A good thought for the day - Innathe Chinthaavishayam

Movie : Innathe Chinthaavishayam (Malayalam)
Credits:
Sathyan Anthikkad (Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Direction)
Antony Perumbavoor – Aashirwad Cinema (Production)
Ilayaraja (Music)
Azhagappan (Cinematography)

A good thought for the day
The first poster that appeared on the walls read “Vivahamochanathinu orungi nilkkunna 3 sthreekal, avarude naduvilekku Mohanlalum Meera Jasmin um” (Three women on the verge of a divorce, and Mohanlal and Meera Jasmine into their world) The director of this movie is Sathyan Anthikkad. With these two statements, you have almost guessed the complete storyline of the movie. You’re right - no twists, no turns, no surprises! Everything is predictable!

A voice-over by the director introduces us to 3 couples, who’re going through tough times. Dr. Murali (Mukesh) is a busy dentist, who hardly gets time for his family. Once he is back at home he gets frequent missed calls and messages on his phone. Tresa (Sukanya) is sure that her husband is a skirt chaser, and her interrogation makes him quit, leaving Treesa and their daughter Lakshmi (Baby Niranjana) at home.

Prameela’s (Mohini) family married her off to Peethambaran (Vijayaraghavan) seeing the good job he holds in the gulf! Once the charming Prameela enters his life, Peethambaran loses his interest in work, develops an inferiority complex that his wife looks better, which leads him suspect and closely follow her, cutting across her personal space. Suffocated; Prameela joins her dad’s home, taking her two kids along.

Rahna (Muthumani) an aspiring lawyer is married to the aristocratic Muslim family of Noushad (Ashokan), where a lady going for work is considered as a sin. As she raises her voice, her existence in the joint family is threatened, and she leaves the place.

The script literally points fingers at the guy’s attitude that leads to strains in families, which is quite annoying to think and digest – at least from a guy’s point of view J!
As it is the director’s voice over that states that all these three ladies are good friends from their college days, we have to believe this connection. Tresa joins a driving school as instructor, Prameela’s dad helps her put up a premium coffee shop and Rahna, starts her career with as a leading lawyer’s junior.

Gopakumar or GK (Mohanlal) wants to buy the house from Dr. Murali, which is occupied by Treesa and Lakshmi. The mediator for this deal is Immanuvel (You guessed it again – Innocent). GK is planning to start his garment exports business and is in bad need of a place to stay and work. Tresa objects moving out of the house, while her husband leaves it to GK to make her vacate with the help of police or a court case. GK is a man with a golden heart and he wants to settle problems the right way and sets off on a mission to re-unite the couple. He tries solving Tresa’s problems by approaching her best friends – Prameela and Rahna, only to understand that he has just seen the tip of the iceberg!

Soon, the ladies realize the goodness in GK and he becomes their ideal man, and a loving uncle for the kids. Naturally, all three ladies become possessive of GK’s support.

Nowadays, the heroine is busier shooting in other languages and she comes late. Enter a bubbly, witty and bold Kamaladevi (Meera Jasmine) as the fashion designer for GK exports, adding more agony and jealousy to the minds of the three ladies. As the three women start thinking how to get rid of Kamala, she joins GK and Immanuel for a special mission – Bringing each family under a single roof! There ends a racy, and soothing first half of Sathyan Anthikkad’s summer special!

The long drawn melodrama in the 2nd half of the movie tells whether GK, Kamala and Immanuel succeed in their mission. The heroine has to get some justification for her time. She can’t just be the hero’s secretary role and as is the ritual, the hero and heroine have to fall in love. Hence, the audience gets to enjoy a free offer – a ride to her village with the hero, one free song, and a totally disconnected flashback – which is unsolicited and unwarranted.

To talk about the other soaring aspects – (a) the script uses 3 accidents in the course of the movie. The script says it, we have it! A little more thought could have gone in, to look for better means to take the story forward. (b) Three songs don’t add any entertainment value to the movie. The picturisation looks like a carbon copy of the previous movie where the director and the lead pair worked together. Ilayaraja disappoints! – The only saving grace is “Kando, Kando Kakkakkuyile” well rendered by MG Sreekumar. (c) You can see one character at Prameela’s home who doesn’t have an identity - Rasmi Nambiar wasted in a role which does not have even a dialogue.

Talking about performances – Mohanlal is a visual treat! The chemistry that he exhibits with the co-stars is commendable. A scene worth special mention is where he directs little Lakshmi call her parents to the school for a patch up talk. Meera Jasmine has nothing much to do, but she has controlled her over acts. Innocent as Immanuel and Mammukkoya as Shajahan are comfortable at their usual forte. All the three couples have done their best; special mention to Muthumani who comes to the big screen from the theater.

A few people who make their presence felt – Baby Niranjana as Lakshmi, Kripa doing the role of Bhanumathi, Tresa’s servant girl with proper thrissur “slang and Vanitha in Meera Jasmine’s mother’s role.

The director’s finger print can be felt at a few places in the movie. Of most importance, he is coming up with a good message. The way he uses Immanuel’s family as a contrary to today’s nuclear world, the scene in which Tresa boldly traps her night caller, who is behind her for an extra-marital affair, and the message that kids get impacted when parents fight – which is the very reason why the hero sets off for this mission – are a few examples of good movie making. However, there are quite a few lose and unpolished ends for the movie.

The Verdict: Read that after seeing Keerthichakra, a soldier’s wife called up the director and the lead actor on phone and confessed that she understood how difficult her husband’s life was! It will be too much to expect something on those lines here; I don’t think any family is going to re-unite seeing this movie. This is a family entertainer – go with a light heart and lesser expectations to enjoy it.