Director- Thaha
Cast- Ramesh Pisharody,Sarayu,Mukesh, Jagadeesh etc.
Music- Sumesh Anand
Lyrics- Anil Panachooran
Cinematography- Sadath
Story, Screenplay, dialogues- Thaha-Saji Damodar
Review by : Unni / Kerala9.com
Director Thaha is known as the director of the hilarious ‘Ee Parakkum Thalika’, one of those films that worked the magic for Dileep at the box office. Though Dileep went on to become one of the top stars, Thaha’s career took a dip after that. The Thaha-directed films that came after that- ‘Thekkekara Super Fast’, ‘Kerala House Udan Vilppanaykku’, ‘Hailessa’- were utter flops. Here comes another movie, ‘Kappal Muthalali’, which no doubt would prove an addition to this list.
‘Kappal Muthalali’ tells the story of a young guy named Bhoominathan (Ramesh Pisharody), who is working in the passport office. His family comprises of his aged mother, his elder sister and brother in law and his younger sister. Bhoominathan is the sole bread-winner. But things get hard for him as a result of the liabilities incurred by his late father and also because as per his father’s will, he gives half his salary every month to a guy named Parasuraman (Bheeman Reghu), who pops up at the office every month. Finding it difficult to make both ends meet, Bhoominathan quits his job and with the money that he gets for compensation under the VRS scheme, he buys a plot of land and with the help of his friend and building supervisor Thulaseedharan (Jagadeesh) sets out to build up a tourist resort there, all this without the knowledge of his family members or even Radhika (Sarayu), his lover and fiancée. As the work progresses, something strange happens. A centuries-old sail ship is unearthed during the digging of the site. Archaeology guys come up and take over and then things start falling apart for young Bhoominathan, whose land is no longer his and who has to fight it all alone, of course with Thulaseedharan by his side. It’s from here that things take off.
Performances
As for Ramesh Pisharody, who plays Bhoominathan, he is yet to learn the nuances of acting. Ramesh, who took to cinema from the small screen, has got to realize that acting is very much different from what these guys do in the name of anchoring on television. Sarayu is OK. Mukesh, Jagadeesh and Jagathy Sreekumar are good. Bheeman Reghu and Salim Kumar are their usual selves. The others don’t have much to do in the whole of the proceedings.
Technical aspects
Nothing much to say about the technical features. It’s all average.
Music
Background score by Mohan Sithara is in keeping with the mood and the tempo of the film. The songs however are unimpressive.
Script
A plot that could have made for a wholesome entertainer has gone all waste, due to inept scripting. The scenes are all ill conceived and the dialogues too unimpressive. A big ‘boo’ for the script.
Direction
Thaha’s mind, as a director, seems to be stuck in the late 1980’s, for his films seem to be refusing to come of age. His style of direction, the way he conceives his scenes and his characters- it all seems old fashioned and thus his film which, if scripted and directed well, would have elicited loud applause from the audience now gets greeted by hooting and booing.
Overall verdict- An interesting story gone waste.
Rating: 1.5/5