Malayalee From India Movie Review
Malayalee From India: A tad preachy but lands in an emotionally-driven feel-good milieu
Though a tad over-stretched and preachy in narration, this film is politically sound and emotionally eloquent while presenting a Malayalee's exposure to the world.With all the political traits of his previous oeuvres, director Dijo Jose Antony makes a perfect follow-up in his latest film that explores a Malayalee's journey to the world. The lurking dangers due to the intrusion of religious fanaticism into politics and social life set the premise of 'Malayalee From India.' There are glimpses of trite treatment when the director tries to exude positive messages but fortunately, those sequences rightly blend with the conflict of the film. Moreover, Dijo presents a couple of characters, including Salim Kumar to make objective remarks about the current socio-political life.
Marked by a shoddy beginning by giving references to the care-free hero, Sharis Mohammed's screenplay attains its vital intensity in the latter part where Nivin Pauly effortlessly cashes in on the realm of performance as a protagonist. Dijo leverages the script, though a tad over-stretched, meaningfully as he diligently instills sentimental hues by quite often stressing on the need for harmony among people in a country and between nations. He has invested ample time to splatter this idea that maintains the film's genre as a political drama as well as an emotional drama.
While establishing the context of the movie, the events in the village of Alaparambil Gopi, played by Nivin, seem to be somewhat puerile. Besides, the portions of Gopi's squabble with children and his ineffective romance with Krishna, essayed by Anaswara Rajan, turn out to be the downsides of the flick. The scene of an all-party meeting chaired by District Collector Sajin Babu, played by Shine Tom Chacko, also slightly pulls the plug on the film's progress due to lack of conviction. But the eventful second half snuffs out all these shortcomings and the director accomplishes in elevating the tale by buffing up the real conflict before taking off to an emotional climax.
'Malayalee From India' follows the life of Gopi, who is a loafer and as a lethargic party worker, he focuses on election announcements for his political party. His mother Suma, played by Manju Pillai, is fed up with his aimless attitude to life. Gopi has an unreciprocated love affair with Krishna, who is very junior to him. Once Gopi along with his bosom friend Malghosh (Dhyan Sreenivasan) involves in a political case in the village and thus Gopi goes abroad with the help of his relative, played by Nandu.
After reaching the Gulf, Gopi is forced to work in a desert where his supervisor is a Pakistani national. It is a stage when Gopi realises the price of hard work and strength of relationships. Though he fails to acclimatise with the new milieu, Gopi develops a bond with the Pakistani man. Then the tale takes us to the world of humanity and harmony along with introducing the underlying conflict in it. Sticking on to its political terrain, 'Malayalee From India' also embraces the warmth of human relationships as the Pakistani man quotes the first word in Quran at the right juncture of the movie.
Riding high on Sudeep Elamon's appealing visuals, especially the locals shown as Pakistan, the film stands for a cause and it beautifully conveys it in the end. Nivin Pauly finds his rhythm in the critical part of the tale and there is a flawless flow in his performance towards the climax. Meanwhile, a tight pruning of events would have made the film more gripping. Despite being preachy and prolonged in its narration, this film is politically sound and emotionally eloquent while exploring a Malayalee's exposure to the global arena. Through the emotionally-driven feel-good climax, the film shares the hope that the stage is set for a new world with a harmonious order.
