Al Mallu Malayalam Movie

Feature Film | 2020 | Drama, Romantic, Thriller | 2h 8min
Critics:
Audience:
Al Mallu' follows a woman expatriate living in the UAE and her struggles to cope with her mental conflict after a bitter incident. There is hardly any depth and focus in this woman-centric tale, which gets an ordinary and tedious treatment.
Jan 19, 2020 By K. R. Rejeesh


Writer-director Boban Samuel's 'Al Mallu' is a superficial journey through the lives of Malayali expatriates in the UAE. The thread of the film offers scope for exploring a woman's conflict when she is pursued by her counterpart. But the screenplay is not tight enough and it deviates from seriously approaching the topic. Nayana, played by Namita Pramod, fears the blackmailing of a man using a video clip of hers but from the audience's perspective, the problem acts as the core conflict of the movie only in parts.


Nayana tries to come out of the shock from the incident with the help of Diya (Sheelu Abraham) and her roommates. Sreedhar (Harris), who is a timid and introvert youth, joins her office and they become friends within no time. Nayana also initiates efforts to change the shy demeanour of Sreedhar, who stays along with Pereira (Dharmajan Bolgatty) at Fazal's (Midhun) apartment. Eventually, their relationship moves towards the perfunctory affair.


A highly obedient son, Sreedhar has a haunting past back home. Debutant Harris is too far from absorbing the nuances of the character and it has affected the overall impact. Fazal, who is immersed in nostalgia, along with his wife (Varadha) has lodged his friends at his apartment. And he has his own emotional justification for that.


Namita tries her best to give life to 'Al Mallu'. It's not her emotion but willpower that grabs attention. Like all expatriates, Nayana too bears the burden of expectations of her family. Nayana becomes shattered by the suicide of one of her roommates, and the tale gets diverted again seeking the answers for it. Then the plot becomes a weird mash-up of multiple incidents.


There is an attempt to give a balance in depicting the tales of characters, and that has caused a deviation from the protagonist's conflict.


The depth and focus of this woman-centric tale go out of hand in the middle, resulting in getting an ordinary and tedious treatment. Nayana shows the courage to speak up openly, yet the narration appears to be feeble and uninteresting. Vivek Menon has captured some beautiful visuals of the Middle East country, where 'Al Mallu' is set in.

K. R. Rejeesh

   

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