Malaysia to Amnesia

The situation as a plot point could’ve been explored more effectively. It had the potential to be made into an entertaining comic stretch, but the writing resorts to cliches and it dumbs down the rest of the story. The film relies heavily on MS Bhaskar, the veteran actor-comedian, to do all the weightlifting, and he’s terrific in his role. Vaibhav as Vani plays their respective parts well and click as a couple. Riya Suman has a decent screen presence.

Radha Mohan, who has also written the film, limits the Crazy Mohan-esque humour only to the film’s title, as the film fails to deliver in the writing department, with the use of tropes making the film feel outdated. For a film, which depends majorly on lie, deceit and adultery for humour, Malaysia to Amnesia is depressingly unwitty. The protagonist has very little contribution to drive the narrative forward. It is, in fact, his wife Sujatha (Vani Bhojan), uncle Mannaru (M.S. Bhaskar), and Prabhu (Karunakaran) who do all the talking. Vaibhav Reddy is as clueless as Radha Mohan when it comes to his character. Vani Bhojan gives a cute performance as a dutiful housewife, who never doubts her husband. And Bhaskar, as a curious man with a list of unending questions, singlehandedly carries the film with his energetic performance and makes it tolerable.

The question though is, is efficient humour enough to make this a good film? I am not so sure. If the humour can be said to be in ‘Beast Mode’, the story never rises above ‘Energy Saver Mode’. The film is essentially Sathi Leelavathi, if you replace Ramesh Aravind’s character with, say, Dharmathin Thalaivan’s absent-minded professor played by Rajini. So predictable are the events that you can easily second-guess each development. The lead cast, however, does its best to keep matters engaging, even during the film’s weakest, cliched moments. It feels like the actors share a rhythm with each other, and their camaraderie helps elevate the effect of their performances. Vaibhav as Arun Kumar, a character faking memory loss, is a reasonably funny presence. His performance, especially in the scenes involving the daughter, serves as atonement for his visible struggle in the emotional segments.