Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil Malayalam Movie
Once again, marriage and its cinematic pandemonium become the favourite topic for director Vipin Das as his film 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' showcases the arduous task of two youngsters to tie the knot. The director, who returns after the sleeper-hit 'Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey,' picks up marriage as the theme for his new film, written by Deepu Pradeep. The background is perfectly carved for the tale that attains a rising action before destined to embrace a nose-diving pattern in the denouement part. As a family package infested with comic scenes, the movie appears to be tottering due to lack of a solid writing in its critical areas. The conflict never appears to be pretty serious and the attempt to compensate for it with humour works only in parts. It takes off well with a lot of potential in the plot, but the sheen is dwindling in the decisive portions.
'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' follows the life of an expatriate, Vinu Ramachandran, played by Basil Joseph, who comes to his home state for his marriage with Anjaly (Anaswara Rajan). Interestingly, an intense rapport develops between Vinu and Anjaly's brother Anandan, played by Prthviraj Sukumaran, over the phone. Vinu, who is bearing the pangs of a broken romance, becomes so close to his brother-in-law and he turns to him for advice to get rid of the mental conflict. As their bond thickens over the phone, Vinu advises Anandan to reunite with his wife before Anjaly's marriage. Anandan, who considers Vinu as the most dear brother-in-law, brings back his wife Parvathy (Nikhila Vimal) back home followed by the petering of Vinu.
When Vinu reaches home for his marriage, a new crisis crops up in his life and it makes things go out of his hand. A few characters are introduced at this juncture, but they all are assigned to perform as idiotic individuals while triggering comedy in vain. The first half of 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' is promising due to its riveting premise and impending conflict in the tale. But the latter half is lumbered with lifeless writing and inconsequential scenes.
This movie places Prithviraj on a different terrain by exposing his flexibility in a relatively lighter role. His temperament in transformation helps him sustain his timing while doing comic scenes. Again, Basil is exhilarating to watch as his natural flow in performance highly amps up the proceedings. His combination with Prithviraj rightly rams up the film, extending its longevity to an extent. Nikhila Vimal has a vital role with a grave demeanour and she has accomplished it well. Jagadish, who plays Anandan's father Sudevan, is impressive in his depiction of the character that has shades of humour.
The mishmash as well as the commotion motion in the climax simply rakes up the memories of the slapstick comedies of the 90's. Here, the melee in front of the temple that is intended to be the harbinger of a riveting epilogue turns out to be an absolute farce, leaving the viewers into the morass. The presence of Tamil actor Yogi Babu fails to add any impact on the progress of the tale and his marriage story that connects Vinu's involvement is a farfetched episode. A potential context is perfectly set for this comic drama initially but the way over the board attempt to spruce it up with slapstick humour in the conflict makes the film bite the dust.
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