Avan Chaandiyude Makan Malayalam Movie
Avan Chandiyude Makan, the Thulaseedaas-directed film that has been pending release for long, was finally released a couple of weeks back. It is to be noted that the film is very different from the earlier films of the director, who had focused mainly on making light entertainers for the family audience.
Avan Chandiyude Makan speaks on one plane about the clash between a father and son, the rich and arrogant Chandy Sebastian and his young son, Kurian, who is as adamant as his father in many matters. At the same time it also narrates the story of the feud between two families - the Thattekaad family represented by Chandy and Kurian and the Peralithaanam family represented by Kunjukochu and his sons.
Chandy Sebastian is a prosperous rubber merchant who has always taken pride in having made it to the top unaided. He was accused of having killed his own wife, whom he loved very dearly, but the court had acquitted him. He likes his three daughters Aleyamma, Kochurani and Sophie, but has disowned one of his daughters Susanna, who had become a nun, but had given up the holy robes and had married against his wishes.
His son Kurian too lives away from him due to certain differences that had risen between them. When Susanna, now widowed, returns home with her kids, Chandy refuses to accept her and even insults her harshly. Kurian returns, intend on getting his father accept Susanna back into the family.
In the meantime Peralithaanam Kunjukochu starts making moves against Chandy. He wants Kurian to join him, but Kurian blatantly refuses this, saying that he is not an enemy of his father, though he has certain differences with him. But there are people close to Chandy who are hand in glove with Kunjukochu and his group. What follows forms the plot of Avan Chandiyude Makan.
The highlight of the film is the performance of Vijayaraghavan as Chandy and the performance of Prithviraj as Kurian. Both of them have put life into their respective characters and deserve appreciation. Leading lady Sreedevika as Shobha (who is the daughter of Chandy's friend and Police Constable Soman Pillai and who later gets married to Kurian) is passable. Cochin Haneefa as Sophie's father-in-law and Chandy's manager Chacko is his very usual self and scores in his own way.
Kalasala Babu as Kunjukochu is a good choice. P. Sreekumar as Soman Pillai, Shobha Mohan as Soman Pillai's wife, Rekha as Aleyamma, Sona Nair as Susanna, Augustine as Chandy's aide Kunjaria, Usha as Kochurani, Saadique as Kochurani's husband Paul, Anil Murali as the Sub Inspector Hari - all have done their respective roles well.
As for the songs penned by Gireesh Puthencherry and set to tune by Sanjeev Lal, "Maamboo pookkum kaalam…" and "Kuruthola peeli perunnaal…" are good though not outstanding. Cinematography by K.P.Nambiathiri is in tune with the subject.
Avan Chandiyude Makan raises our expectations in the beginning, but fails to do justice to those expectations through the length of the film. The second half moves along predictable lines, though it is well shot and well narrated. The film doesn't elicit booing from the audience and is a rather watchable movie, at least for the sake of the performances by Vijayaraghavan and Prithviraj.
