In this episode of Start Action Cut, Princy and Padmakumar are analysing the Malayalam movie ' Mandakini' directed by Vinod Leela and starring Althaf Salim, Anarkali Marikar and Ganapathi S Poduval in lead roles.
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[00:00:00] Hi, welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut. So this is the 75th episode
[00:00:20] and I think we have come at the right juncture with some good news for Indian film, especially
[00:00:27] for Malayalis. So because the film All We Imagine as Light directed by Payal Kapadia
[00:00:34] starred Malayali actresses like Kanika Sridhi and Divya Prabha and also Sandor Sivan, the renowned
[00:00:42] Malayali cinematographer who won Pierre Angino at Cannes Film Festival. Today we are decoding
[00:00:49] the Malayalam movie Mandakini directed by Vinod Leela and starring Altaf Salim, Anarkali Marikar
[00:00:57] and Ganapathy in lead roles. Princy is here to discuss the movie and as you had written
[00:01:05] in your review of the movie that after Tindalaj Chandrasewamy we didn't have many
[00:01:13] movies that dealt with marriage and all. So here we have got the movie which is entirely
[00:01:23] spanned on the on the marriage day and things related to it. So I would like to mention a
[00:01:31] few of them here, like boozing and foiling marriages with utter disregard for main persons
[00:01:39] involved and stretching fun beyond limit and making the festive occasion a disaster for many.
[00:01:48] And another aspect that I think we have been shown in this movie and we should be taking note
[00:01:54] of is that falling for fake romance whether it's boy or girl. So these are a few points
[00:02:02] the movie throws up. Princy, what do you think about those points and do you have anything else
[00:02:11] to add to these? For one, Padma Kumar, I think there were a few movies like after Tindalaj
[00:02:16] Chandrasewamy that were also kind of involved and centered on the marriage, the day before
[00:02:22] the marriage or around the time of marriage. Example is Gunda Jain and films like that.
[00:02:29] But for me, yes, you had mentioned there are certain aspects that were kind of
[00:02:36] that were quite unique in the movie. I liked how the characters were portrayed in the film.
[00:02:43] You kind of have a unique setting in this movie. You have a unique character sketch for
[00:02:49] people in this movie. Not everyone has it and it's not like extremely unique but there are
[00:02:54] certain points that certain factors that are kind of different and that will work for you
[00:03:01] for a person who is looking for some kind of difference in film. So Mandagni for me started
[00:03:07] like a small comedy movie and kept getting better to a certain point because of its humor.
[00:03:12] I like the setting of the marriage because it felt like a genuine wedding scene. You have these
[00:03:18] nosy neighbors, busy family, friends and I also liked how the introduction scene was.
[00:03:23] I liked how the characters were introduced. What I liked most was that it was a small film
[00:03:28] with the filmmakers keeping almost everything natural. The humor didn't feel posed. It felt
[00:03:35] situational, realistic. They're not all work for me. At a time when Malayalam cinema,
[00:03:41] there are arguments that Malayalam cinema is not having enough and sufficient female
[00:03:46] characters, this movie does justice to the female characters and gives them a good character
[00:03:52] arc throughout the film. So these are the things that actually work for me in this movie.
[00:03:57] Yes and there is a neat plot structure and what I like the most is the matured way of
[00:04:05] way in unfolding the sequences and the scenes. So you get to see things in a way that makes you
[00:04:17] think a bit like you don't know certain things. You are not shown certain things but you just
[00:04:24] understand by indications or by certain, I mean half part of, I mean the remaining part of what
[00:04:34] had happened before. So these, what I say can be understood only when you see the movie.
[00:04:40] So that kind of treatment was actually a matured way of approach to the film.
[00:04:47] So I like that quite a lot. What's your take on the plot structure, Prinsri?
[00:04:55] Exactly, Patna Kumar because what I liked the most was how Vinod Leela brought in
[00:05:00] the flashback scenes. The recently released film Aveshwam too has a similar treatment with
[00:05:06] the flashback where the character Amban is describing his crazy friend Ranga's past
[00:05:12] conquests and so you kind of get the I like how to narrate a backstory, the flashback
[00:05:19] was actually, it blended really well with the narrative of the story and it is also told
[00:05:26] quite uniquely in a different setting. You don't see that kind of setting in Malayalam cinema,
[00:05:32] you don't see women, women are kind of, even though they are, some of them are at the
[00:05:40] receiving end of the issues in the movie, you still get to see how they are able to tackle
[00:05:48] the situation around them. So it's kind of a unique setting and how the makers have
[00:05:55] tried to blend in these flashback scenes and see them have, not fun exactly but we get to
[00:06:01] enjoy how they are dealing with these situations. So that was really neatly put in place in the
[00:06:07] movie and just like you mentioned now Patna Kumar there's this mature kind of style and
[00:06:14] movie telling in this movie and also I like how certain, the filmmaker brought in few hooks,
[00:06:20] very few hooks. I mean there are very few hooks in this movie and what I like the most was the
[00:06:25] interval scene where the character played by Ganapati, he has a smile on his face and you kind
[00:06:31] of, you really want to know why he's smiling and it's only towards the later part of the
[00:06:38] second half you realize the reason why and that the hook points he brought in were very
[00:06:43] subtle and it was done well. Now when it comes to performance of the actors, I think Anarkali
[00:06:52] and Ganapati took a very fantastic performance. It was meticulous and I think Althoff, he usually
[00:07:00] does well. We have seen his comic actions in previous films but here I think maybe because
[00:07:09] he was walking the same line I think he fell short, he falls flat. So that I couldn't enjoy
[00:07:18] his humor. Most of the time I felt it was forced and affected and also Sarita Cuckoo who played
[00:07:25] Rajalakshmi's character. Her performance was well but she also falls short during some
[00:07:32] intense moments when it was required the most and then Ashwati Srekanth, I think she's a
[00:07:38] TV personality and she as Ajita does justice to the role though there was not much to offer
[00:07:47] and Vinit Tattil, he's a rising star of late. We have seen him in many films and his character
[00:07:54] as Unni also is well done but he moves on a very very straight path. His facial expression
[00:08:04] all remain the same throughout. These are the highlights, I mean these are the people
[00:08:10] that who I noticed and one more thing that I would like to mention is that the
[00:08:16] comic timing brilliantly talked by Kutty Akhili as Annie in the movie. So these are the
[00:08:23] people who made me stick to the film throughout. So what's your take, Prinsi?
[00:08:31] I would like to disagree with you regarding the performances because definitely this is a
[00:08:35] performance oriented movie. Like I mentioned, there's this the movie gets a little slow in
[00:08:40] between and it is only because the performances of these actors that you tend to keep on
[00:08:45] watching it though in between you're like what's really happening in the film. So
[00:08:50] I agree with you on Kutty Akhili's performance, he really did a good job
[00:08:54] and Vineet Tattil definitely needs what is mentioned because like you just mentioned that even though
[00:09:02] his facial expressions were almost all the same, I think that really didn't matter because you
[00:09:07] kind of understand the kind of character he is. He's able to make you laugh even though
[00:09:13] he puts up these stoic serious expressions and I think that has to do with the way he's
[00:09:18] dubbed in the movie and you get these Baburaj vibes in the film from him. And like you mentioned,
[00:09:27] Altaf Saleem, yes in his case you get the feeling that he's doing an extension though
[00:09:34] this is his debut as a lead actor. You get to see him in an extension of his character
[00:09:40] roles that he's played in the past which has been really enjoyable actually and so
[00:09:46] probably you know there's a saying that if it is basal in the film and if there's basal in Altaf
[00:09:51] are like bankable stars in movies because if you see them, if you know that they are on screen,
[00:09:57] you are sure to laugh but in Altaf's case it kind of fell flat. Anarkali Marikar, she's done
[00:10:04] an excellent job as well as Ganabari has done but what I would like to disagree is
[00:10:10] you mentioned about Sarita Cuckoo's role. I feel that probably some areas where the
[00:10:17] voice should have been more intense and strong, probably there might have been an issue but
[00:10:22] she has put up a really good mask, she's got a good presence on screen. She is able to actually
[00:10:29] to achieve her role in the movie is more elaborate towards the end of the film so
[00:10:35] she really does a good job where she's supposed to but that mask moment really worked for me
[00:10:41] because probably it's because you know you like I mentioned earlier there is there's a there's a
[00:10:46] depth of strong female characters in commercial films. I'm not talking about general films
[00:10:51] and I don't understand why people are actually bashing Anjali Namanand's statement saying that
[00:10:57] there are the women in Malayalam cinema because I'm sure what we're talking about here is
[00:11:02] commercial cinema. The films that actually worked, those films that actually went to the
[00:11:07] 100 crore club, 150 crore club, the 200 whatever, those films didn't have strong female characters
[00:11:13] and Vinod Leela has ensured that these women in Malayalam cinema they can and if you give
[00:11:20] them a good space in the movie they can be at par with their male counterparts.
[00:11:29] You don't need to actually differentiate between male and female when the roles that you give them
[00:11:34] exist. Give them a proper setting, give them a proper character arc. These women will do
[00:11:40] excellent jobs. Yeah I agree with you Brunsi. When you say that women should be given equal
[00:11:47] opportunity in films and now I would like to mention the humor element in the movie and some
[00:11:55] casual bits worked but those meant to be hilarious fizzled out. That's what I feel in this movie.
[00:12:01] Some casual remarks, I mean it's there throughout the films. If you notice closely
[00:12:07] you will find out numerous such situations where these casual remarks and
[00:12:15] gestures are there which will make you laugh but regretfully there are scenes which were
[00:12:22] meant to be hilarious which were properly done for the sake of humor didn't work well.
[00:12:29] So that's what I feel. What do you say? Yeah and also that not all the humor was actually clean.
[00:12:36] Some of it were like the typical kind of dialogues that you hear in Malayalam cinema.
[00:12:42] Sometimes in the kind of yeah like if you look at it some of the humor is not really
[00:12:46] even clean. Some of it are like this usual local language that you hear sometimes in
[00:12:51] Malayalam cinema. So that is also there and also yes like you mentioned there are a lot of
[00:12:56] funny dialogues written by the screenplay writer but not all of them worked. Some of the humor
[00:13:01] did actually work. I mean they were like you mentioned situational and you don't maybe have a
[00:13:06] hearty laugh but it definitely gives you a space to enjoy this movie and also Kutty Akil
[00:13:16] and all the characters you know even the women they had a you they're able to bring in the humor
[00:13:21] in the film more quite well. Yes, yes you rightfully mentioned about the some unclean remarks or
[00:13:30] I mean the statements which were having a kind of fluid or innuendos. So in my opinion I too
[00:13:40] had this feeling that how where this movie is going to because when you hear or see those initial
[00:13:47] moments especially when he's preparing I mean when the characters are preparing for
[00:13:55] this central character, lead characters first night there are certain remarks which will make
[00:14:00] you feel that oh is it going to be a disaster if the whole family is in there. I too had
[00:14:08] that feeling but actually it's nothing like that after a certain moment after a certain point
[00:14:14] it goes elsewhere and there is nothing of that sort. So by the initial such scenes I think
[00:14:25] family audience should not get distracted or worried about it. That is what I feel. What
[00:14:29] do you say Prinsi about that? Exactly because you know there's a lot of boozing, a lot of
[00:14:34] alcohol use in this movie that probably I think Vinod Leela could have avoided this
[00:14:41] because you have a family audience in mind and if you have this and you have a movie which is
[00:14:46] only talking and discussing alcohol and drinks and the partying and things and all that it's
[00:14:51] not necessary at all every member of a family should be actually accepting it. So if they had
[00:14:56] cut down that scene probably and got into that into that directly into the narrative could have
[00:15:03] actually probably kept you know people more hooked with the storyline. Yeah and also
[00:15:11] the excellent part of the movie was for me the music both the background score and the songs by
[00:15:18] Bibi Nashok those were brilliant and how those songs were played and you hardly
[00:15:25] listen to the background score it comes as part of the whole movie all ensemble.
[00:15:30] So that is the musical aspect of the movie. I think it can be enjoyed well I mean both
[00:15:37] songs and the background score so what do you say? Do you have anything to add to that?
[00:15:43] Nothing much to add but I would like to second what you said the music was excellent
[00:15:49] but then you know I think they're like usually movies that are centered on weddings have
[00:15:54] like for example Suleyga Mansal had it was like it was filled with songs right so this is a
[00:16:00] wedding movie but you had a limited number of songs but all the songs worked really well and
[00:16:05] I think there were certain times when you wished you could just listen to the music
[00:16:12] and you know you were just transported to another to the setting of that you know
[00:16:16] Bibi Nashok has done a really good job in that sense you know blending the songs well
[00:16:22] with the narrator. Yes yes and also the camera by Shiju M Bhaskar so he sort of shuffled between
[00:16:31] the beautiful frames and the dramatic angles as the story's moments required so I wonder how
[00:16:38] he used those angles it might have been painstaking to shift those angles very I mean
[00:16:46] so fast and so many number of times for a single scene so that was also excellent in this movie
[00:16:54] especially one of the moments when their jeep gets stuck from those moments I think the shift
[00:17:02] of shots were excellent so you are just inside that inside their moments inside their pain and
[00:17:10] their troubles so I think the cameraman really took the audience into the movie with his
[00:17:19] expertise that is what I said and also the editing yes of course and also the editing for
[00:17:25] sure yeah and you had you also had something to say about the ending of the movie something
[00:17:30] really yes what noticing yeah what was that? Before I go to that I like you all talked
[00:17:36] about the cinematography I like the scene where this cocktail is mixed you know that water flowing
[00:17:42] into the glass and you know them adding it felt like maybe a YouTube shot but it really felt
[00:17:52] it was like really immersive you know and that is really striking for me that was one
[00:17:55] thing that is really striking for me. For me a bit more careful performance and a bit more
[00:18:03] care in writing could have made the movie a hilarious comedy so that brings us to the end
[00:18:10] of this episode. Thanks for listening to Start Action Cut produced and hosted by me Patmukumar
[00:18:16] with technical production by Idea Brew Studios follow www.onmanorama.com for more podcasts
[00:18:23] movies and be sure to come back for the next episode of Start Action Cut out on Mondays. Thank you.