It's more than a month since I have been active in my blog. With my Phd just a few months away from completion, I have been kinda busy with that; not to mention the dearth of Malayalam releases in Bangalore. This week however, Mammookka's "Praise the Lord" was released here & that naturally tempted me to check it out as the trailer seemed interesting. Hope the Lord smiles on Ikka as it's
been quite some time since he had a resounding success.
Joychayan
(Mammookka) is an affluent Central Travancore planter who led a
contented life with his wife, Ancy (Reenu Mathews) & kids. Life went
on at a leisurely pace for Joy as he wiled away time taking care of his
ancestral property and with his friends in the evenings. Things take a
turn when Joy is coaxed by his friend, Adv. Sunny (Mukesh) to provide
refuge for two lovers Samkutty (Ahmed Siddique) & Annie (Akansha
Puri) who were on the run to escape from the wrath of Kunjutty (Joy
Mathew), Samkutty's father. What made the couple all the more
interesting was that they were as different as chalk and cheese with
Samkutty being a devout while Annie being more of a brat. So will
Joychayan turn out to be their savior???
Based on Paul Zacharia's novel by the same name , "Praise the Lord"
is the directorial debut of Shibu Gangadharan. Since I haven't read the
novel, I don't know whether he has done justice to it but from a
cinematic point of view it was definitely a huge let down. T.P
Devarajan's screenplay was pretty pedestrian, since inspite of the premise for a humorous initial half, they barely did anything. But even then the
first half seemed fine as Ikka & Reenu's combination worked well.
The latter half was however a downward slide culminating in a whimsical
climax. Shaan Rehman's music was average with "Sharon Vaniyil" being my
personal favourite while none of the other aspects deserves special
mention.
Mammookka
has always excelled in Achayan roles & here too, he has done a good
job but then we cant help wishing for a better sketched character.
Reenu seemed an apt choice as his wife & she has done justice to her
role. Ahmed Siddique felt monotonous and irritating while Akansha
fitted her role only physically. As for the rest, Mukesh, Suresh
Krishna, Joy Mathew etc. barely had much to do & sleep walked
through their roles.
Verdict: With
almost quarter of a year over, it seems 2014 couldn't have gotten off
to a worser start for the Malayalam film industry. Out of the 40 movies
released, only 2 have been hits with another 3 breaking even & from
the look of things, this one will find it hard to stay afloat. For a
person who hasn't read the novel, it made me feel whether this was worth
the effort as it seemed more apt for a telefilm. In short, may Lord
show mercy on the producers!!!
Rating: 1.25/5
Regards...Ben
