Packed with Style - Big B - Malayalam Movie Review

Movie : BigB (Malayalam)
Credits:
Amal Neerad : Story, Direction
Amal Neerad - Unni R : Screenplay
Shahul Hameed, Anto Joseph : Producers
Alphonse Joseph : Music
Jophi Tharakan, Santhosh Varma : Lyrics
Joseph Nellickal : Art direction

Cast: Mammootty, Manoj K Jayan, Bala, Sumit Naval, Innocent, Vijayaraghavan, Manianpilla Raju, Mamta, Nafiza Ali, Pasupathy, Manasa, Lena.

Packed with Style!
Amal Neerad, came to Mollywood, as the cinematographer for the movie “Black”(that starred Mammotty). Having cranked the camera for many gangster movies by Ram Gopal Varma, Amal makes an attempt of the RGV lines through “Big B” – his first ever directorial venture.

Mary John Kurishinkal (a.k.a. Mary Teacher – played by Nafiza Ali) is brutally murdered on the streets of Kochi, during a Christmas eve. That sets off the movie – Big B. Mary teacher had been instrumental in rehabilitating many orphans and had devoted her life for social and charity initiatives. Teacher’s death makes her foster children re-unite - Bilal (Mammotty), Eddie (Manoj K Jayan), Murugan (Bala) and Bijo (Sumit Naval). From the flashback, we realise that once Mary teacher had asked Bilal to move out of the house, following his involvement in a stabbing incident. Eddie runs his restaurant and lives with his wife Celina (Lena) and two daughters. Murugan is a stunt master for movies and is in love with Rimi (Mamta), while Bijo is still studying. What follows is an investigation by Bilal & Co. to find out the reasons for their mother’s death. The police – led by ACP Balaji Sakthivel (Pasupathi) and C.I George (Vijayaraghavan) - also probe the issue. As their hunt for the culprits continue Bilal makes some surprising revelations.

That was just the storyline of the movie, which per say has nothing great to offer, apart from a rather quick and unexpected climax, that is well rendered. What makes the movie different is a classic packaging done for the whole plot. The technical quality of the movie – be it the styling done to the characters, cinematography (Sameer Thahir) or editing (Vivek Harshan) – are superior. A couple of scenes that deserve a special mention are: Bilal’s past as a mafia body guard in Mumbai, the explosion scene just before the first half ends, and the murder scenes – of both Mary Teacher and the ACP.

It is without doubt a director’s movie, where Amal seems to have concentrated on almost everything, right from casting. A majority of the actors are fresh to the Malayalam tinsel town. Nafisa Ali is an example, and you can see the director taking special care not to have any close-up dialogues from her. Mamta gets a good role, probably for the first time in her career, which she has done convincingly and Manasa (daughter of old timer Kanakadurga) coming as Bijo’s silent crush is charming. Others, Bala, Manoj K Jayan, Lena, Pasupathi, Vijayaraghavan, all have played their part well. There are 2 people who steal the show – Mammotty of course, as the less spoken, stylish and brave Bilal, walks away with all honor doing full justice to the character. Innocent coming as a cameo for just 2 scenes light up the audience with his dialogues. Dialogues form another highlight of the movie; they are to the point, different and match the Kochi mafia gang style. The music section (Jophi Tharakan, Santosh Varma, Alphonse) is also good. “Vidaparayukayaano” by Shreya Ghoshal is haunting and “Muthumazha konjal” by Vineeth Sreenivasan & Jyotsna is good.

To conclude, Amal can be proud to have dished out something different to the audience, and should be careful about his next attempts, as this sets the expectations high.

Verdict: For those who like style and action – don’t miss it. Those who rate themselves as conventional – sit at home, and watch a serial.