Kunjiramayanam, the latest Malayalam film plays out like a series of incidents in a village filled with superstition believing residents who believe their village is incidentally cursed.The film starts of with a hummable melody showcasing the different facets of the village residents till we are introduced to the lead players.
Vineeth Srinivasan playing Kunjiraman has a score to settle with Lalu played by Dhyan Srinvisan due to a petty squabble over a porn film.The fight tears the families apart and Kunji's garrulous and sarcastic mother and Lalu's father who believes in blowing his own trumpet with his old made up stories from his experiences in Dubai also can't see eye to eye.This directly affects Kunji's innocent and long term love for Lalu's sister Thankamani( the director cleverly introduces us to her only in the last reels).Then there is Kuttan the tailor whom Lalu epitomizes and lands the former in trouble after trouble.The pre intermission portion lays too much stress on Salsa junction and the alcohol beverage by the same name while the latter steers towards the curse of marriages breaking in the cursed village.Humor, wit and sarcasm are layered well into the characters who seem fleshed out in a refreshing manner.
Technically the film hits the right spots while the acting is uniformly interesting and nice so much so that Kunjiraman's buddies hog screen space with relish( reminded me of Premam but set in a village of dimwits).While Dhyaan has the chocolate boy looks and puppy dog expression throughout, Vineeth gets a more meatier role which he carries with aplomb.The actors essaying the characters of KunjiRaman's mother AND his two male buddies, Lalu's father, Kuttan and Biju Menon in a special appearance towards the end are brillaint and effective.
A pleasant one time watch..for its a film made with more heart than head.