Christmas is here & it feels great to be back home with family. So on this auspicious occasion, I would like to wish one & all, a peaceful & blessed Christmas. The eagerly awaited Basil Joseph's "Minnal Murali" released yday on Netflix & since then the internet has been flooded with discussions about our own 'naadan' superhero. The responses has mostly been positive & irrespective of what some might say about the template being similar to Marvel / DC characters, Basil & his team deserves praise for their efforts. As far as I feel, they have certainly hit the bull's eye in terms of what they aspired to achieve with this celluloid creation. So did it manage to carve a niche of its own???
In Basil's Cinematic Universe, this tale is set in Kurukkanmoola (quite close to Kunjiraman's Desam) where Jaison (Tovino Thomas), the most stylish dude in this quaint village & a tailor by profession was in love with Bincy (Sneha Babu). However, that relation didn't quite work out in the manner that he had hoped. This strengthened his resolve to move to US in search of better financial opportunities but before that could culminate, he was struck by lightening. Surprisingly, he escaped unscathed though the unique event bestowed him with some superpowers. But he wasn't the only one to have a similar twist of fate.
When a movie is released with a great deal of hype & anticipation, the margin of error that it can afford is rather slim & more often than not, it is inevitably destined to be slammed by the audience. In that sense, Basil has done a fine job with the resources that he had & created a movie that follows the origin trajectory of most superheroes but still had it rooted in the cultural milieu that we are accustomed to. Assisting him in the process of Arun Anirdhan & Justin Mathew, who penned the script & deserves praise for the manner in which they constructed the character arc of both the protagonists. Even as Tovino's character was treated with a humorous touch, Guru Somasundaram's character goes through a myriad of emotions and is given a empathetic feel, due to which we actually dont desire for his downfall at some level. But I did feel the screenplay ought to have been a bit more engaging as the pace gets sluggish (not tiresome) in the beginning of the latter half & I personally felt that the identity of Murali could have been kept as a secret (hmm..."Far from Home"...:))
On the technical side, Sameer Thahir's visuals & Sushin Shyam's BGM were impressive while the decision to blend Shaan Rahman & Sushin's music along with the narrative deserves praise. The VFX work was neat & Vlad Rimburg's action choreography was pretty cool. There is no doubt that Tovino has done a fine job & he surely fitted the bill of the superhero. But the man of the hour was undoubtedly, Guru Somasudaram who was just spectacular (the last time he blew my mind was in "5 Sundarikal" as the child molester). He made utmost use of the meaty role that was given to him & made the audience feel for him. Another word of praise also goes to the kid who shared good chemistry with Tovino and made the scenes lively. The rest of the cast such as Aju, Baiju, Femina George (as Bruce Lee Biji) etc have done their parts aptly.
Verdict: Despite the hype, Basil delivered what he had promised & that is an engaging desi superhero flick with humour as the primary ingredient. In short, do check it out!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Regards...Ben
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