Vellathooval Malayalam Movie

The film has an OK kind of story for its plot. But there is nothing new in it, story-wise, treatment wise, or theme-wise. May 27, 2009 By Thomas T

I.V. Sasi is has been one of the most prominent and prolific of mainstream filmmakers in Kerala, having directed films of all kinds. While many of them were super-hits and some of them could be ranked among the most memorable of Malayalam movies, some of his recent works have been extremely poor, making you ponder why he should be making such films at all. His recent release 'Vellathooval' is one of this genre and a total waste of a movie. The film has an OK kind of story for its plot. But there is nothing new in it, story-wise, treatment wise, or theme-wise.

'Vellathooval' tells the story of a girl named Jiya (Nithya) and a boy named Manu (Rejith Menon). While Jiya has rich parents, Manu's mother is poor and his step-father a heartless drunkard. Jiya's father James (Laloo Aalex) and grandmother Mrs. Koshy (Sreelatha) have always been pampering her, while her mother Liza (Seema) has always been finding fault with her and is ever ready to scold her. And whenever she gets scolded by her mother, Jiya simply leaves home and goes somewhere, to her uncle's house (her uncle, played by Ganesh Kumar, is the City Police Commissioner) or to Manu's house, only to come back after her parents spend a few anxious hours.

After her husband's untimely death Manu's mother Sophia (Seetha) had brought into her life a man called Zachariah (Vijayaraghavan). But Zachariah turns out to be an irresponsible drunkard who makes life hell for Sophia and Manu. At a juncture, fed up with the atrocities of his step-father, Manu decides to go away and find a job. At the very same time, Jiya steps out of her house after another quarrel with her mother. But this time she is determined to teach her mother a lesson and decides to take her time coming back. Jiya gets on to Manu's bike and asks him to take her along. Though Manu advises Jiya to go back home, she refuses. Thus begins a trip that's destined to change their lives.

Though it doesn't seem new or different, there's nothing wrong with the story. It could however have been made interesting had it been treated differently. On the performance side too the film is not up to the mark. 'Goal' fame Rejith Menon and 'Akashagopuram' fame Nithya are apt choices for the lead role. But Nithya's dialogue delivery is extremely poor. Her performance too falters at many places. Rejith is OK. Seetha, Ganesh, Laloo Alex, Sreelatha, Vijayaraghavan and Jagathy Sreekumar have done their respective roles well. Seema as the heroine's mother is good, but someone else should have dubbed for her.

Technically the film is average. The songs don't have much impact. You get nothing new out of 'Vellathooval', either on the story side, or on the treatment side. The film on the whole lacks appeal and can very well be avoided.