Natturajavu Movie Movie Reviews

'All the stories in the world are already told. We can only recycle it to new environment.' I do not believe this but I can say it may be partially true. In an interview TA Shahid (The screen play writer) openly admitted the above quote justifying his recycling old movie stories.

What happens when a director, Shaji Kailas who needed a hit badly like 'Aram Thampuran' and 'Narasimham' is met with a writer who is willing to recycle an old movie with some twist and changes? 'Natturajavu' is the product. It is Narasimham revisited but without the strength of script of the original. But wait, even Narasimham was a recycled version of 'Ariyatha Veedhikal', but that recycling was done beautifully, creating a new soul for it by a talented writer. Here, the soul of the film is of Narasimham. (Even the Simham (Lion) is revisited in the film. There is a dialogue'achante jaranarakal ettuvangan vidhikkappetta shapikkappetta janmam' (who have a cursed life destined to carry the burden of the father's misdeeds) in Narasimham. That exactly is the soul of Natturajav.

Brutal Mathachan (Ramraj) is created terror in his house and villages across time. A known womaniser and heartless murderer finally he was been killed by Karnan (Renjith). Upon death, his son, 'Charlie' decides to do repay all the debts and carry all the misdeeds of his father. Natturajavu is the story of the son born to a prodigal father. Now Karnan is about to be back from the jail for a revenge. Watch the movie to know more...

Writing erred from the beginning till the end. Bits and pieces and patches....the writer failed to narrate the central idea through a nice story. Logic is something missed in its totality. The director tried his best to compensate with best of shots, but what use? Given a good script, Shaji Kailas is one director who can make wonders with his extremely good shots and different style in presentation. Look at the scene in the climax where the supposedly villain gets an equal treatment and he makes a better impact with his acting. It is something the director is capable of for which he needs applauds and more.

Mohan Lal is the life blood of the movie. His screen presence and the vigorous performance permit the film 'can sit through' category. This is the plus point of super stars. They have something in them to make the audience sit through, despite many flaws. Renjith got only a small role, but he manage to create a lasting impression. Excellent! Ramraj did his role quite well. Nayan Tara did her small role well. Elephant, servant and Kaviyoor Ponnamma - Nayan Tara seems get repeated here. Meena too a role where she doesn't has to act. Kaviyoor Ponnamma and KPAC Lalitha did their small roles comfortably. Bindu Panikkar got a different look and good. Manoj K Jayan is cool. Overall, the director manages to get best out of actors but the script let him down to a great extend.

Songs are good and the picturisation impresses. 'May Masam' is already a hit and noted for its colourful treatment.

Cinematography is very good. Editing is good.

The movie is ok for a one time watch, for Mohan Lal. However, for one who looks for story or logic, forget it. Make sure to keep the brain out while watching the movie, otherwise it may get spoiled.

Last thought: If we do not know how to plant a seed to make a big tree, we may dig and replant an old one but such replanting is more effortful and less rewarding than the earlier method. What they save is time and talent but what they needed is time and talent. What if we skip what is needed the most?

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My parents, sis, bro-in-law & me ate our dosas for supper.

Now, we could either spend the next 10 minutes slurping dessert or rush to the nearest cinema hall & be just in time to watch Natturajavu.

We chose the latter and the rest is hisstory!

There's a scene in Natturajavu (meaning local king) where the lead character Pulikattil Charlie glorifies himself by saying that he's an extraordinary Natturajavu.

Going by the superhuman exploits (what with a punch sending men flying!) Charlie shows off, this self-praise maybe justified, but even this movie too deserves such a mention

An (extra)ordinary movie

Director Shaji Kailas has lovingly served us a sour & stale dessert which we could not refuse (being the gentle, stoic Malayalee family that we are).

Let me explain more about the ingredients (characters) in this *&#@~ recipe!

Pulikattil Charlie (actor Mohanlal)

A do-gooder who owns a granite quarry & a rubber estate. His grand deeds for the locals earns him the name Natturajavu. His family consists of -

his wine-drinking, bad mouthing grandmother (KPAC Lalita)

loving, orthodox mother (Kaviyoor Ponamma)

pretty young step-sister, Catherina (Nayanathara)

She's born from an illicit relation Mathachan (Charlie's father) had with a poor lady worker.

widowed sis-in-law, Rosy (Suja Karthika)

Her husband & Charlie's bro, Sharath committed suicide when Mathachan stomped down on Sharath's singing ambitions, threatening & beating him into submission.

best friend, Manian (Kalabhavan Mani)

Charlie adopted him as a young kid when his family was burnit alive by Mathachan (for standing in way of Mathachan's money-making schemes).

Other major characters -

Mathachan (Ramraj)

Heartless & shameless father of Charlie. An incarnate of the devil himself! He ruthlessly eliminates anyone who eliminates anyone who resists his evil, greedy ambitions.

He also had illicit relations with several women.

Karnan (Renjith)

But one day, Mathachan gets brutally murdered by Karnan whose family was slain by Mathachan's rabid dogs.

Still infuriated, Karnan vows death for any male who's a part of Mathachan's blood, which means Charlie. Before he gets a chance to behead Charlie, he's promptly packed off to the Central jail & imprisoned for 8 years.

Meanwhile, during this period, Charlie falls in love with a beautiful Hindu girl, Maya (Meena) and begets a child out of wedlock which shocks his mother & the Christian community (who ostracize him).

Unperturbed Charlie moves on, marrying off Catherina but not without pledging his tharavaadu (house) & land due to the steep dowry demanded by the groom's family.

Just when things are getting worser for Charlie, comes the worst news.

Karnan is released and is still baying for Charlie's blood...

Why does Charlie fall for Maya?

Will he be able to regain the faith & trust of his mother again?

Will he survive Karnan's wrath?

Will you still be able to keep your sanity intact after watching Natturajavu?

For answers, you may watch this.

If you want to watch Natturajavu for

entertainment - forget it. zilch enjoyment.

songs & dance - there are 3 songs shown. None of them are popular or pleasing. zero titillation pleasure for front-benchers also!

story - quite creative

dialogues - enough to get claps

suspense - hmm.......

action - okay dokey

violence - tons of it. Have it till you puke!

direction - fair

Suja Karthika - now I see her, now I don't, now I see her, now...........

Nayanathara - miniscule role but she does her job very well

Manoj K Jayan - as a greedy villain, he impresses

Ramraj - scary presence & good performance

Kalabhavan Mani - this talented 'black label' actor with a body full of meat convinces in whatever he does

Meena - you mean apart from wearing a transparent saree & a coy smile? Sorry, I don't know

Renjith - deserves a mighty applause. In the last scene (confrontation with Charlie which's also the highlight of this movie), he amazes us with his acting.

Mohanlal - if you are still stubborn to waste money on Natturajavu, this is the only reason why you should go - to see Mohanlal's almost depthless acting prowess & sheer screen presence

Every Malayalam director worth his name in town wants a super-hit badly.

Fine, so our Shaji Kailas does what he knows best -

Push Mohanlal into a movie, stuff hot dialogues into his mouth and deliver the end-product deep down the audience's stomach!

Does it taste very well?

It works at the box office (this is super-hit) but it works havoc with our minds, if not with our tongues.

This movie clicked because the naive audience, like me were attracted like zombies to the theatre to see & get zapped by the magic of this world-class actor, Mohanlal.

Somewhere inside me, I want this whole rubbish to stop - the fetish of our directors to take movie-goers for a ride by simply stamping a Mohanlal label onto their movies without ensuring a fresh, entertaining delivery.

But, sigh, that's exactly the reason why we still go, buy tickets and make such movies a big success - because we love Mohanlal so dearly.

Remove Mohanlal, and you have literally sucked the air out of this movie.

For me Natturajavu is like a Benz SL500 with no interiors!

Somebody, gimme a hand, I'm getting insane by the second.....

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Immediate openings in tinseltown - wanted filthy brilliant brain surgeons who can successfully operate on the cabbages of the Malayalam movie-going audience so that hopefully in the future they'll become more discerning before shelling out notes at the ticket counter

Don't include me, I want enough left & right brain intact to keep writing MS reviews...

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