Tejas Nair
Regarded as the first Malayalam film to be released worldwide in over 500 theaters, Peruchazhi could have been dubbed as a mass-murderer for numbing its audience's senses if it were not for the hardcore Mohanlal fans.In a hall with 60 to 40 ratio of Mohanlal fans and general public respectively, the former managed to clap, shout, whistle, dance, and even mob their non-Mohanlal fan neighbors while we, the general public lapsed into multiple thoughts about Mohanlal's film career. We all came up with a unanimous conclusion: that this film will do to Mohanlal what Mr. Fraud did, NOTHING. I'm positive tha Mohanlal (his Nadodikattu is my most favorite Malayalam film, FYI) will continue to do films, genres notwithstanding.Starting off with how Sunny (Vijay Babu) is desperate to find an Indian political consultant for his boss' governor campaign, the film follows his recruitment of political man of savoir-faire from Kerala, Jagannathan (Lal) and his peers (Baburaj & Aju Varghese) and how they showcase their antics in the US of A in order to succeed in the election campaign. The plot is hands down, ridiculous and that is if you find out what it is. Because, around 3 hours of running time, and all I could see is Lal exercising his portly made-up pinkish brown lips. Jagannathan is supposed to be a politics genius and he tries his local Indian ways to bring about a change in the election in California. The whole US setup is just namesake, because if you were to think about how the story unfolds, you will want to strangle the writers for coming up with such a baseless story. It is flawed, yes, but the proportion of flaws is astronomical.Since the beginning I had a bad feeling about the film because the titles took about 10 minutes to finish and had this auditory dialogs from famous Malayalam films. The jokes are hardly funny, yet the Mohanlal fans managed to overlook that and laugh their stomachs off. He wore a goggles, they clapped. He wore a suit, they clapped. He wore another goggles, they clapped. He wore the US flag as lungi, they clapped. He pouted, they clapped. He shat, they clapped and so on.The direction is bad and I have proof for that. Have you, an Indian, ever seen an American, in films, with poor acting? No, right? Well, you watch Peruchazhi and you will find dozens. The cinematography is the only thing that is average. Lighting, setup, art, music, lyrics (peruchazhi and bandicoot makes about 80% of it, probably written by BlaaZe, last heard from in Casanovva), make-up, choreography, editing, CGI, screenplay - everything is poor. To say that these were poorer than a Santhosh Pandit film would rather be an understatement.Because, the cast, from whom people now have started to expect gold are only delivering cheap copper. It is the time of newcomer directors and writers, but what made Mohanlal take up this project? Why, even the English subtitles were marred with mistakes and typos! Mr. Fraud was a 5/10 for me and when I see my own score for this flick, I am rather worried about what is happening to Malayalam films? Last year, we saw some great films in its history and now, what? Jayaram as a joker in Ulsaha Committee? Mammootty as a joker in Praise The Lord? And now Mohanlal as a joker in Peruchazhi, who falls in love with a fair- complexioned prostitute? Come on!The item song is pure cabaret and has Lal's character ogling at the supposed beauties. Few adults jokes and rants at current affairs of Kerala may have satisfied the niche. Other than few chuckles, brought about by using some famous Malayalam tracks and Lal's old film dialogs, there is nothing to consider. You may as well go and enjoy Apothecary or Mammootty's comeback film, Munariyippu instead.BOTTOM LINE: Peruchazhi, like my partner said after leaving the hall, is only for kids below the age of 10. Because, a kid named Jagannathan, who was sitting beside us was the only person who enjoyed the film the way a person enjoys a film. 2/10 for this debacle. If you were to make a robot watch this film, it would plead you to dismantle it, and after continuous forcing, would do it by itself.Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
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Well, for the movie 'Peruchazhi', I am choosing the lesser of the two evils and conclude saying, "It is a below-average no-brainer type movie with a fair bit of comedy in every nook and corner of the plot" thanks to Baburaj and Aju Vargheese. The movie starts out in an enticing fashion, throwing at us the golden dialogs from the classics of the great actor Mohanlal. But nevertheless, disappointingly, the movie continues to hide behind the shadow of the great man's great performances of the past - nothing to call as being creative or a revival of the man's splendid flair to deliver 'all time best' comedies. But Of course, you get a reason to laugh every now and then for sure, as the massive Baburaj, the villain turned comedian, pulls off some hilarious dialogs with Aju Vargeese in company. And for the ardent Mohanlal fans, there might be something in the movie as well, as he is seen rolling in full style all throughout the movie. He looks stylish and fresh to be honest. And don't worry. He hasn't really made fun out of himself, in an attempt to create fun. I don't want to reveal the easily guessable plot. But I can say this much: Any American would be irked watching this movie as it makes fun out of their ass. It is like America is a no-man's-land where you can do anything you want, wherever and whenever you want to. But I call that part fair for the exotic mockery 'Hollywood' has been making out us since quite a long time. Like in Anchorman, "Smells like Indian food in diapers" WHAT THE HELL! For those who have already made up their mind to go watch the film, I really don't want to spoil the mood and expectations. So I am wrapping it up. As I have said before, it is a total no-brainer with some cheap gimmicks used and good comedy. That's all. I won't be really calling them 'comical' if I had something else to talk about on the movie.So, guys, it comes to this: Watchable – but at own risk.
