Minnal Murali

Tovino Thomas, one of Malayalam cinema’s brightest young actors, plays Jaison with a giant heart and good cheer. Guru Somasundaram is impressive as the town’s social outcast who goes full Joker by the end. Thomas’s likability and Somasundaram’s menacing presence collide to produce a solid good-versus-evil story. Baiju Santhosh, as the town’s superintendent of police, and Femina George, as the local karate teacher, are entertaining. Minnal Murali is a technical triumph at every turn. Sameer Thahir’s cinematography brings a carnivalesque tone to the story. Despite the long runtime, Livingston Mathew’s editing makes the film feel brisk and light. The songs by composers Shaan Rahman and Sushin Shyam are fabulous, particularly the title track. The special effects, art direction, and production design are on point. Minnal Murali has the capacity to not just spawn a franchise, but perhaps even become an international hit.

While Basil's idea and thought process of how a superhero is born is meant to win your heart, the plot may not necessarily inspire you. The characters and story (set in a lost era) may not seem relevant to a lot of youngsters who are living in the digital age (except for the scene in which Murali wears a face mask as a part of his costume). As a viewer, you have the choice of paying big bucks to watch a fancy Spiderman movie in a theatre and come home thrilled or you can simply grab some chips and watch Minnal Muraliin from the comfort of your home. If you choose the latter, you will still enjoy this earnest film with your family and kids and watch them applaud the comic sequences and the stunts.

Even when he gets these powers, Murali takes time to get used to it, experimenting with the extent of his powers and testing its limits, from playing around secretly with all the vessels stolen from the kitchen, to attempting to fly from a tree. The best of the superhero sequences are these initial ones and the one where he lets go at some policemen, successfully imbibing the spirit and appearance of the good old Malayalam comics. However, the climactic sequences appear slightly underwhelming, despite its aspirations and scale. The early ‘90s setting also lends itself to nostalgia-inducing references from that era, be it the fashion of those times or the introduction of the real-life actor Sudheesh, fresh from his success in Manichthirathazhu , in a key sequence.

What’s wonderful is that at no point does the movie switch tonally: it is very aware of the superhero-ness of its characters, but it never loses sight of the fact that it is set in a real place, and there are real persons at stake. There are both Biblical overtones and elements that remind you of Hindu shastras, in the way the conflict is born and ends. This is not a fictional Gotham, nor are the fisticuffs happening in interstellar pockets, this is a village which we can relate with. This is a tough balance, this awareness of the ordinary and the extraordinary, and Basil Joseph gets it just right. Tovino Thomas makes an unexpected superhero. He isn’t magnetic or good-looking. He is just your average fellow, trying to escape his humdrum life, coming this close to becoming a perennial loser.