If you are Mal, then Mohanlal
runs deep in your blood…the phenomenon who makes me weep every time I watch
Chitram…the macho aura that stuns me with Devasuram..the cutest comic king that
breaks me up into a mass of uncontrollable laughter with Nadodikat,
Vellanakulade Naad..and these movies build an unshakeable foundation of loyalty
towards this actor..and each time he does a “beneath Mohanlal” act, the loyalty
raising his head and excuses it as a “miss” and pushes you back to the altar of
worship!
And to this loyalty factor one
must add the bloated ego of a Mal movie buff who always looks down upon other
“woods” with disdain..especially the “Chinese fakes” or Bollywood masala
version of classic Malayalam movies..this fatal mix of loyalty mixed with
misplaced pride was devastated with the blockbuster called “Pulimurugan”.
And the years of Mohanlal worship
could not stop me from shredding this movie to bits and loyalty for once
decided to play fair and meekly surrendered! The only credit I can give is
probably the fresh and green portrayal of the forest.. the beautifully captured
streams, waterfalls, plants entertain you throughout the movie…and of course
the tiger sequences and stunts are orchestrated with a touch of professional
beauty!
If you keep aside the backdrop,
the characters are created only for a single purpose - to sing praises of “murugan” (the central
character apart from the villainous tiger of course). The story itself is an
unbelievable mythological cum action cum good vs. bad fable..the one consistent
thread that runs through the story is Murugan slaying the “evil” tigers of the
forest..and each time the story is stuck, a tiger starts mauling people and
Murugan brings out his “Indiana Jones” equivalent outfit and gets to the task
that he is born for…and he ends each killing with a signature move and of
course the Murugan song…and that is probably the scene that did it..it brought
down Malayalam movie into the “common” league of masala movies that make
strange magnum opus movies to simply showcase the superstar as the exaggerated
superhero…and characters and female actors are thrown in simply to enhance his
machoism and exalt his numerous virtues…the characters are lifeless, reeking of
artificiality…and to believe that these characters are born and bred in the
forest is a tough pill to swallow!
Well, apart from the evil tiger
in the forest, there is a parallel line outside ..a mélange of evil world of
human gang lords (do not miss the sinister name of the villain – “DADDY”), deceit,
“brotherly” sacrifices, the vamp lady trying to seduce Murugan and Murugan
scintillating in equal measures inside and outside the forest! Phew I think
that’s all that I could recollect as I walked out into the darkness of the
night..ego and loyalty folded neatly into a pack and stuffed into my tote bag…
holding on to one last hope…. that none of my friends have caught me watching
this movie!
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