We all know what to expect from a Sathyan Anthikad movie. The goodness of village people, relatable family members, a dose of humor, and in the end, a happy climax. This was the success formula for many years but it doesn’t have many takers now. Sathyan and Jayaram have collaborated on many popular movies over the years, like Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal, Yathrakarude Shradhakku, Bhagyadevatha, Kadha Thudarunnu among others. However, both Sathyan and Jayaram seem to be still stuck in the past and their new movie Makal tests the patience of the audience as it doesn’t offer anything new or interesting to keep the audience engaged. Makal, which also marked the return of Meera Jasmine to the screen, fails to create even a single memorable moment.
The script by Iqbal Kuttipuram suits Sathyan’s idea of movies. Makal tells the story of Nandakumar (Jayaram), Juliet (Meera Jasmine) and their daughter Appu (Devika Sanjay). Nandakumar and Juliet belong to different religions but got married at a very young age. However, Nandakumar has been living in Dubai to make his family in Kerala financially stable. The film starts by showing the friendly relationship between Juliet and her daughter de Ella Appu. It gains steam once Nandakumar returns from Dubai and starts living with his wife and daughter. However, Appu ca n’t adjust to the new changes that her father de ella brings as he is not friendly like Juliet and often interferes in the teenager’s life de ella. Things get worse when Juliet gets her dream job from her in a faraway locality and Nandakumar and Appu find it hard to adjust with each other’s behaviour. Some of the scenes in the second half remind us of Jayaram’s film Veruthe alla Bharya.
The story travels through the usual route in which Sathyan Anthikad and Jayaram have often travelled; it’s only the viewers who get bored to death watching the same scenarios again and again. The only relief comes in the form of Thannimathan Dinangal fame Naslen K Gafoor’s character. The scenes involving Naslen’s character grab out attention
Coming to performances, Jayaram should either avoid his cliched ‘family-man’ characters or find another career. All his characters from him for years now have the same mannerisms and body language, and its high time Jayaram reinvents himself. Meera Jasmine doesn’t have much to perform and this movie doesn’t do justice to an actor who has returned to her profession after a long gap. Devika Sanjay has a charming screen presence and pulled off her character quite well. Naslen is the only saving grace in this movie. Siddique and Innocent also did justice to their respective characters.
indianexpress.com
