Kamal is one of those rare ‘veteran directors in Malayalam cinema who has survived the test of times.While most of his contemporaries faded into oblivion by the late nineties, Kamal was successful in delivering youthful entertainers.He gave us a Jane Tu…..almost a decade ago,(his ‘Niram’, which was released in 2000 had a story line which was much similar to the recent Imran-Genelia starrer ‘Jane tu…..) an equally entertaining Nammal, ,Ayushkalam,Peruvannapurathe visheshangal and a dozen other films in the past.But of- late, kamal seems to be disinterested in his work which is quite evident from his recent flicks,be it ‘Goal’ or the Latest ‘Minnaminnikootam’. Kamal has certainly lost his magic touch.
I don’t have absolutely anything against mindless entertainers.After all, cinema is an escapist fare and as long as they manage to entertain the audience it doesn’t matter how good or bad the story is..But what will you do if a movie (which is scripted and directed by one of the cinematic geniuses whom you admire the most) is at the same time mindless and fails to entertain you? That is exactly what Minnaminnikootam is.It is such a trash that makes you cringe to your seat and put you in deep slumber!
Minnaminnikootam starts the ‘classmates’ way,goes to the flash back mode and then comes to the present in the climax scene.Ya…right from the beginning it sounds clichéd no?This is the main flaw of Minnaminni.. it is clichéd,predictable and except for a few gags from Jayasurya and Roma is plain boring. Kamal’s intentions are clear,to make a movie about a group of friends who are I.T.professionals (who quite often behave like teenage boys and girls, and their main job is to sit and chat in the Office ‘Canteen during working hours!) and their woes in life.But what Kamal lacks is a strong story line which keeps the viewers hooked to the movie.
Coming to the performances…The movie has a dozen of stars from the youth brigade though the story revolves round the lead pair of Narein and Meera which infact is the biggest blow as far as the audience is concerned!While the supporting cast of Jayasurya,Roma,Indrajith,Samvrutha have done their roles effectively both Meera and Narein seems to be miscast in their respective roles.Narein lacks screen presence ,his acting is pretty bad (at times amateurish, esp in the ‘drunken’ scene!).Meera’s role is nothing but an extension of what she did in Vinodayathra,Calcutta News and a dozen of other recent films.She over emotes at times and becomes irritating often..Anoop Chandran and Radhika have nothing much to do except to look pretty in the posters designed for the movie!
The songs by Biji Bal and Anil Panachooran is a big let down.Technically also the movie is weak.Cinamatography by Manoj Pillai is just ordinary.
Bottom Line: This Minnaminni is not worth your time and Money!
Reviewed by nikhimenon@gmail.com
