Mohanlal

Mohanlal Story: For Malayalis, actor Mohanlal fondly known as Lalettan is a feeling or ‘vikaram’. Be it youngsters or any middle-aged people. Meenukutty was born on the same day Mohanlal made his debut in Manjil Virinja Pookal. The film is about how a little girl’s fandom turned to become her life.


Mohanlal Review: When Sethu Madhavan (Indrajith Sukumaran) who has boundless love for his wife Meenakshi (Manju Warrier), asks her where she wants to go for their honeymoon, she says Varikkasseri Mana. Such is her fandom for Mohanlal.

The film, directed by Sajid Yahiya, revolves around the life of Meenakshi aka Meenukutty, a hard-core fan of Mohanlal.

Watching it one could also call it as a reflection of the life of a Mohanlal fan. Though at times the audience feel that her love reaches the heights of craziness, as Meenukutty connects everything from character names to situations from Mohanlal’s film in her everyday life, it mirrors how a fan views his or her favourite star.

Actress Manju Warrier makes a mass entry as the Lalettan fan, who watches his films first day first show, complete with a RayBan glasses.
The first half delves into Meenu’s life as a Mohanlal fan, in the growing stages during her childhood. Soon Meenukutty finds her love Sethu, her childhood friend, and marries him. Her fandom and frenzy though makes life miserable for others and starts affecting their marital life as well.

The story picks momentum in the second half when Sethu gets transferred to a new place. New characters such as Sathan Jose (Salim Kumar), Aluva Aamod (Aju Varghese), Biju Kuttan (a representative of Mohanlal fans association) enter with many laugh-out-loud moments. Unexpected events soon happen and how they cross the hurdle forms the rest of the plot.

Though we have come across many crazy-fan stories, Sajid Yahiya as a director has woven a simple yet powerful life of a Malayali fan through Mohanlal. Feeling it honoured to own a notebook with the photo bind of the actor to getting enraged to those who speak ill of the actor are the antics a Lalettan fan would relate to through the film.

Manju as an actress though overdoes her part in the the first half. In the second half though she communicates beautifully the passion Meenukutty has towards her star. She proves that passage of time has not affected her acting style, as the chirpiness and comic stints of Meenukutty will remind one about her role Abhirami in ‘Summer in Bethlehem’. Meanwhile, Indrajith as a loving and a persistent husband also supports Manju’s role.

The humour department of the film is safe in the hands of Soubin Sahir, Salim Kumar,Hareesh Perumanna, Aju Varghese and Biju Kuttan with situational comedies which one could connect. Tony Joseph music and Prakash Alex’s apt background score are worth a mention as they have even added flavour to the film.

The second half though is drags a bit with unwanted roles, which the director could have avoided. Though Meenu was a portrayal of a girl, who was deeply influenced by Mohanlal's onscreen persona, the first half felt little dramatic.

If you are in the mood for some rib-tickling comedy and a feel-good movie, Mohanlal is a good bet.