Priyadarshan is at it, once again! After making a successful career where he shamelessly plagiarized films from every corner of the world, the veteran filmmaker continues with his trademark style and this time he has lifted the 2007 Thai movie Alone, which was earlier re-made in Kannada and Tamil as Charulatha (2012).
Now, the marketing skills of the makers are indeed amazing. They managed to hide the fact that this is a copy until now and diverted the entire attention to Mohanlal’s character, Dr. Sunny Joseph, who was first seen in the yesteryear Malayalam hit Manichithrathazhu. Believe it or not, here the credits for story have been given to ‘Seven Arts’ and no mention of the original inspirations is seen anywhere.
Anjali (Keerthy Suresh) is in love with Anoop (Nishan) and are planning to get married soon. As the couple goes to her house, some horrifying things happen. Her dead twin sister Geetha’s ghost start tormenting the girl and she needs psychiatric help.
Soon comes the quirky psychiatrist Dr. Sunny Joseph, who repeats some of his old comedy numbers along with some nauseating ones, maybe in a desperate effort to keep sync with the current trend.
While, Manichithrathazhu was known for its brilliant script, this one ends up as a mangled mess. The psychiatrist turns investigator after a while and even after a couple of murders, there is not a single cop to be seen anywhere. Even if you haven’t watched the original, this film is badly written and is barely engaging.
Now, this is an example for exploiting the resources, which obviously hints at the trend of making films aiming only at the hefty satellite rights based only on the number of big names involved. The viewers are never taken seriously and in fact; here they are virtually ridiculed by some of the most respected names in Malayalam film industry!
Priyadarshan has earned some respect for his talent in making enjoyable versions from already made films. But this one is so lazily made that you would wonder how a hugely respected actor like Mohanlal could accept such a role! The visuals and the music are pretty ordinary as well.
Mohanlal tries to make things convincing at times, but this film is beyond his control. The less said about the rest of the cast, the better. Debutante Keerthy Suresh does put in some effort but make only limited impression in a double role. The wooden faced Nishan looks totally lost.
The self styled experts from the Malayalam film industry often complain that viewers here tend to prefer other language films, sidelining native offerings. Films like Geethanjali shows why the viewers, who should have been fed up after being repeatedly taken for ride, are vying to do so. Also, it is high time that the authorities deal with unauthorized and blatant rip offs in a strict way.
At around two hours and thirty minutes, Geethanjali is a sheer test of your tolerance. Watch it if you want to, but don’t forget take Saridon, as a migraine is guaranteed!