Tuesday 11 October 2011

Snehaveedu (2011) - Malayalam Movie Review

Snehaveedu (2011) - Malayalam Movie Review

Cast :
  • Mohanlal as Ajayan
  • Sheela as Ammukkutty Amma
  • Padmapriya as Sunanda
  • Biju Menon as SI Balachandran
  • Innocent as Mathai
  • K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Reethamma
  • Mamukkoya as Seithali
  • Rahul Pillai as Karthik
  • Reeja as Shanthi
  • Chembil Ashokan as Manian
  • Lena as Lilly
  • Urmila Unni as Nalini
  • Arundathi as Rosemol
  • Sasi Kalinga as Marar
  • Appukutty
  • Praveen Premkumar
Directed by : Sathyan Anthikad
Produced by : Antony Perumbavoor
Written by : Sathyan Anthikad
Singers : K. S. Chithra, Hariharan, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahul Nambiar, Shweta
Lyricist : Rafeeq Ahamed
Music by : Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography : Venu ISC
Editing by : K. Rajagopal
Studio : Aashirvad Cinemas
Distributed by : Aashirvad Release, Maaxlab


In a movie like this only two people need to perform. And if they do, the rest automatically follows. With a predictable story and an even more predictable climax, the onus on the lead players is huge. And as far as Snehaveedu is concerned, they deliver.

We all know who Sathyan Anthikkad is. He is a highly successful director, who has consistently provided money spinners at the box office. And he has been peddling the same genre of cinema for about 30 years. I actually like to think that he created the ‘family cinema’ genre over here. The kind of guy the industry turns to when it is in a dire need of a hit. Though the condition of Malayalam film industry is not so dire (and not so great), Sathyan has crafted another family movie that ought to attract families to the ticket counters.

We have been waiting for a long time so as to see Mohanlal in a role that would wring, zing and bring out the best in him. And I am sorry to say that Snehaveedu does not end that wait. But the good thing being that, nor does the movie pretend to. Mohanlal portrays the role of a man who chooses to live in a village with his mother and try his hand at farming. And here too as was with Mathews in ‘Ividam Swargamaanu’ we do not see Mohanlal- the actor, we see Ajayan the farmer. After quite some time, we get to see the old brand of comedy. The one for which the triumvirate of Sreenivasan, Mohanlal and Sathyan was famous for. The non slapstick genre.

The Maestro Ilayaraaja has churned out better stuff than this. But fortunately, the background score and songs do not jar. The BGM actually gels well with the narrative and that’s all we could ask for.

Do not expect the movie to be path breaking stuff, Sathyan is just reaffirming his style of film making. But, here is a movie which guarantees you quality family time and keeps well on the promise.

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