Nivedyam Malayalam Movie
Nivedhyam directed by Lohithadas is a big let down, coming as it does from a director of his repute. The film has as the central character young Mohanakrishnan, the son of a noted writer, who unfortunately committed suicide leaving his family in a miserable plight. Mohanakrishnan takes it upon himself to look after his aged mother and his younger sister, who is not physically well. He does many odd jobs to serve this end and it is in the course of this that he gets noted by famed poet-cum-lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.
Kaithapram is camping in a guest house along with director Sibi Malayil and music composer M. Jayachandran, composing songs for a film. Mohanakrishnan and his gang of carpenters create a lot of noise making it impossible for Kaithapram to compose the song. And when Kaithapram talks harshly with them, they even go to the extent of singing and dancing on the streets, following which Kaithapram rings up the cops and gets them arrested. Then only does Kaithapram come to know that Mohanakrishnan is the son of the very same man who had helped him begin his career. He bails Mohanakrishnan out and even decides to help him.
Kaithapram gives Mohanakrishnan a letter and sends him to Rama Varma Thampuran, once a noted musician, asking the latter to employ Mohanakrishnan in his factory. But since the factory is locked out, Rama Varma Thampuran is not in a position to employ Mohanakrishnan. At the same time the aged priest of the village temple, which is looked after by Rama Varma Thampuran, comes to inform him that his ill-health prevents him from performing his task well. And thus Mohanakrishnan, who is already sent away, is called back and asked to assist as a junior priest. Thus Mohanakrishnan is lodged in the temple.
With his arrival, things at the temple change completely. Devotees, mostly young women, flock to the temple and the temple gets a better income. Many girls, including Rama Varma Thampuran's daughter, fall in love with Mohanakrishnan, called by all as Krishna. But Mohanakrishnan falls for the young Satyabhama, who along with her grandmother, makes Pappads and goes about selling them for a living. Bhama, as she is called, has an ill-reputation since she was born out of an illicit relationship. What all happens subsequently forms the rest of the plot.
Vinu Mohan, who makes his debut as Mohanakrishnan is good and suits his role. The new girl Bhama as Satyabhama doesn't impress much. Bharath Gopi as Rama Varma Thampuran and Nedumudi Venu as the temple priest excel in their roles. None of the others in the cast impress us in any way. All the songs have come out very well and have been well visualized too, especially the "Chittatinkaavil…" and "Odakuzhal viliketto…" which are in true Lohithadas style. Cinematography, editing and art-work are among the high points of the film.
The sad thing about the movie is that, the writer (Lohithadas himself) couldn't come up with a good story line. He deserves to be applauded for having moulded the lead character as someone very akin to the mythical Krishna and finding an apt hero for the character. But the story seems to have gone out of control and just peters out. The second half of the film tries our patience beyond all limits. We expected something better from Lohithadas!
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