Producer: Mammootty
Banner: Play House
Other Actors: Sreenivasan, Baburaj, Ranjith, Joji, Sunil, Kottayam Nazeer, Niyas, Saadiq
Genre: Family Thriller
Director: Anoop Kannan
Lead Actor: Asif Ali, Leona, Mammootty, Mamtha Mohandas
Composer: Bijibal
Jawan Of Vellimala directed by first timer Anoop Kannan leaves a mark. And we can expect more from this aspirant film maker. Jawan of Vellimala has a simple story with real life characters. The narrating style looked confusing with questionable logic in some critical places in the film. Same time they did able to bring some good lighter moments and twists, with a good climax.
The film has a village Vellimala, and a Dam, where all of the villagers related to. Soon a survey find out that the Dam is in danger, and the villagers goes against demolishing the dam. We have a Jawan (Mammootty), who had given best effort to his country, however all ill-treated him because of his disability. Soon he gets a chance to prove his metal. And how he will achieve that, forms the thread.
Coming to the performance, Mammootty had come up with a spirited performance for a role which is very simple for him. There was very few places where Mammootty can show case his caliber. Asif Ali was good as Koshi Oommen. Sreenivasan as Varghese, Mamtha as Anitha, and Leona in her first movie supported the lead. Baburaj was good at most of the places. Ranjith had an extended role as a doctor. Rest of the cast Joji, Sunil, Kottayam Nazeer, Niyas, Saadiq tried their part convincingly.
Director Anoop Kannan, and writer James Albert tried their best to bring some good comic numbers in the first half. Also they did able to create some mystery behind the dam with some thrilling moments. However in the second half they did not able to keep up the good work in first half. And long before the finale we can predict the suspense and mystery they were trying to build up. And the climax is a brave one, not many will agree.
Anoop Kannan’s direction is above average, and we can expect more from this new talent. James Albert’s script racy and thrilling at many frames, same time was a let down in other places. The background music suits the mood, however songs was’t upto the mark. Especially the number of songs in the second half, its placement and relevance are questionable. Even the song sung by Mammootty had placed in a wrong place. Coming to the cinematography, Sthish Kurup comes up with some of the good frames that helps the audience to keep engaged with the movie. The night shots were superbly captured.
The director deserves a special mention for a socially relevant theme. However the execution of the same could have been better. And Anoop Kannan is the real finding of this movie.
At the end Jawan of Vellimala can be a good watch if you leave behind all the expectations and the pre-release hype. Though predictable, the movie have some genuine characters, twists, comedies with a socially relevant theme.