Appan (2022) User Reviews

Excellent making & first rate performances

[surajpnair · 9/10 · 29 October 2022]

It's been a while to come across a Malayalam film like Appan to reassure my belief that there is a tremendous potential in character actors and given a chance they will create magic, and Appan has created one of those!

A perfect blend of great performances, amazing locations and visuals, smooth narrative, apt music is what makes Appan a special movie. I would expect state & national recognition for Pauly Valsan who gave a breathtaking performance, she handled her complex character with such ease & grace, it made me relate to her instantly. Hats off to Pauly Valsan, she has solely surpassed every other seasoned actors in this film.

This is Sunny Wayne's career best performance, and more than that I respect him for taking up the challenge to produce & promote such a different narrative. Ananya. Radhika, the kid gave a matured performance supporting the overall flow of events, and finally we have Alencier, the central character, who gave his career best as well with his extravaganza act, making us hate his character from the onset.

The filmmaker had tremendous control over the narrative, and the way he blended visuals, the characters, the music- it was very close to perfection without any distraction. The narrative takes a little dip in the second half with an unnecessary build up for the climax, but that does not take away anything of what this film contributes at large.

I would suggest and recommend every film lover to watch this film primarily for performances. Proud of Malayalam Cinema & the acting talent we have!

Highly Recommended!

One of the best movies I have seen in a while .

[btvstarcool · 8/10 · 30 October 2022]

This is a movie that deeply touched me as the core concept of the movie is what, though many people might have experienced, is not very prevalent as a social topic or issue. Thus, this is not a movie for everyone as some may find it to be higly exaggerated. Everything else fits perfectly, the editing, cinematography, background scores etc. It might not be a must watch movie, but its definitely worth a watch ! The acting is also pretty incredible especially Sunny Wayne as Njoonj and Alencier Lopez as Itty. Pauly Valsana also plays a memorable character as Kuttyamma ! (Movie can be predictable at times).

Brilliant!! Both performance and making-wise 👍

[MovieNerd92 · 9/10 · 29 October 2022]

You have seen Rojin Thomas's #Home. Now imagine the exact opposite of Indrans's character. That is Itty by Alencier. This is an outstanding movie. Alencier really worked hard as Itty. Even at some point you feel lucky for not getting an Appan like Itty. Kudos for him as one of the evil cutthroat caustic brutal character malyalam film ever created. Also the whole performance of Sunny Wayne had expressed the burden he had to carry and it was brilliant. But mainly the ladies have won the screen presence which makes the movie a much more realistic approach. Pauly,Ananya,Grace and an outstanding debut appearance from Radhika. As of the story, which is a simple subject for the movie but an irreversible complex topic of patriarchy, violence, harassment and chauvinism of the society which has shown in both dark comical and strangely disturbing way that creates a weird ambience in your head for the rest of your day. That itself is enough to explain the success of this movie. Compassion is something of no use for such people even if he is a paraplegic. You can't blame the family members for praying the death. We have seen countless dysfunctional movie like Kumblangy Nights, but not too many movies has shown the raw, sadistic and toxic relationships and personalities hacking the society, except maybe in LJP movies. Kudos to team Appan again.

For such characters abusive words are necessary, but personally I felt like it's overusing and that's why am taking one star but it doesn't matter. The story surpasses the criticism.

Thank you.

I would say it's a gem for Malayalam cinema

[albinnadackal · 10/10 · 28 October 2022]

One of the best intriguing multilayered realistic what else .....no words can explain my feelings about this gem of Malayalam cinema....kudos sunny Wayne i didn't see you in this movie.....one of the best casting especially alanciyar and annaya you are awesome like a typical Christian wife portrayal....grace Antony and all others just made me tear ....the real they have shown are reality haven't seen any cliche on this movie. What really i want this kind of movie that portraying of negative shades that some Times misses on the bigscreen here they haven't made any saints whereas it is a intensified binge-watching experience.... it's a classy craft of director maju ...cinematography and production design , settings of location and details no words...big hugs .....pure realistic experience.... NB: film makers please don't make artificial realistic movies hence try to make this....

The most brilliant uncomfortable 2 hours of my life

[george51988 · 10/10 · 29 October 2022]

I am speechless after watching this movie, I personally wish I never thought about this movie ever again after watching it but I know it's not possible, this movie will stay in everyone's mind for a long time. Brilliant in every single field. Every single person acted exceptionally well, I believe this movie is the career best performance of almost every single actor who acted in this movie. Career changing movie from sunny Wayne. I love how the director and scriptwriter crafted this movie, every single person watching this movie wishes for ittys death. I believe this is best movie in Malayalam in recent times, brilliant.

Why do we love malayalam movies soo much

[girirammys · 1 November 2022]

Appan takes us to a world which seems to be very familiar one of one has seen Kerala and even if they have seen movies like Maheshinte Prathikaaram.. A place surrounded by rubber plantations, herbs, plants, pet cage,.. basically a self sustainable land in heart the home. The home is simple with a family where in lies the twist. Aged Mother, Son Itty and his wife and his kid and yes his Father who is bed ridden for a while for a reason which is not important for the plot but whats with his father is what makes this story very unique from others we have seen soo far.

Appan character has been played brilliantly by Alencier and I will not be surprise if he bags a state or even national award for his role in the movie. It's simply brilliant, it's hard to imagine but one would have seen experienced or heard about such character. Appans only son has equally acted well which is further enhanced by the role of wife mother and son. What comes as a cameo Appans only daughter played by Grace from Kumbalangi Nights also mesmerizes you with her acting skills. Every character you see in the movie has a class of its own and the plot as well brings out all the human emotions. The only emotion which is rarely seen in this movie is the comedy as the movie puts you on spot to ask you a question what is right according to you what would you have done if you were in such place...the climax is almost predictable but that's the only end one could have provided .. I will leave it to the audience to decide thier take but such movies makes you love Malayalam movies and this is why people love malayalam movies soo much.

Cracker of a Film

[nairtejas · 7/10 · 28 October 2022]

A cracker of a film that is instantly likeable. The opening scenes build up the titular character and that's just one of the superb ways the film handles itself as it weaves a story about a family in their wits' end. With an electric plot that faintly reminds one of Joji (2021), the characters come alive with proper weightage given to all of them so as to let the story narrate itself. You keep wondering why these people continue to put up with misery, but then the film answers that question indirectly. Though the film loses steam as it crescendoes, the characters stay with you longer after you have closed the SonyLiv app. Appan is a surprise hit for me this year.

One of the best malayalam movie of the year

[gangeshgnair · 10/10 · 31 October 2022]

This is one of the best malayalam movie of the year for me. I loved everything about this movie. Starting with the writing, I don't remember the last time i saw such compelling and deeply written characters. The complexities in the relationship between the characters was so refreshing to see on screen. I loved the way they wrote alanciers and sunny waynes character. The best writing was sunny waynes character. He also performances it amazingly. His relationship with his father, how he takes care of him even though his father made his life hell. He is a good son, he is a good husband, a father himself, this character was explored amazingly. Alancier is the star of the movie. It's only because of alanciers amazing performance this movie works so beautifuly. I think it's alanciers career best performance. I can go on praising the performance of all the actors in the movie. Everyone did a amazing job. I loved the realistic aproach in making, Makes the movie and the characters very relatable. The cinematography is so beautiful, the rubber fields, and the house are the only two main locations, but still the camera angle never feels repeated and keeps us engaged till the end.

A must watch according to me.

Another worthwhile Malayalam acquisition by SONYLiv! [+64%]

[arungeorge13 · 6/10 · 29 October 2022]

I can totally imagine this movie made in the '90s with the following cast:

• Thilakan in Alencier's role
• Philomina in Pauly Valsan's role
• Jayaram in Sunny Wayne's role
• Urvashi in Grace Antony's role
• Shobana in Ananya's role
• Nedumudi Venu or Oduvil Unnikrishnan in Varghesettan's role

This is a film with a less explored yet universal theme (well, FaFa's Joji also did recently). Dads in Malayalam cinema have always been a constant pillar of support, and rarely ever portrayed as villanous, let alone be such a horrible human being, you wish, just vanished off the face of the earth. Appan has a fantastic first half, where writers R Jayakumar and Maju (who directs) make us understand the plight of Itty's family members. Swear words are thrown around aplenty, and the palpable hatred brewing between Itty and the rest of the family is effectively showcased. The whole village also want him dead for reasons we get to know in revelatory bits and pieces.

The second half takes an unexpected route with a sex worker becoming a prominent character. The finale also doesn't carry any major surprises, and concludes with a scenario that could've been executed much earlier. Yet, one can't help but heave a sigh of relief when it happens. The film doesn't bother to explore the outdoors much and sticks to its single-location i.e. The house. Maju's attempt is commendable (even with a predictable ending) and proves he's a director to watch out for. Performances are excellent across the board, with Pauly Valsan and Ananya getting to show their mettle.

We hate Itty!

[ngandacinema · 10/10 · 31 October 2022]

Appan succeeded in making us HATE Itty! There's no way you can sympathize with this guy, to say he was evil is even an understatement😆

The film was a carefully designed script that hit all the right buttons, we were pleasantly impressed!

-By far, Appan is Sunny Wayne's best performance. He was living and breathing his role; we could see the immense agony of having Itty as a father through his eyes and body language. We believed him.

Alencier Lopez, without a doubt, was the star of the show! He succeeded in making us despise him and even wanting to kill him 😖

-Though the movie was mainly shot in Itty's house, we didn't feel a redundant vibe. The director properly used different rooms to vary the scenery, helping us get to know the residence and making us part of it too

-The screenplay went to the extreme of extremes when it came to depicting Itty's disgusting behavior. If we can even say these words: he was demonic!

Appan intentionally demonstrated how this despicable behavior affected his son's legacy and his wife's mentality. AND to witness the family's unconditional love towards Itty was a learning moment for us, very powerful

-Though Appan is about a womanizer, It's safe to watch from start to finish, thank you for a clean experience

-We were so horrified at Itty's devilish nature that we didn't pay attention to production aspects; this is good, had there been issues, we would have definitely noticed.

Appan is a good effort with some good performances

[sijoythomas · 6/10 · 1 November 2022]

Appan is a good effort with some good performances. The title role performed by Alencier pulled out the character very well as the protagonist. Sunny Wayne could pull out one scene with a good performance. Otherwise, the script is lacking some visuals from the protagonist's past that will give more depth to the negative shade of the character played by Alencier. Maybe they intentionally took this route for the script because of budget constraints. I felt the audience is left to paint in their minds how bad Appan was in his past life, and the rest of his family members are just victims of his past. There is no effort in the script to make this plot convincing to the audience other than a linear narration of his past life. Anil K. Sivaram as Varghese gave a good performance in his final scene.

An Intense Drama Backed by Strong Performing Artists

[skmenon1993 · 10/10 · 29 October 2022]

Directed by Maju , starring Alencier , Sunny Wayne , Ananya , Pauly Valsan , Radhika Radhakrishnan in lead role.

Streaming on Sony Liv Ott Platform.

Plot of the Movie.

Alencier alias Ittychan a man of barbaric nature, a self-centred, a womaniser & what not he has the qualities to derive about his personality. Currently he is bed ridden but still his atrocities are not avoidable to the family. The story takes down the life of the Ittychan whose misdeeds are being suffered by his family & how the family deals with this pathetic situation forms the rest part of the movie.

Analysis of the Movie.

1) Alencier had given a memorable & applauding performance. The dialogue delivery, the mannerism of the Ittychan character were very well convinced. He just immersed into the character.

2) Another notable performance was of Pauly Valsan, playing ittychan's wife character. The trauma, the pain, the anguish which such kind of woman has to undergo, pauly valsan had beautifully brought into the frame.

3) Sunny Wayne had got one of the best characters in his filmography. The pain of a son who is constantly bullied by the society as he is the son of a nasty father at the same time when he is not been understood by his own family in spite of loving them a lot, the hidden sorrow which he presses into his heart, those performances were beautifully brought into the frame by him.

4) Ananya playing as wife of Sunny Wayne, & Radhika Radhakrishna playing as concubine of Ittychan had also gave a notable performance

5) Grace Anthony & Anil K Sivaram in their limited space had given a good performance.

6) Director Maju had beautifully designed the intense grey topic into a watchable flick.

7) R Jayakumar & Director Maju, who jointly penned the script had just shown the pathetic conditions of such families. On one side, where society emphasizes people who are bed ridden but its also be known as what makes them to be at this situation before pouring empathy.

Overall, a watchable movie flick.

One of the real good ones of this year

[Saanwithhisstupidthoughts · 6/10 · 7 November 2022]

A melodrama with a good soapy layer but with a familial concept and narrative that felt relatable without actually being relatable and at one that kept me deeply interested in its character arcs and payoff extremely well.

The performances were all well done with SUNNY WAYNE'S being not a surprising one but still he gives one that proves that he can give an engaging performance and with ALENCIER being the showstealer with his easily hateable character.

The pacing was even.

NOONJU was one of the easily rootable character I have come across and his love for his family was the main reason for that.

Sunny Wayne's voice felt extremely fitting for that character. I think NOONJU can definitely be added to the very few no. Of rememberable characters he have.

The two main other characters apart from the titular leads, one with suspensful intentions and the other with a solid buildup both's final exposition went off to be just rehash materials and that's where I became disappointed with their character writings.

Character elevation (if not the final outcome) and scores though do deserve a round of applause.

The climax and it's execution did drag the graph and momentum the movie had down a bit but overall the movie still slapped.

MAJU seems to be a promising director who can with some touchups here and there in his skills and creativity can hold audience with not really much to complain but rather to enjoy his craft.

6.5/10.

Most Uncomfortable Movie Yet the Best

[menonarun-65382 · 9/10 · 4 November 2022]

It feels disgusting to watch the character of Alencier , Itty... that man lived the role and created much much impact on audience I believe. Variety of rasams, probably all 9 of them expressed in this movie. Classic acting by Sunny, Alencier, and others including the kid. What a plot ! Its variety and a subtle message to the toxic patriarchy system. It tells us that in the world there are many fathers who exhibits the characteristics of Itty. Must watch for all. It has a new story, the emotions are captured well. Some shots are too good, few could have been better otherwise. This movie has everyone acting to their best.

Mind-blowing

[santoshchinnala · 10/10 · 1 November 2022]

Never ever saw this kind of most intriguing film in recent times...very rare to see all the characters are written Veet well ..everyone connects to the plot..acting performances of every character is unimaginable..background score and cinematography are at top notch leve..that is why I love Malayalam films.. Assamese..gujaratis..Marathi..kanada Malayalam films are the best industries.. realistic portrayal of films whic shows the culture,lives of people..living conditions in those areas ..depth of the story and characters are vivid ..versatile..prolific writing...deep music... production houses need to improve their standards ..these days they are making Indian cinema very proud...our telugu industry is going very high in terms of making films but. Depth of story screenplay editing wise ...these industries are the best.

A unique story with brilliant performance. Masterpiece

[nairabh · 9/10 · 1 November 2022]

Watched malayalam movie Appan (Father). This was a direct OTT release on Sony Liv. Starring Alencier Lopez, Sunny Wayne,Grace Antony and Pauly Valson Written and directed by Maju. It's a story about a old man who is on a death bed. His entire family, society, neighbours everyone wants him to die due to his cruel nature, his ego and past issues in life. What happens to the old.man (ittichan) is the whole story.

Alencier plays the role of this old man who is a womaniser who tortures abuses, and harasses his wife.

He has nailed the character of ittychan one of his best performances so far just mindblowing.

Sunny Wayne plays his son who is in a dilemma on how to manage his father who always abuses him his mom, wife and kids. He is pure, emotional and carries the burden of his family and mother. His performance in this movie would be a career best for him. He was brilliant 👏 Other performances by Grace Antony, Radhika Radhakrishnan is superb.

It's Pauly Valson who has done a outstanding job acting as the old mans wife. Her performance was too perfect.

A very unique story perfectly crafted and casted .

The story is the backbone of this movie covering domestic violence, harassment, male chauvinism shown in dark comical and strangely disturbing way and performances of all actors made it worth watching.

An intense drama throughout the movie. After watching for sometime You yourself will think of hitting or killing Ittichan that's how Alencier has acted and lived the character. Lot of abusive words used in this movie.

Watch this masterpiece. Not to be missed.

I am sure Alencier Lopez will win some awards for his performance in this movie This movie will stay for longer time in everyone's mind for sure.

What A Movie: Fantastic Direction & Acting

[devan-222-696477 · 10/10 · 15 November 2022]

Great Script, Out of the world performance by Alencier Ley Lopez as the cruel Womaniser, Sunny Wayne has performed out his league as son and rubber tapper Written by Maju, R Jayakumar. And directed by Maju.

The dil centre around a womaniser whose last concern is his family. He is abusive and terrorises his wife and children. Despite all this his son loves him.

Alencier has played the role of his life. Ittichan will be loathed by all the movie watchers and the scar left by that foul mouthed charge will still be there long after you have switched off the tv. The Movie is both loathsome and rewarding The only question is how many awards this film will get.

Khan Review - A voice for the silents.

[zkzuber · 8/10 · 30 October 2022]

This movie speaks for many whose pain are never understood specially in India with pre notion is set for parents. Luckily the main lead has loving and caring mother but for many they are not so fortunate. This movie is so intelligently made and it should be appreciated for the maker to come up with kind of subject. Parents for many can be the reason for their unhappiness and disaster, ruining some one's entire life. A child brought up in unhappy childhood and during growing up years cannot come out of it through out his / her entire life the pain always stays. Don't how many life must have been ruined by their parents themselves. No parent is perfect but deep in side they do have love and kind ness for their children but in situation like shown in the movie such cases do exists where the parents don't play any role except giving birth and feeling such cases are like rarest of rare disease which happens to one in millions. It's is very difficult for outsiders, relatives even the neighbours to understand the turmoil the child goes through because no one can come to term that parents can be so evil that they are no bothered if the kid exists and explaining such situation to others is impossible for the one who is suffering. This movie is one of the most excellent malayalam movie I must have come across though I watched in hindi as I don't understand South language. Few scenes looks comical when in fact it is tragedy happening with the family, which in reality happens too. The outsiders who witness the scenes it looks light and funny but it's life & death situation for the one who suffers.

Amazing story n act

[shaikhsumera · 10/10 · 2 November 2022]

Realistic movie the entire characters are unique in its own beautiful story and we can see how in an Indian culture a people try to take care anybody can see the movie without any recommendation very much realistic acting I would give 10 on 10 or if it is available I can give more because the movie worth the ratings are a comment each and everyone to watch the movie and you can understand how great the movie is every character is so real that you might forget that you are watching a movie you will feel that it something real happening writing front of your eyes I have no words to describe the way it's amazing and I would like to thank you entire cast.

Excellent movie shotted in single location

[aravindthumula · 10/10 · 5 December 2022]

Superb movie, worth watching, every one played their part., father character done by not remember his name, excellent performance., ONE WHOLE SUNDAY OUR FAMILY DISCUSSED ABOUT THE CHARACTERS OF THIS MOVIE., more over the movie shot at single location., sentiment, little bit comedy, emotions everything is fullfilled in this movie, hats off to the director who shot the movie at ONE LOCATION, I SUGGEST EVERYONE TO WATCH THIS MOVIE., The father character APPAN, who is bed ridden, but his domestic violence, fear about kuriyan who came at the end of the movie to kill appan, CLIMAX OF THE MOVIE WHICH WE CANT EXPECT., SUPERB SCREENPLAY, DIRECTION ETC.

Alencier supremacy

[vjnambu · 10/10 · 13 October 2023]

Itty(alencier) is a bedridden head of the family been taken care by his son njoonu(sunny wayne), wife kuttyamma(pauly valsan) and daughter in law rosy(ananya). Itty is an extremely evil person despite being waist down paralyzed, he verbally tortures his family. Even the villagers due to the misdeeds he done in his heydays. All this make everybody around wished to be dead. But itty has no plans to give up. Whether itty dies naturally, his family or villagers kill him or whether itty wakes up from his bed is the rest of the movie.

Since, my father is also physically not well and has some oldie tantrums (definitely not like itty), appan became highly relatable for me. Its a pure character oriented movie with nothing much of a plot happening. Initially, one would say alencier was not acting but living his character. But after knowing his off screen controversies, one could say that he was just being himself. Sunny wayne plays a very challenging character and he was fine. Another standout was the actress who played sheela, itty's mistress.

Appan is not a film one must watch, but one must experience.

Excellent movie superb acting

[jkc-23658 · 10/10 · 5 February 2023]

One of the best movies I have ever seen recently.

Superb acting by Sunny Wayne, Grace Antony, Pauly Wilson , Ananya and Alencier. 👌 👌 👌 👌 👌

All credit goes to the new director Maju. Hats off to the team. Everything including photography is excellent 👌

It could have been a theatrical release instead of ott release. Sunny Wayne has a great future. His all recent movies were very good worth watching.

It's better to give all kinds of encouragement to these people to get more and more good movies in Malayalam. All must watch this movie even though it's too late. Thanks to Sony Live for releasing this movie in your ott platform.

Really Good.

[SameirAli · 9/10 · 23 February 2023]

Very happy to see such an interesting movie in a very small framework. Very limited artists, single location, yet very smooth. Last quarter should have been better; felt totally incomplete and as if it was rushed to a conclusion.

Writing and Direction was the backbone of this film. It is very crucial how the story unfolds to the audience. Keeping the audience engaged is not an easy job.

Performance of the actors, like a cherry on the top, has added to the grip of the movie. Alencier proves that he is of the finest actors in the industry at the moment. Everyone else like Sunny Wayne, Ananya, Grace Antony, Pauly Valsan etc did wonders.

Intense

[nelskj · 10/10 · 30 November 2022]

An intense and gripping tale. Congratulations to the director and all the actors. Great piece of acting by all the artists. For the first time, Sunny Wayne surprised me, good job done! Again, max credit goes to the director.

Every sequence is carefully curated with a lot of thought. Some of the actors looked unfamiliar, but they did support to the best of their ability.

This is a good example of making a great movie with bare minimal budget. I liked the whole concept and style of movie making, thus setting an example for all the crap movies that comes out everyday in the name of cinema. We need more directors and teams like this.

A different and dark story line

[feidasen · 9/10 · 19 November 2022]

The movie gives creates an ache in the minds of the viewers and doesn't let you forget the movie very soon.

Each and every character is fed up and desperate to just continue with their life but their life is dragged along by 'Appan' who enjoys making everyone's life a living hell just for his happiness.

This movie makes you think about your own parents and whether we are lucky enough or not.

Every character in this movie have played a very strong role. At times you sympathize for Noonju and his helpless mother and your heart goes out for Rosy and the way the family adjust with the uninvited guest, Sheela.