"A family-watching Malayalam cinema for all those who believe in Jesus, Ayyappan, Allah and human beings." This was the caption of the poster that was released yesterday for Malikappuram. I will have to admit that the secularism they have brought up on that poster somewhere is an admission of the fact that religion is a vanishing entity in modern society. Malikappuram is a film that tries to build a following for the religion among children, and writer Abhilash Pillai unleashes the inner Udaykrishna in him to create a massive Ayyappan cover-up film that is strictly for children.
Malikappuram from director Vishnu Sasi Shankar is screenwriter Abhilash Pillai's third Malayalam release this year after Vysakh's Night Driver and M Padmakumar's Pathaam Valavu. The similarities in the way he has structured the three scripts are obvious, in the sense that all the movies had separate halves and only made sense in the later parts. But what works in Malikappuram is that it doesn't come with heavy ideas or layered stories. In fact, it's a simple story about an eight-year-old girl's wish to visit Sabarimala, and the creators haven't tried much with it, once they decide to go the route.
Director: Vishnu Sasi Shankar
Writer: Abhilash Pillai
Stars: Unni Mukundan, Renji Panicker, Manoj K. Jayan
As the title suggests, the film is about Malikappuram Kallu. From her grandmother's bedtime stories, Kallu greatly admires Lord Ayyappa and has been asking her father to take her to Sabarimala. After several requests, her father, Ajayan, finally agreed to take her to Sabarimala. But certain unfortunate events delayed that journey and eventually Kallu decided to set out for Sabarimala alone, along with her best friend Piyush. The eventful journey of the two boys is what we see in Malikappuram.
The target audience of this film is children. The divine comedy formula is very predictable, and Abhilash Pillai is trying to make the children's film an Unni Mukundan action story in the second half. Vishnu Sasi Sankar almost makes the movie look like a beta Pulimurugan with all those fights inside the forest. The basic feel of the writing is the fundamental flaw of this film, which is evidently catering to the daily soap audience. Just as Aamir Khan's PK uses god stickers to steer clear of slaps, Abhilash Pillai inserts Ayyappan anecdotes to scare those who want to talk trade.
As anyone with common sense can guess from the trailer, Unni Mukundan plays Ayyappan's equivalent protector in the film. With that beard and that nice smile, she really is a good choice for a children's movie hero. Deva Nandha, who plays the main character of the film, has an infectious smile that makes us empathize with her character, who actually has a very unrealistic sense of hope. Master Sreepath as Piyush was fine. Saiju Kurup sleepwalks through that typical father persona. Sampath Ram plays a no-nonsense villain who is only there for that fight in the forest. Ramesh Pisharody, TG Ravi, Sreejith Ravi, Alphy Panjikaran etc. are the other big names in the film.
The film's backdrop has obviously raised curiosity as to whether it has any blurb attached to it. But the utter lack of craftsmanship and sloppy writing won't even make you care about the movie's schedule. To find something exciting in this Vishnu Sasi Sankar movie, you have to erase your memories of the good divine fantasies you have seen. To be honest, they are only digging up the wetland because the subject is sensitive and there will be minimal guarantee of support for something like this. The music is more or less generic, and to make things forcefully spiritual, we have Harivarasanam playing as the end credits roll.
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