. PS Rafique adds different stories to the core plot, narrated via different characters and he weaves them to the life of Valiban. When Valiban finishes his mission, audience may feel that’s the end. But the conflict around Valiban’s brother and twist take this movie to the next level. LJP uses slo-mo shots and few mass elements to give unique watch experience. Special mention to the sound department and the usage of red and yellow colors often in this movie. Prasanth Pillai’s foot taping worthy score (Especially flute and drums portions) is undoubtedly the second hero in this movie and that itself deserve a big screen watch. Rak Rak song was just there to increase length. Other songs suited the situation better. Some of the dialogues were notable (For instance: Valiban tells as voiceover like ‘Balam Kond mathram nedan kazhiyatha chilath und’).

Mohanlal was effortless as Valiban with unbelievable physique. In a scene where a bed-ridden man narrates his past, emotion in Valiban’s eyes was enough to portray the trauma of that character. Though his broken Malayalam was terrible in the context, Danish Sait was believable as the venomous Chamathakan. Hareesh peradi’s Ayannar is yet another memorable character that gains a different dimension towards the end. Hope second part (If it happens) explores more of the character. Other characters don’t have that much scope to perform.

Amidst the merits, few drawbacks stop this movie from reaching the usual LJP standard. Initially, PS Rafique directly gets into the battle without giving proper explanation regarding the context (Especially for the Portuguese war). That minimizes the emotional connect overall.

Malaikottai Valiban may not be the best or worst LJP creation or a torture as many viewers try to degrade. It is a commendable attempt in creating a different style of action cum fantasy desi-hero fairy tale, which is very uncommon at least in Malayalam movies. This movie is worth a watch on big screen for LJP fans. Others may feel like it’s not their cup of tea.

Sara, a skilled sculpture artist who fight against Micheal, son of a Mumbai based business tycoon after she files a rape case. Did she manage to get justice?. Neru sheds light onto this case.

In Drishyam franchise, Jeethu Joseph narrates a story where a normal family had to fight justice against accused with power and money. (There are few Drishyam references in this movie too). Here, he places a similar backdrop but approach is contradictory.
Protagonist is an underconfident advocate who feels he doesn’t have the fire to fight because he was away from practise for years. Writer duo Jeethu and Santhi managed to add a believable backstory regarding his past.

The most impressive part in court proceedings is how protagonist approaches the case. Even though there is enough scope for personal revenge, protagonist never takes that into priority. He even says ,”Even if I fails, victim should not”. Jeethu knew about the lack of twists and turns like Drishyam or Memories. He laid focus on making the narration more engrossing and he succeeded in it. For instance: Main witnesses interrogation portions and scene where protagonist validates the genuity of a pivotal evidence.

Though bit too loud towards the end, background score was so effective in portraying the ruthlessness of the antagonist and defense lawyer. Cuts were pretty fine though certain scenes involving Shanthi’s character should have been trimmed. Roohe song sung by Karthik was soothing to hear, especially when end title started rolling.

It’s always a pleasure to watch Lalettan in full flow as the lawyer reluctantly restarting his job and later executing his plan to prove the truth. Look out for his magic in the scenes where he first meets the victim and later stands with wet eyes towards the end. Answara is the real surprise show stealer as the blind victim. She was just stunning with her reactions, be it panic, helplessness or taking her strong stand (Especially regarding consent). Though Jagadeesh had limited screen space, he too did notably well. Negative character is just bread and butter for Sidhique and he was outstanding in court scenes. Writer duo gave enough build up regarding the professionalism of his character and his menacing performance did live up to the buildup.

The main negative was the placement of a main twist regarding the identification of accused. If that twist was introduced in the beginning of court scenes, case would have been closed by then. I expected Jeethu to treat court scenes in more realistic way, mainly because lawyer Santhi is also part of writing. But Jeethu took bit of cinematic liberty in narration.
If the viewer expectation is set as an emotional courtroom drama and not another Drishyam, this movie is surely worth a watch.