Less than 48 hours from now the much awaited Basil Joseph's "Minnal Murali" will be beamed on Netflix. Even though 2021 was a torrid time for many in the industry, Basil wouldn't have much to complain about especially since he has been busy as an actor as well with "Joji" & "Janeman" having garnered wide spread appreciation. Incidentally, Chidambaram's "Janeman" was released much later in Bangalore & hence I got to check it out only last week. Well just like majority of the audience, even I enjoyed the celluloid experience that Chidambaram had offered.
Joymon (Basil) worked as a nurse in an isolated part of Canada with the only voices that kept him company being Alexa & that of the television. With the winter in full fury, the days became even more depressing & just when it felt like he couldn't bear the loneliness any more, he decided to fly back home to celebrate his 30th birthday. The task of making arrangements for the party was entrusted on his buddy, Dr. Faizal (Ganapathi) who in turn coaxed their mutual friend, Sambath (Arjun Ashokan) to have it arranged at his home. Incidentally, on the same day; Sambath's neighbour passed away & with Joymon reluctant to curb his celebrations, it ruffled quite a few feathers in both houses.
This is Chidambaram's directorial debut & he has certainly done a fine job with an interesting script that he had penned along with his brother Ganapathi & Sapnesh Varachal. The main reason as to why I felt that it was interesting is the constant shift in mood of the sequences. If it is hilarious at one moment, then within a couple of seconds it becomes emotional such as when a boisterous Joymon (Basil) barge into a brooding Monichan (Balu Varghese) and opens up about his loneliness. Another aspect is the attention given to most characters who comes on screen & evokes laughs such as Sarath Sabha (as Kannan), Abhiram (as Akshay Kumar) etc. On the technical side, both Bijibal's music & Vishnu Thandassery's visuals were fine.
It would be fair to say pretty much all of them have done utmost justice to their roles but the manner in which Basil handled humour & depression so expertly deserves special praise. As for the rest, both youngsters such as Balu Varghese, Ganapathi, Arjun, Siddharth Menon & veterans like Lal handled their parts well.
Verdict: Well it wasn't surprising to understand as to why many liked the movie as it had a proper blend of humour and emotions. It will have you in splits but also makes us realize the need to reach out to people to maintain our sanity in a world where we seem to have all the top end gadgets but still feel so distant with each other. In short, do check it out!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Regards...Ben
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