Producer- Salim Ahamed
Director– Salim Ahamed
Cast- Mammootty, Nyla Usha, Siddique, Balachandra Menon etc.
Music- M Jayachandran
Background Music- Issac Thomas Kottukapally
Review By : Unni R Nair (Kerala9.com )
‘Kunjananthante Kada’ had lots of expectations pinned on it, especially because the man behind the film, the director, was none other than Salim Ahamed, who had given us the very brilliant ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’. Moreover Salim Ahamed was teaming up with an ace performer like Mammootty. That justified the expectations doubly enough… But, I feel sorry to say that ‘Kunjananthante Kada’, though it discusses something really important and relevant in today’s scenario, doesn’t impress much as a film. It just fizzles out…
Kunjananthante Kada (Kunjananthan’s shop) is a point of reference, a landmark for the people of Vattipuram, a small village in Northern Kerala. Kunjananthan (Mammootty) has a strong attachment to the shop that he had inherited from his father, but the owner of the building, Balakrishnan Nambiar (Siddique), who has been a friend to Kunjananthan’s late father, wants him to vacate it. Kunjananthan, who leads a very unhappy married life, has a small family comprising of his wife Chithira (Nyla Usha) and their two kids. He is an idealist of sorts, though he could even be seen as a misfit in today’s fast changing world. But he sticks to his own ways. He talks of ideals in a world where it’s all seen as mere empty talk and he even dares to question injustice at times. At night, after closing his shop, he sticks a few notices on walls around his shop, on issues and matters of social concern. Life goes on thus for Kunjananthan, his family and of course others too in the village when all of a sudden, like a bolt from the blue, Kunjananthan and other shop owners are asked by the government authorities to vacate their shops for a road development project.
The second half of the film has its focus on this issue and pits Kunjananthan and team against the government authorities and policies, but ends on a very different and unexpected note…
I wouldn’t say anything, either for or against, what Salim Ahamed strives to say through the film. But the way he treats the theme, especially in the latter half of the film, is what has to be discussed here, in this review.
The movie begins to appeal to us in its opening sequences, but slowly, this appeal wanes away and by the time we are into the second half, it fails to hold our interest. It seems to drag on and we even feel exhausted at times. The backdrop against which the story is set, the way Kunjananthan and the other characters are portrayed and the way the story is introduced- all seem good and promising. But then, somewhere down the line, the script goes all wrong and the film fails to make an impact…
So, to those of us who expected to find something better than or at least at par with ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, ‘Kunjananthante Kada’ is no doubt a disappointment…
Performance
Mammootty lives up to expectations; he is really good as Kunjananthan. Nyla Usha is good as Chithira while the rest of the cast lends able support. Siddique is good while Balachandra Menon doesn’t have much to do.
Technical aspects
Ace cinematographer Madhu Ambat has done a splendid job of the camera-work. The frames, no doubt, are a treat to watch.
Music
Background score, by Issac Thomas Kottukapally, is very much in tune with the mood and the tempo. The song ‘Shararanthal…” is a typical M.Jayachandran number and may not last long in our minds…
Script
Well, this is perhaps the only area where things have gone utterly wrong for ‘Kunjananthante Kada’. Salim Ahamed perhaps forgot that a good script is what makes a movie perfect. The story idea, the thought behind it is good, but the script plays foil to a great extent and I am sure the film won’t make much of an impact even at the box office.
Direction
Sorry, am at a loss of words. Don’t know what to say about this effort of Salim Ahamed. I would want to appreciate his choice of subject, but the way he has treated it, at the writer’s level and also at the director’s level, has perhaps rendered the film ineffectual. Better luck next time!
Verdict- Begins on a good note, but fizzles out after half time. Doesn’t make an impact!
Rating: 2.5/5