John Honai Malayalam Movie
The crowds that had gathered around to watch the late night show of 'John Honai' were surprising, since here was a film that had appeared out of the blue with minimal publicity, and which had yet managed to rake up the interest of a few viewers.
When half of them walked out of the theatre by the time the interval card came up, it was obvious that they had expected a sequel to the 'In Harihar Nagar' series, and were plain dejected that the film had audaciously adopted just a recognizable name to generate some curiosity.
Thus, 'John Honai' has nothing at all to do with the much adored Siddique - Lal film, and instead brings in a new character named Honai (Siddique), who apparently is some dreaded goon, roaming around with his two dim-witted aides (Kottayam Naseer and Kalabhavan Shaju). They are in Dubai to redeem a few crores of rupees that they had lost to three youngsters, John, Jaffer (Kalabhavan Navas) and Janardhanan (Sreekumar).
It's another matter altogether, that 'John Honai' has managed to bring in all the familiar faces from 'In Harihar Nagar', though individually each of them gets to play a role that has nothing to do with the original comedy film that is considered a classic in its genre.
Thus Jagadeesh makes an appearance as a stuttering bank manager, Siddique as Honai, Mukesh as Sreenivasan, a cop hot on his trail and Ashokan too in an inconsequential role that seems to have been invented merely to rework the four-member friends gang from Harihar Nagar. That they have absolutely nothing to do with Harihar Nagar or the John Honai from the film is what makes this cinematic effort real crass.
For that matter, 'John Honai' doesn't have a story of its own to tell either. It is shot against the urban cityscape of Dubai, and brings in a female character as well (Malavika), with no purpose whatsoever. She is supposed to be a tourist guide in Dubai, who instead breaks into a song and starts romping along the streets of Dubai with John, Jaffer and Janardhanan in tow.
It's all acceptable when one realizes that the film has no intention to go any further than the preliminary inquisitiveness that it had raised in our minds. When it reaches the climax, it even starts resembling an open air play that instructs all its actors to turn up in a line so that the viewers would miss none of them.
Why on earth would all these actors come together to do a film as 'John Honai' is beyond our ordinary comprehension, and all that they have managed to do is to ruin even those fond memories of 'In Harihar Nagar' that we hold close to our hearts. Apart from Siddique, none of the other actors are around much though, and disappear sooner or later having appeared in what seem like cameos.
'John Honai' is a freewheeling folly that has been set in motion with no intention to impress or amuse. Banking heavily on a household name, it might successfully manage to lure a few viewers into the cinema halls, but is unlikely to keep them entertained in there.
MOVIE REVIEWS