Shakespeare M.A. Malayalam Malayalam Movie

Shakespeare MA Malayalam appears maddeningly disjointed on occasions, but remarkably amusing at others. Its a mixed bag of emotions at play here that will have you hooked most of the time. May 17, 2008 By Veeyen

Shakespeare MA Malayalam appears maddeningly disjointed on occasions, but remarkably amusing at others. Its a mixed bag of emotions at play here that will have you hooked most of the time, and you have a delightful comedy that's brought to life by a fine cast and a creative director duo at its helm.

Shakespeare Pavithran (Jayasurya) is an Award winning playwright battling the writer's block. Off he goes to the rustic locales in search of a story, accompanied by a lunatic gang of actors dying to take the stage by storm. Pavithran gets all set with his pen, and along comes Alli (Roma), the village lass with a truck load of troubles and more in store. As Alli puts up a royal fight against the odds, Pavithran the onlooker, waits anxiously on his toes for the denoument of his new play.

The film never binds itself into a perfect whole; rather its a whole lot of comic instances thrown together into a slightly different mould. Its a chaotic style of movie making, that's enjoyable nevertheless, and resolutions are showered on you non-stop. It never takes itself that serious and doesn't for a moment demand that you do so either. There is real ambition here as well as a real shoddy brilliance, as ironic as it may sound.

You just cannot miss those obvious references to names that you have heard before. And it's all in jest ofcourse. So along with Shakespeare Pavithran, you have a Nayanthara, a Thoothukkudi Thulasidas, a Madhumohanan, a Junior ONV, Unni Mary and a host of others in reference and in character. Perhaps its a new trend in personal parody, but surprisingly, it does work most of the time.

Barring an odd instance, most of the humor in the film is interwoven into the narrative. At times, it does get a bit crass, but all can be forgiven in the merry ambience that the film manages to whip up. This is a film that takes a good half an hour to bring its hero out of cover, and yet manages to keep you fairly engaged. Its indeed true that there's a party going on here; and its a fun collective. Hence the lead pair of Jayasurya and Roma does pretty good, to be fair to them, and yet they are never the focal point. Which is charming really, since you are spared the trouble of having to gape at yet another romantic tale with indifference.

Almost everyone from the incredible Jagathy Sreekumar to the indispensable Suraj Venjaramoodu are at their best here. I did have a few wonderful laughs, courtesy Salim Kumar who has pencilled that hilarious role of an actor craving for a warm embrace from his female leads, to perfection. Anoop Chandran is another equally efficient artiste who has been continually coming up with proficient performances. As the School of Drama product awed by the perplexities of life, Anoop is a true delight to watch.

It should be admitted that the movie has an absolutely irreverant air to it, that makes it quite street smart. You have it, and have it on your face, right there and no apologies. Almost everyone around seems to be having a blast, and its amazing that somewhere within this chaotic scenario a sense of order is finally reached. As it is, it has a few real people, a few funny scenes and a few real insights, which is infinitely more than we could bargain for these days.