Producer– R. Karunamurthi, V Balachandran, Latha Kurien Rajeev
Director- T K Rajeev Kumar
Cast- Indrajith, Meghna Raj, Ganesh Kumar, Prathap Pothan, Baiju, Remya Nambeeshan, Nandu, Shruthi Menon, Rajat Menon etc.
Music– M Jayachandran
Background Score– Prashanth Murali
Review By : Unni R Nair (Kerala9.com )
‘Chanakyan’- I still love watching the movie; ‘Pavithram’- I’ve watched at least 3 or 4 times and may fain watch it again; ‘Kannezhuthi Pottumthottu’- there are things that I liked about the film; ‘Shesham’- I had discussed the film at a seminar for school students; ‘Ivar’- Hmm…passable fare…These, among films directed by T K Rajeev Kumar, are worth remembering, in one way or the other. But now, coming to the director’s latest offering, ‘Up & Down- Mukalil Oralundu’, which, to be frank, didn’t bore me, I’d say I won’t remember the movie for long. I watched it, with sort of child-like curiosity, wanting to know how the suspense would end; and when it ended, I walked out of the theatre and in a couple of hours the film was sort of forgotten. I realized that sans the suspense, the film was OK, for a one-time watch. The performances are not bad, the suspense element is there, the lift element is well worked-out… but there is something amiss, something vital that’s amiss. You don’t get the edge-of-the-seat feel and you don’t remember performances that are striking. In short, ‘Up & Down, Mukalil Oralundu’ is just an OK kind of film, which you may watch for the lift sequences.
Thampuran (Indrajith) is a lift operator in a high-rise multi-storeyed apartment building. As the inhabitants of the building get ready for their anniversary celebrations, nine people- including the City Police Commissioner Siyad Muhammed (Ganesh Kumar), who is the chief guest at the function, get stranded on a lift that’s stuck half way. We understand that this is an usual thing with the lift in the building. But since the City Police Commissioner too is inside it and the lift gets stuck for longer than is usual, it’s not to be taken lightly. Those stuck inside the lift include Edathil Govindan Nair (Prathap Pothan), a well known writer who is an alcoholic too; Cherian (Nandu), who is acting as Gandhi in a play to enacted that day and which is written by Edathil Govindan Nair; Sooraj (Rajat Menon), who is playing Godse in the same play and who is also the secretary of the association of residents in the building; Sam Christy (Baiju), the owner of the building; Prasanna (Remya Nambeeshan), Sam’s wife and danseuse and Mitra (Shruthi Menon), Sooraj’s sweetheart. These seven people plus the Police Commissioner and Thampuran and a little child who is with Thampuran are left stranded inside the lift for a long time. The lift mechanic (Kochupreman), all drunk, tries his best to work things out and later declares that things may go wrong and end up in a disaster. In the meanwhile the lift starts moving down at great speed and then halts all of a sudden; the overhead fan falls off and reveals a dead body- that of a woman (Meghna Raj), who had walked into the apartment the previous night. She is a high-class call girl and is also a frequent visitor to the apartment building, ‘catering’ to many people there. The kid who is with Thampuran in the lift is hers.
So, that’s it. Nine people stuck inside the lift and one dead body. The Police Commissioner declares that by the time he comes out of the lift, he would have found and arrested the murderer. What follows forms the rest of the plot…
Sounds interesting, isn’t it? But something goes wrong with the treatment. The pace slackens off somewhere maybe. The suspense is not that BIG a suspense; you seem to be cleverer than the Police Commissioner and find out the culprit much before than him. There is something cold about the happenings that makes it just an OK kind of movie. I felt that, if handled in a different manner, it would have made for a real racy, edge-of-the-seat thriller. As of now, ‘Up & Down, Mukalil Oralundu’ is OK for a thriller and can be watched once, maybe without getting bored. That’s all…
Performance
Indrajith is good and does justice to his role, but he doesn’t have much to do. Meghna is good too. The rest of the cast do justice to their roles. Nandu seems to be getting sort of typecast these days, especially regarding his mannerisms. Prathap Pothan, the veteran who had bowled us over with his performance recently in ‘Ayaalum Njaanum Thammil’, seems to be overdoing it a bit. There is no single actor in the film who could be called exceptional as regards performance. Meghna Raj is the only one worth mentioning; in a way it’s her film. But even her role could have been worked out better. Perhaps it’s the writer and the director who should have worked that out…
Technical aspects
The lift part (since most of the action takes place in and around a lift) is handled deftly, thanks to the art-director Mohandas and editor Ajith Kumar. But it could definitely have been slicker. Jomon Thomas lends able support with his camerawork.
Music
Rajeev Kumar has introduced a new composer in Prashanth Murali, who has scored the background score. His work is OK. Let’s hope he stays and gives us better musical compositions in the years to come…
Script
Something is wrong with the script, I should say. The characters could have been worked out better, the sequences could have been conceived differently and then the film would have been pacier and better…
Direction
T K Rajeev Kumar has of course delivered a film that’s better than his last one, ‘Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty’; but once again he has committed the same sin- i.e., base his film on a half-baked script. Had the script been better (it of course is the director’s job to make sure the script is good), the film would have been a thriller worth remembering. I think I’d prefer to watch ‘Chanakyan’, Rajeev Kumar’s debut venture a couple of times more than watch ‘Up & Down…’ once again…. Sorry to say that!!
Verdict- OK for one-time watch; the edge-of-the-seat element is amiss
Rating: 2/5