Vellari Pravinte Changaathi Movie Review

Vellaripravinte Changathi Review

 

 Call it reminiscence, retrospection or recollection, but Malayalam Cinema seems to be living in the past these days. We had remakes of old films, stories set in the past and stories dwelling in to the history of cinema. The latest to join the band wagon is 'Vellaripravinte Changathi' directed by Akku Akbar with Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and Manoj K Jayan in the lead.
Manikunju (Indrajith), whose father Augustine Joseph(Ramu) used to be a director, goes to Chennai to try his luck in films and to resurrect his father’s dreams. In the process, he stumbles in to an old print of a film which his father had directed thirty years back titled “Vellaripravinte Changathi”. Manikunju shows the copy to Lal Release who, having been impressed by the movie and the vision of the directror, agrees to take up the distribution of the film.
The preview of the film is shown and we, the audience, watch it as a movie within a movie. It is the story of Ravi(Dilip) and Sulekha(Kavya Madhavan) who are in love but whose romance is bound to end in tragedy. As the film reaches it’s climax, Manikunju realizes suddenly that the film is left incomplete because the acting pair in the movie, Shajahan(Dilip) and Mary Varghese(Kavya Madhavan) were in love with each other in real life as well and they had run away on the final day of the shooting without leaving a trace. Though the film is released after thirty years fulfilling his father,s hopes, Manikunju was curious to know the fate of the lovers who had disappeared.
The story is promising, and there is enough suspense to hold the interest of the viewer but ultimately, the film fails to deliver. There are distinct and different periods and moods in the movie which demand disparate levels of acting from the artists and if these levels do not compliment each other, even if one part fails to deliver, the whole film would be let down. In fact, it is fair to say that the film inside the film fares much better and the director Augustine Joseph’s (Ramu), directorial talents and his vision and far-sightedness are shown in favourable light. Unfortunately, the real movie trundles along the expected lines , without any surprise, any twists, and at the end, the feeling is one of disappointment.
Credit should be given to director Akku Akbar and story writer G.S.Anil for trying to depart from the beaten track but somehow they have failed to convince the audience. Vipin Mohan and Sameer Huq, the cinematographers have done a good job and music by Mohan Sithara is nostalgic to say the least.
Barring some sub-standard mimicry and bizarre make-up towards the end, Dileep has delivered. Kavya Madhavan is too predictable and repetitive and fails to act according to the times. Others in the casting, Manoj K Jayan, Indrajith, Sai Kumar, Vijayaraghavan, Ramu and Mamukoya, Anil Murali, Seenath have done justice to their roles.
The director has done a lot of home work which is evident when you watch the movie. But for all his hard work, there is a lack of perfection which is saddening.
Verdict: Average.