I Love Me Malayalam Movie
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A fair amount of curiosity and expectation were generated when B. Unnikrishnan and his team got off the blocks for their new cinematic venture, with an appealing and novel title 'I Love Me'. It is a basic trait in every human being, he/she loves himself/herself foremost, so the title gave the impression that something very interesting is on the anvil. But in the end it proved to be flattery that ended in deception. Hard to find many reasons to love this venture from Unnikrishnan and team.
Rammohan (Anoop Menon) a business tycoon based in Bangkok has fallen on bad times and is gutted to see his empire being usurped by a baddie money lender. With a grey and shabby hair and an intense demeanor and an all pervading air of mystery, Rammohan the shattered businessman decides to arrest his slide and win back his empire by hatching a mysterious and diabolic plot.
Two youngsters Savio and Prem (Unni Mukundan and Asif Ali respectively) who are small time thugs and fraudsters, who struggle to make headway in their hometown Kochi, walk into the well laid trap of Rammohan, who finds them tailor made for his mission. They are offered a fortune if they successfully carry out his mission. In walks Isha Talwar, the 'Thattathin Marayathu' beauty, only to complicate matters and mystify the already hazy plot. By the time interval arrives, the viewers may be excused in believing that something interesting is on the cards and that a jaw dropping suspense awaits them at the climax.
Sadly twists and turns go haywire moving on, and by the time denouement arrives it turns out to be a damp squib. Twists and turns will enthuse the viewers to an extent, if they are handled with care and are smartly weaved into a plot that has some depth. Sadly neither Sethu the scenarist nor Unnikrishnan the director has burned their midnight oil to ensure that they delivered a crisp thriller which is entertaining. There are some good moments and scenes of hilarity but they are few and far between.
It is not clear why this movie was titled 'I Love Me', as there is no instance of, any among the lead characters having any narcissistic streak or excessive love for the self. If anything, they are all driven by a passion for money, and love if at all is there, are in the form of friendships or that for the spouse. The deep attachment of Savio to his single mother played by Vanitha is a case in point.
Anoop Menon has always acquitted himself well whenever he is presented with characters of this sort, that demand a stony face and robotic movements and story is no different here. Unni Mukundan looks handsome and his macho looks are made use of in some meaningless fights. Asif Ali is his usual self, in a role that offers him nothing new. It is high time that this youngster rediscovered himself and move on from the roles of pranksters and fraudsters. Isha Talwar looks totally out of place, as she doesn't look half as gorgeous as in 'Thattathin Marayathu' and her performance is inept. Biju Pappan, who has played baddie roles in many movies, is the latest actor who tries to tickle the funny bone with a fair degree of success. Rest of the cast just goes through the motions.
Music department is handled by Harinarayanan and Deepak Dev rather ordinarily, with no song being hummable. The buzzing and enticing city of Bangkok is ably captured to frames by Satheesh Kurup. Technical aspects of the movie including editing are good as is the case with any modern movie which is not short of funds.
After delivering a decent film like Grandmaster B.Unnikrishnan would not have done him or Malayalam Cinema any harm if this half baked attempt was not forced to be born. Watching this movie can't be termed as masochism, but at a time when novel themes and experiments are filling our screens, this one just doesn't impress. It is a truism, one never ceases to love oneself, but when it comes to movies there is choice and this addition to the long chain of movies which arrives and passes by without making any impact, will soon fade into oblivion. Rest assured your love for the medium of cinema will not be enhanced even a wee bit, as the end credits of 'I Love Me' start rolling.
