Munnariyippu tells the story of Anjali Arakkal, the freelance journalist who makes her living being a ghost writer. During one of her assignments to write an autobiography for jail superintendent, she meets an inmate-C.K Raghavan, grows interest in his story and character and decides to write a feature on him. C.K Raghavan had been sentenced to life for homicide of two ladies. But even after completing his term of 14 years, he prefers to continue in jail. The story then revolves around how he comes out of jail , how Anjali pursues him to write what really happened in his life and if the audience really get to learn all those.
Aparna Gopinath is a revelation. I was impressed with her debut in ABCD but from there onwards,it had been a downhill for the actress whether its the movies she had been part of or the characters she portrayed. Here in Munnariyippu though she stuns one and all matching up to the veteran Mammootty in many scenes. Its her earnest portrayal of a journalist who is determined to succeed and scale greater heights in life that brings an urgency to the otherwise sedate proceedings. Nedumudi Venu is a treat as always and brings few chuckles on our face. I wish Malayalam Cinema utilizes this actor more often. It has started to irritate to see Joy Mathew in every other movie these days but in this one, he did a fine job. Renji Panicker continues to be a natural in front of screen. Prithvira's cameo has nothing much to do but provides an important turn in the story with an advice he gives Aparna. 2012's National award winning child artist, Minon once again leaves a mark as the kid who befriends Raghavan and around only whom Raghavan is cheerful during the days he is out of jail
Cinematographer Venu makes a stellar return to direction after a long break and its his novel theme and intriguing story that is the winner in Munnariyippu all the way. Unni.R's screenplay provides the right impetus needed to this story. The technique these makers have used to tell the story in a lethargic pace to the point that the viewers finally start to get bored and then suddenly hit them with an ending like a ton of bricks has reaped in huge rewards. Bijibal's haunting background music helps the movie a great deal too. But above all, what Venu primarily needed was an actor who would not reveal anything at all about what C.K Raghavan is about and maintain the mystery surrounding him till the very end. Mammootty does that job with great aplomb , once again you only see the character the actor plays and not the actor himself.
It is very rare in a terrific movie where Mammootty has played the lead role ,that you walk away from the cinema halls not taking with you the brilliant acting moments by the actor. But Munnariyippu is one such movie and Mammootty has actually nothing to do with it . Its because C.K Raghavan does not reveal much on his face. He doesn't emote at all. He behaves differently from others. Even his ideologies and philosophies are different. Mammootty's ability to become the character he plays coupled with an astounding work of Venu and Unni.R in molding Raghavan delicately and perfectly might have given us a new entry to the list of Malayalam Cinema's finest movie characters ever. In Munnariyippu, its not the acting nuances that haunt you when you leave the halls, its the whole character.
Copy Paste from - Fahir
Aparna Gopinath is a revelation. I was impressed with her debut in ABCD but from there onwards,it had been a downhill for the actress whether its the movies she had been part of or the characters she portrayed. Here in Munnariyippu though she stuns one and all matching up to the veteran Mammootty in many scenes. Its her earnest portrayal of a journalist who is determined to succeed and scale greater heights in life that brings an urgency to the otherwise sedate proceedings. Nedumudi Venu is a treat as always and brings few chuckles on our face. I wish Malayalam Cinema utilizes this actor more often. It has started to irritate to see Joy Mathew in every other movie these days but in this one, he did a fine job. Renji Panicker continues to be a natural in front of screen. Prithvira's cameo has nothing much to do but provides an important turn in the story with an advice he gives Aparna. 2012's National award winning child artist, Minon once again leaves a mark as the kid who befriends Raghavan and around only whom Raghavan is cheerful during the days he is out of jail
Cinematographer Venu makes a stellar return to direction after a long break and its his novel theme and intriguing story that is the winner in Munnariyippu all the way. Unni.R's screenplay provides the right impetus needed to this story. The technique these makers have used to tell the story in a lethargic pace to the point that the viewers finally start to get bored and then suddenly hit them with an ending like a ton of bricks has reaped in huge rewards. Bijibal's haunting background music helps the movie a great deal too. But above all, what Venu primarily needed was an actor who would not reveal anything at all about what C.K Raghavan is about and maintain the mystery surrounding him till the very end. Mammootty does that job with great aplomb , once again you only see the character the actor plays and not the actor himself.
It is very rare in a terrific movie where Mammootty has played the lead role ,that you walk away from the cinema halls not taking with you the brilliant acting moments by the actor. But Munnariyippu is one such movie and Mammootty has actually nothing to do with it . Its because C.K Raghavan does not reveal much on his face. He doesn't emote at all. He behaves differently from others. Even his ideologies and philosophies are different. Mammootty's ability to become the character he plays coupled with an astounding work of Venu and Unni.R in molding Raghavan delicately and perfectly might have given us a new entry to the list of Malayalam Cinema's finest movie characters ever. In Munnariyippu, its not the acting nuances that haunt you when you leave the halls, its the whole character.
Copy Paste from - Fahir