Naan Petta Makan Malayalam Movie
The visual translation of a controversial incident from the life of a teenager has been given a one-sided view here. Much has been borrowed from the real life of Abhimanyu, who was stabbed to death following a fracas at the campus of Maharajas College in Ernakulam in 2018. The campus politics activist's life gets a visual treatment from the hands of director Saji S Palamel and that remains to be more or less a canvas of Abhimanyu's character and good deeds.
Written by the director, 'Naan Petta Makan' devotes the lion's share of its time to focus on the private life and college life of Abhimanyu, played by Minon John in the movie. Hailing from the picturesque hilltop village, Vattavada, in Idukki district, Abhimanyu is ambitious in his personal matters and compassionate in his social life. He extends his help to the villagers and even to his seniors in the college hostel. With his pleasant demeanour and good intentions, Abhimanyu becomes a popular figure in Maharajas College.
His father Dharmarajan (Sreenivasan) expects his son to be a breadwinner of the family through education. Even in his city life, Abhimanyu is conscious of supporting his poor family consisting of a brother and a sister. He enquires for a job from a supplier of workers, Unni (Sidhartha Siva), who helps him find a job at night. Meanwhile, Abhimanyu's acquaintance with former student union activist Nelson Christo (Joy Mathew) brings a great change in his outlook. As an industrious teenager, he gradually becomes an activist of SFY in college and it brings more troubles in his life.
Minon John has given a remarkable appearance with a convincing performance. He is tremendously at ease in the garb of the protagonist and it is equally relatable. The visuals of Kunjunni. S. Kumar are noteworthy and adorable. This is the cinematic adaptation of a true event in which a student was stabbed to death at the campus. In a tale with political hues, 'Naan Petta Makan' struggles to take a disinterested stance and ends up on compromising mode.
'Naan Petta Makan' is certainly spirited, and almost admirable in its undiluted portrayal of a true event but the vital supplements in the premise of the tale are hardly sufficient to elevate the proceedings. It demands a revision from the perspective of a third person to make the narration more gripping. It's competent but even complacent at times, shying away from tracing the other factors related to the story. Its overwhelming blandness ultimately sinks the film without creating an impression in a big way.
MOVIE REVIEWS