Director- V.K.Prakash
Cast- Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya, Mithra Kurian etc.
Music- Manu Ramesan
Lyrics- S.Rameshan Nair, Simon Paluvai
Cinematography- Fowzia Fathima
Story, Screenplay, dialogues- Rajesh.Y.V
Review by : Unni / www.Kerala9.com
V.K.Prakash, who is also a leading ad filmmaker, has given us films of all shades-the rather off beat ‘Freaky Chakra’ and ‘Punaradhivaasam’, the romantic ‘Mullavalliyum Thenmaavum’, the action flick ‘Police’ and the horror movie ‘Moonnamathoraal’. And now, VKP (as he is known in film and ad circuits) tries the comedy mode too. Whether he comes out successful or not is of course the big question. The answer tends to be more in the negative; and a very notable thing is that, for reasons known only to him and the scenarist Rajesh.Y.V, the film moves on the lines of the Abhishekh Bachchan-Ritesh Deshmukh-Nana Patekar starrer ‘Bluffmaster’ towards the end.
Ravi Varma (Kunchacko Boban), whose father (Nedumudi Venu) is arrested and remanded to judicial custody after being falsely implicated in a case of fraud, decides to make money by hook or crook, so that he can get his father out. It’s then that a guy (Salim Kumar) inspires him to make quick money by conning people. And in his very first attempt, Ravi is caught red-handed, but it’s then that Jerry (Jayasurya) comes to his rescue. Jerry rescues Ravi very cleverly and eventually Ravi learns that Jerry is an expert in the con game. He decides to learn the tricks of the trade from him. Ravi manages to persuade Jerry to take him in, as sort of an apprentice. Soon they are a team and Jerry introduces Ravi at many places as his ‘partner’. It’s in the meantime that they get to try their hand at something big. A rich NRI Harish Abdul Rahman (Devan), who is on a visit to Kerala, becomes their target. Their plan is to sell off to him the copy of a Raja Ravi Varma painting and earn a fortune. It’s not a very easy job. Firstly it’s not that easy to get to meet Harish Abdul Rahman. Secondly, they have to be careful enough so that Harish Abdul Rahman doesn’t discover that the painting is only a copy and not the original. And thirdly, Jerry’s sister Sera (Mithra Kurian), who works in the hotel where Harish Abdul Rahman is staying, doesn’t like her brother and wouldn’t even let Jerry enter the premises of the hotel. What follows forms the rest of the plot.
Well, the plot is not that bad. But the treatment, especially in the first half, has nothing much to speak about. The film moves on just like any of those many comedy flicks that get released and sink without a trace. The bunch of foolish cops, led by Suraaj Venjaramoodu, seems to be a bit too much, though some of the scenes filmed on them would elicit a laugh or two. (Suraaj’s character reminds one of the character Jagathy Sreekumar played so brilliantly about two decades back in the Viji Thampy film ‘Nagarangalil Chennu Raapaarkkaam’, which however was far better). So, there is nothing much to speak about in the first half of the movie. And in the post-interval section too, there is nothing much either. But of course the scene where Harish Abdul Rahman tells Jerry in the face that if he is to buy the painting, Jerry should persuade Sera to come to his room at night with the painting and the scenes that follow are different and impressive too. The way Jerry behaves may of course be much different from what out stereotyped hero would do and Jayasurya has delivered a good performance in these scenes too. VKP needs to be appreciated for daring to try such a bold thing, but our audience (some of them even tend to boo at these scenes in particular) won’t accept such a character and that would definitely go against ‘Gulumaal’. In total the ‘Bluffmaster’-inspired ‘Gulumaal’ has too many loose ends to it and fails to impress on the whole.
Performances
Jayasurya as Jerry has done a good job while Kunchacko Boban as Ravi Varma is his very usual self and is OK. Mithra Kurian is good as Sera. The rest of the characters are all just OK about their respective roles.
Technical aspects
VKP being one of the most techno-savvy of film makers, we’d expect much of technical brilliance out of his films and would mostly tend to expect frames akin to those of ad-films, which he has been delivering in the song sequences of his many films. But this time, VKP seems to have been more engrossed in giving us a laugh riot. The technical aspects are good, but there is nothing outstanding to mention about them.
Music
The background score jells with the mood of the film, but the songs don’t impress much.
Script
There is nothing much to speak about the script. The film could have been much better and even a real big hit, had it been scripted in a better way, it seems.
Direction
V.K.Prakash, who knows his job well, seems to have done ‘Gulumaal’ in a rather callous manner. He could have crafted it in a much better manner and then the film would have turned out to be much better, as an entertainer.
Overall verdict- Goes off the track! Fails to entertain!
Rating: 2/5
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