Movie: Mannaru
Genre: Commercial drama
Producer: Thamizh Pictures, Sujis Films, Rathna Films
Director: S Jaishankar
Stars: Appu Kutty, Swathi, Vaishali, Thambi Ramaiyya
Music: Udhayan
Release date: September 7, 2012
Certificate: U
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Mannaru is a film about an ordinary man who goes to help his friend and gets caught in a tough situation.
Appu Kutty is a part-time coolie, who is drunk all the time. Despite his weakness for alcohol, he falls in love with his relative, Vaishali. One day, on his way back home from work, Appu Kutty happens to see a Shakeela film and decides to spend the night at his friend’s place. At this time, his friend marries his lover Swathi after her father arranges to get her married to a corrupt politician’s son. Unwittingly, Appu Kutty turns a witness to this marriage. Soon after the marriage, the newlyweds decide to settle in Kodaikanal but on their way they get chased by Swathi’s dad. In order to escape from his clutches, the friend asks Appu Kutty to wear his clothes and go ahead with the bride.
Appu Kutty reaches Kodaikanal with his friend’s wife. Since they get no place to stay as they are not husband and wife, Swathi tells the lodge owner that Appu Kutty is indeed her husband so that they could stay in the lodge. By chance, some of Appu Kutty’s relatives also come to the same lodge and seeing him with Swathi take them to their village. Once in his village, Appu Kutty realizes that his relatives and lover Vaishali are very angry with him but he has no other option but to continue the drama.
Swathi’s real husband, in the mean time, is beaten up in the lock up and later her dad keeps him under his control. Further, Vaishali’s parents arrange a groom for her. What happens to his love and how he makes his relatives understand that Swathi is not his real wife, forms the climax.
Appu Kutty seems to be the centre-point of the entire film and so is ‘Raattinam’ Swathi. But their acting fades due to the number of illogical scenes in the film. Despite this, their acting is laudable. Apart from these two, all others have done a good job too. The cinematography and music is average. The subject has been dealt with a numerous times before. It would’ve been apt if the film was released in the 90s. Since the director has made the story in a village backdrop he should be commended. Otherwise it is an average fare.
Next post
Mannaru is director Jai Shankar’s comedy-love story, starring National Award winner Appu Kutty in the lead role. Set in the backdrop of a village, Appu Kutty appears as Mannaru, a typical and irresponsible village guy addicted to alcohol and semi-porn Shakeela movies, who often visits the city on his friend’s lorry as a labourer to unload sand. Malayalam actress Vaishali plays a village belle Mallika, who is in love with Appu Kutty and very adamant in her wish to marry him, despite opposition from everyone including her father. Actress Swathy plays a beautiful software engineer Anjali from a middle class family, who is ill-fated to hang out with Appu Kutty, pretending she is his wife.
The Story
As usual, Appu Kutty is in the city. He finds his old classmate Dineesh, who is now a software engineer, and stays in his room for a night, while the friend goes out! In the morning, Dineesh returns and without Appu Kutty’s knowledge, promptly takes him to a sub-registrar office to register his marriage with his girlfriend Anjali, whose father wants her to marry his boss, an MLA candidate in the upcoming elections. Despite initial refusal, Appu Kutty signs the papers as a marriage witness. While the newly-married couple tries to elope to Kodaikanal, Anjali’s father and his men come there to catch them and, to manage the situation, Dineesh sends Anjali along with Appu Kutty to Kodaikanal in another bus, promising that he will find her in Kodaikanal. However, Dineesh is caught and locked in a house.
In the meantime, Anjali and Appu Kutty reach Kodaikanal, where their lives turn upside down when they walk in to a hotel pretending as honeymooners and eventually are found by Appu Kutty’s girlfriend Mallika’s dad, who misses the last bus to the village and is stuck in Kodaikanal. Shocked, Mallika’s dad brings them to the village and interrogates them before the local Panchayat. Due to circumstances, the couple remains tight lipped and the villagers assume they are married! While the majority is jealous over Appu Kutty’s fortune to own such a beauty like Anjali, his actual girlfriend Mallika is heartbroken. Days pass by and Appu Kutty reaches to a position where he can no more ignore the true love of Mallika. Will he reveal the truth and embrace his lady love? How does he unriddle the problems associated with Anjali? All these make the rest of this fun-filled flick, which is definitely worth-watching. Besides Appu Kutty, who excels in his own trademark fashion, heroine Vaishali deserves a special mention for her impressive performance, one of the plus points of the show, and it is heard that despite being a Malayali, she dubbed in her own voice for this flick. Kudos! The film has a bench of comedy actors and they handle their respective roles pretty well. All in all, Mannaru is enjoyable.