Vedi Vazhipadu Malayalam Movie
Shambhu Purushothaman's directorial debut 'Vedivazhipadu' is a lesson in debauchery and comes with an anticipatory bail for the moralists to stay off the film. Perhaps being not much of a moralist, the film held a few surprises for me, none of which could however compromise for the twiddling script that played a real spoilsport.
On the auspicious day of the Atuukal Pongala, three men - Rahul (Murali Gopy), Sanjay (Saiju Kurup) and Pradip (Sreejith Ravi) - in Trivandrum are busy making inauspicious plans. With their wives out in the hot sun to offer Ponkala, the men get busy cooking beef, having a few drinks and all this with some incredible female company.
It takes quite a long while for the plot to unfold, and sometimes it seems a bit too long. There are almost four thread lines running simultaneously in the film, of which at least two go totally awry. The central narrative of the three men holed up in the apartment with the sexual appetite of a bull does offer hilarity once in a while.
However the other story lines involving the wives suffer from some real bad writing. Like for instance there is Resmi (Anusree), the television journalist, warding off the advances of a new channel head or Vidya (Mythili) who inadvertently slips into a fling with her husband's best friend. Riddled with cliches, none of these threads make much of a move forward.
The latter half is all about erectile dysfunctions, condoms, fetishes, perversions, marital discord, extramarital affairs, casual flings, hitting out, rejections and what not. I wouldn't really call it gross; its isn't. And in fact, there are a few genuinely side-splitting moments too amidst all this business that is strictly for adults.
I would be honest and tell you that I laughed my guts out at least on a couple of occasions. With ruminations of sex ruling the entire brain, the men compete with each other to display their prowess, and it's funny that everything goes on a downslide (pun intended) all on a sudden, when a catastrophe is in sight. Sex, and thoughts of it, appear revolting.
I wouldn't say its offensive and neither does it seem to be that it has intruded into religious sentiments in any manner. The much revered Ponkala is more of a backdrop in the film, and its focus is instead on the three sex-starved husbands who try to make most of the holiday that is at their disposal, with their wives away from home.
If there is one person who has managed to hold her head real high amidst all this clamor about having a quick lay, its Anumol. The actress truly deserves a standing ovation for having accepted a role that very few actresses would even dare to touch with a barge pole. The dialogues that she delivers are audacious by any standard, and with a smirk that is constantly in place, and with a smile that looks all set to break free from the corner of her lips, she brings the hooker to life, and how!
Of the men, Murali Gopy, Sreejith Ravi and Saiju Kurup are all impressive, and put in their bits to see to it that the characters that they play are delivered intact. Indrajith, however, appears a tad too impassive, while Mythili and Anusree come up with slightly plastic performances, (no) thanks to their highly underwritten roles.
Those of you who expect 'Vedivazhipadu' to go 'Boom' might be disappointed. At best, the cracker splutters a bit before it resignedly goes dead, never to blast again.
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