Makeup man review : "Shafi fails to recreate Kunjaadu magic!!!"

With the World Cup just round the corner,this fortnight should witness the release of a couple of movies so as to cash in  before the mega event kicks off. So this week, witnessed the release of the much delayed Jayaram starrer "Makeup Man",which incidentally turned out to be his 2nd release this year. Being directed by Shafi who is presently basking in the glory of the superhit "Marykkundoru Kunjaadu" & penned by Sachi-Sethu duo, the film promises to be an entertainer & provide a much needed boost to Jayaram. Will it actually deliver at the box office remains to be seen.

Balu (Jayaram) is a MBA graduate who is presently in debt owing to the failure of his event management programme. Being on the run to escape from the grasp of people to whom he owes money,his problems gets compounded when his lover Soorya (Sheela) leaves her home on the eve of her wedding to be with him. Having no other option, he seeks the help of his friend Kichu (Suraj),who is a production controller for a movie directed by ace director Siddharth (Siddique). A couple of interesting events issues & it eventually leads to Soorya attaining the heroine's role with Balu taking up the job of her makeup man.Things however doesnt pan out as smoothly as they had expected with various issues taking a toll on their relationship. So what were these problems & will they be able to overcome it???

Sachi-Sethu has definitely tackled an interesting topic but the biggest bane of the movie is that its just too dragging especially in the second half. There is no denying the fact that it had the scope to be a good entertainer but the director fails to take stock of it,especially since the script is very predictable. The music by Vidyasagar is another huge letdown. However the colourfulness that we associate with Shafi's movies is still very much there thanks to the cinematography by Alagappan.

Coming to performances, Jayaram has delivered sincerely in a role that suits him well; however there is nothing to rave about as we have seen him in this avatar time & again. Sheela has done a decent job & though her pairing Jayaram didnt exactly create sparks, it looked fine. Suraj as usual delivers his wares which at times fails to evoke any response from the audience while Siddique does manage to grab eyeballs in a role that I felt he was wasted. Prithviraj & Chackochan in guest appearances playing as themselves didnt have much of a role to impart anything significant.

Verdict: With not much of a competition brewing in the box office & no big releases in the near future, this movie should be able to recover its costs with the possibility of even being a silent hit. As far as my opinion goes, when compared to recent Jayaram movies,this is much better.In short, since there isnt much of an option in variety of films currently running, watch this for some time pass or else forget it!!!

Regards...Ben