Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti Malayalam Movie
Very rarely does a film live up to its name as 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti', which is a straight , hard tumble down the wrong stairway! Whichever way you look at it, 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' does little more than fling one tossed off idea after the other at your face, even as you duck around to save your dear life.
Vinayan (Kunchacko Boban) operates the projector at Sridevi Talkies run by Madhavettan (Renji Panicker). He eagerly awaits the release of a new film, since it would unquestionably mark the arrival of his love Sridevi (Shyamili) to watch it, though accompanied by her formidable dad Bhagavan (Suresh Krishna) who carries nothing less than a German pistol around.
Rishi Shivakumar probably had his hopes pinned on the formulaic buddy plot, and must have thought that it would work wonders with those nostalgic elements thrown in. But it simply isn't enough that the calendar affirms that it's the nineties, when nothing else - neither the language used nor the hairdos or the costumes - suggest that it all happens a good fifteen years back.
As if to prove a point, there are the films within the film - 'Vandanam' and 'Kottayam Kunjachan' - that are rerun, trying hard to elicit those claps yet again from those yesteryear hits. That it successfully does, but what makes it further more unacceptable is that 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' makes no attempt to raise itself anywhere near those lofty standards that it so much is obsessed with!
It is appalling to note that 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' could boast of infinitesimally low entertainment value, despite having a truck load of actors around. It's a circus where almost everyone tries to be at his craziest best (or worst), and the jokes never arrive. Nor do those scenes that would make you sit up and nod your heads in agreement.
The endless buffoonery that goes on in the first half does make one stop and wonder if it has any intention at all of adding up to something meaningful. It becomes quickly apparent that the film's intent is much different, and the flimsy, irrelevant sequences that are repeated (like the umpteen confrontation scenes between the two rival gangs that reach nowhere) make you drop your jaws in disbelief!
Kunchacko Boban does a decent job yet again, and so do the supporting actors as Manoj K Jayan, Renji Panicker and Saiju Kurup, just to mention a few. The bolt from the blue comes in the form of Shyamili, who looks terribly out of place in the film, and comes up with a highly uninspiring act. She looks stunning, but that's as far as she gets and literally stuns us with her exceedingly blown up expressions!
Amidst all this racket, it remains that 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' is a visually stunning film, thanks to some amazingly peppy frames by Kunjunni S Kumar. Here is a man to look out for who proves beyond doubt that he is a cinematographer with an uncanny eye for visual grandeur. Sooraj S Kurup has without doubt managed to rake up a pretty fine musical score, but in 'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' the songs are all over the place in no particular order and with no purpose whatsoever.
'Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti' has not just got its spots and twirls wrong, the lines and curves are all off beam as well. Sadly it strikes us as little more than a big cast, bigger ideas and the biggest production values, all gone to a phenomenal waste.