Producer– Santhosh Sivan, Shaji Nadesan, Prithviraj Sukumaran
Director– Ranjith
Cast– Mammootty, Alisha Mohammed, P Balachandran, Nedumudi Venu, Shekhar Menon, Meera Nandan, Nandu etc.
Music– Shahbaz Aman
Music by: Shahabas Aman
Review By : Unni R Nair (Kerala9.com )
Well, Ranjith’s ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ is not an utter disappointment as some reviewers are pointing out. At the same time, it’s not as interesting and good as Ranjith’s other films. There are flaws in the script that may prompt you to let out a yawn somewhere in between and even feel like being cheated on the content side. Yes, Ranjith’s ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ is not that bad a film, but it’s not that good either. Neither here nor there, you may say. But honestly speaking, I found the movie much more interesting than most of those ‘formulaic’ films that get made these days in Malayalam in the name of ‘new generation cinema’. (Hey, I didn’t mean all, I just said most!).
The problem with ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ is the script. The premise on which it all stands is not that weak, but when work started on building up the final edifice of the movie, it all went wrong.
Mathew Johan aka Mathukutty (Mammootty), who lives in Germany, has come to Kerala to invite some film-stars to attend a show in Germany. He is to try and get the consent of stars like Mohanlal or Dileep to attend the function. Mathukutty, who lives in Germany with his wife Jansamma (Muthumani) and their two children, is happy not just because he has got a chance to visit his favourite stars but also because he could visit his native town Plankamon and spend some time with friends and near ones. From the moment he lands up in Kerala, he is accompanied by a group of his close aides.
While on the one hand Mathukutty meets film-stars, on the other hand he goes and meets people who matter the most to him, in Plankamon. This list includes the retired teacher and Gandhian Thomas (Nedumudi Venu), whose son Solomon (‘Da Thadiya’ fame Shekhar Menon) is always by Mathukutty’s side; his former lover Rosie (Alisha Mohammed) and others. Rosie’s elder brother Kochunni (P.Balachandran), who has been a close friend of Mathukutty, now holds a grudge on him as Mathukutty had ‘cheated’ Rosie by dumping her for the rich NRI Jansamma (Well, Mathukutty was in fact forced to marry Jansamma and Rosie, who still remains unmarried, has nothing against him for that), is all set to go after him with his licensed gun…At one point, Kochunni aims his gun at Mathukutty and fires a shot. From here the story takes a twist…
As I said, the premise is not uninteresting. The characters are interesting, the basic premise is interesting, but somewhere down the line, not much after the start of it all, things go out of control and the final outcome of it is that we feel like having seen a movie which has nothing much to say by way of the story-line and we also get the feel that we have seen it all before. Yes, that’s it. There is nothing much to say in ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ and what all is said has been said many times before, in many films that we have seen in recent years. The characters too have this quality; we’ve met them before… There are places where we feel bored, as things move a bit too slow. And the film ends when we least expect it to… Well, I won’t say I didn’t like the way it ends; I did like it, but maybe it could have been a bit more well-pronounced and emphatic. As of now it doesn’t make much of an impact and youngsters (mostly those fed on the so-called ‘new-generation’ stuff) just can’t stand it. The very last utterances in the film were lost in the loud boos of these youngsters and that’s something I wouldn’t expect from a Ranjith film.
Anyhow, despite flaws and shortcomings, I did like ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’. There is an element of goodness in it, an emphasis on values that most films these days forget to emphasize on. There is sarcasm and satire in the film, though it comes sans the much-needed punch. I won’t say that I didn’t like the film. I did like it, to an extent; but I definitely would have loved it greatly had it been packaged better. The present version is OK if it were some other director, but from Ranjith we expect something better, much much better. In that sense, the reviewers and viewers who are disappointed are justified too…
That, in a nutshell, is what ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ is- neither here, nor there; neither too bad, nor too good; neither enjoyable, nor detestable… But, still I liked it, to an extent at least. You have the liberty to dislike it as well!!!
Performance
Mammootty does a good job, as Mathukutty. For an accomplished performer like him, the character of Mathukutty offers no big challenge and he does full justice to the role. Alisha Mohammed has nothing outstanding to do, but does her part convincingly. Nandu, Siddique, Suresh Krishna etc suit their roles well, but don’t make much of an impact. Nedumudi Venu is apt as the retired teacher and Gandhian, Thomas. Tini Tom impresses as Vidyadharan, the local cable channel operator. Harisri Ashokan, whose character Rafi appears post interval, is also good. Muthumani is good too. Shekhar Menon and Meera Nandan have nothing much to do.
Technical aspects
Madhu Neelakantan’s cinematography is in tune with the subject and the mood. I don’t have anything negative to say about the technical aspects.
Music
Shahbaz Aman’s music is a highlight of the film. Ranjith’s fascination for old-time Hindi songs has always been notable. Be it ‘Kabhi Kabhi…’ in ‘Mayamayooram’ (for which he wrote the script) or ‘Jalte hai jiske Liye…’ in his own directorial venture ‘Kaiyyoppu’- such songs have often been the highlight of his films. This time he comes up with another such number, “Badi door se aaye hai…”, the immortal Mohammed Rafi song from ‘Samjhauta’. The song however is not familiar among the new generation film viewers in Kerala and hence I was not surprised to hear disgruntled murmurs and booing when the song sequence came up. And I should say, to a die-hard Rafi fan like me, the song was no big treat either. Other than the lines and the tune, there was nothing much in the ‘Mathukutty…” song that resembled the Rafi song…
Script
It’s Ranjith the script-writer who goes wrong this time. He could have packaged it all a bit differently. The sequences could have been planned in a different and better manner and the way the subject was narrated could of course have been much, much better.
Direction
Ranjith the director is in control, but with the script that he himself wrote and which had too many loose ends as the basic foundation of the movie, it was not all destined to work out well . Though I liked the film, I should say that it should have been much much better. I should agree that ‘Kadal Kadannu Oru Mathukutty’ won’t stay in our memories for long…
Verdict– Not too bad, not too good. Watch it for the element of goodness in it…
Rating: 2.5/5