Orange Malayalam Movie
For those of you wondering why a film should be titled 'Orange', it's the name of the lorry in the film. Pretty strange name for a giant of a vehicle as that, but as they say some questions are best left unasked.
Yakub (Kalabhavan Mani) is a lorry driver by profession, and has a beautiful small family comprising of his wife Saritha (Lena) and a teenage daughter Diya (Diya Babu). Everything in his life is hunky-dory until Babukuttan (Biju Menon) an old friend of his, lands on his door step.
One of the most enjoyable moments in 'Orange' comes around half time, when a few skeletons tumble all on a sudden out of the cupboards with the three lead characters, Yakub, Babukuttan and Saritha, gaping on in amazement. Come to think of it, it's a pretty predictable story that holds few surprises in store beyond this mid point.
Babukuttan is a hardcore sadist and his calculated moves could have made interesting film material. However it's the blandness and the familiarity of the story that works against its favor and 'Orange' has a plot that sounds quite concocted at times.
I thought it was all over, when the good indeed prevailed over the evil, and was about to walk out, when I realized that things weren't as simple as I had perceived them to be. Back I flop down on my seat and sit through another good twenty minutes before 'Orange' decides to call it a day!
Which is the reason why I thought it would have been better if everything had ended when it should rightly have. I mean, what's the point of driving your car up and up and up only to realize that the brakes have failed and watch it careen down an incline thereafter?
The best thing about 'Orange' is of course Biju Menon's performance that is not ordinary at all. Biju makes the role of Babukuttan so believable that you almost start ruing the fact that this amazing actor is yet to get his rightful due in Malayalam films. 'Orange' belongs to Biju Menon, all the way.
Lena is an actress who can come up with surprises, and in 'Orange' she doesn't disappoint a bit. Quite a contrast to Kalabhavan Mani, who with his bellowing does mess up a few scenes that actually required him to be in a state of shock. The newcomers Diya Babu and Prakash Nath who plays her love interest do really well.
Afzal Yusuf's songs are worth a mention, though I wouldn't say they have an exact reason to be there in the film. But melodious, they sure are!
Ultimately, it all comes down to a single statement. Not much of a juicy fruit, this!
