My Big Father Malayalam Movie
For the couple of odd hours that I was watching My Big Father, I was actually wondering if the film was trying to be empathetic to its lead actor who is a dwarf. Soon it was pretty obvious that the film makers had no such intentions in their minds, and instead were merely on the lookout for cooking up some insane laughter.
The story is pretty lame. Kunjumon (Pakru) is worried that his son Alby (Jayaram) finds it difficult to get a bride, because his father happens to be a dwarf. Along breezes in Ancy (Kaniha) who captures Alby's heart. They do get married, but it turns out that Kunjumon inadvertently plays foil to their plans of leading a peaceful life.
The film tries a bit too hard to keep us entertained from the start to the finish. The dramatic turn of events that comes midway around, is a pointer to the fact that they have surely run out of ideas. The rest of the film is like a loose hanging appendage that looks all set to drop off any moment.
Most of the jokes in My Big Father are about being small. So we have Pakru being tossed about, shoved into suitcases, pushed into cradles and pampered with feeding bottles. There are also any number of verbal insults being hurled on him, that could be taken as jokes or as sheer tasteless attempts at humor.
If it would bring laughter to you, seeing Pakru scampering after Kaniha insisting that he be fed along with her new born baby, then this is the film for you. If you are on the other hand looking for more serious themes as social isolation in here, you are totally in the wrong place watching the wrong film.
My Big Father is strikingly similar to Tiptoes (2003) and suffers from the very same glitches that the latter film has. The premise that it heavily banks on, never really has a solid base in the first place. And with a plot that is all set to crumble into pieces, this father son duo don't seem all set for a winning streak at the box office.
There is no denying the honest performances from Jayaram and Pakru in the film. They are quite good, though this certainly isn't an opportunity to display their abilities. Its sad really since Pakru is as convincing as he can get in a film that is as goofy as it can get. Kaniha knows for sure that Ancy is no Kaitheri Makkam, and goes about her business with a casual coldness.
It has come to a point when anything and perhaps everything can be marketed under the guise of providing some mirth. Unfortunately dwarfism is the dartboard in My Big Father. It seemed more like an insult package to me rather than a considerate film that looks hard at the issue at hand.
