Review 8: Odiyan
Director: V.A. Shrikumar Menon
Cast: Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Prakash Raj, Siddique, Innocent
Language: Malayalam
We have seen him rise from the water in Naran and Narasimham; in Odiyan too he does the same but this time by saving a drowning lady in his hands. Later on, he returns to his native village Thenkurissi after a long gap of 15 years and sits beneath a giant tree with a cup of tea. In an attempt to provoke him, a group of youngsters mocks him and challenges his abilities on Odividya and here come the age-old gimmicks one by one. His leg swirls like what he did before a fight scene in previous mass masala flicks; he then stands up and ties his long hair backward ( cut to Aaram Thampuran where he did the same with a slight difference of the hair been replaced by a red scarf), clubs his fingers together (copy paste shot in Yodha prior to an action sequence) and walks away pointing his index finger against opponents (replica mode of feudal heroism in Devasuram and Raavanaprabhu)! Mission accomplished??
Odiyan Manickyan is indeed an impactful character in Superstar Mohanlal’s career but molded indistinctly by writer Harikrishnan and executed awfully by debutant director Shrikumar Menon. The non-linear mode of storytelling is brilliantly done by writer-director Vetrimaran with an engaging plot in recent Tamil hit Vada Chennai whereas, in Odiyan the screenplay itself is too shallow to be weaved in a similar manner and hence failed to evoke any interest in the narration. The first half goes on smoothly through the early life of Manickyan and it is delightful to see the physical transformation of Mohanlal to become the younger Manickyan aided with a chiseled body and acrobatic moves in the fight sequences. Hailing from a low caste faction, his loyalty towards urban childhood lover Prabha (Manju Warrier) is justified; but the concept of denying her love is an unwise decision, considering the stubborn Manickyan is over the top in every occasion tackling hurdles in his life.
The grey shaded Ravunni (Prakash Raj) is lustful for Prabha and does as many tricks as he can to get her in his life. He is from the upper caste community and surprisingly the only dark colored member in the high-class family! How come? The flawed script has the answer in a dialogue from Prabha to Ravunni, “Your mind is also dark like your body”. Here the storyteller follows a mysterious path in convincing the antagonist as evil-minded via skin tone and at the same time Manickyan, born to a proletariat grass-root couple is exceptionally handsome with a glowing skin just because he is the protagonist! The writing is absurd and loosely bound; for instance, it took 15 years for Manickyan to track the assassin behind Prabha’s husband whereas the viewers can easily figure out the culprit within first few minutes of the movie. Direction too fall flat in many occasions with the magical song “Kondoram” induced in the later half towards the climax thereby making the film more dilute and faded.
Furthermore, we have a tea shop owner Damodaran (Siddique) who is the feel-good companion of Manickyan for the appraisal in prime moments and a spirited Gopi Mash essayed by Innocent to glorify the devil-may-care acts of the central character (ditto of Kadutha in Puli Murugan). Packed with these bundle of cliches, Odiyan is a classic example of how a mediocre script evolves out if landed in the hands of an amateur director. By equipping the film with Hollywood technicians and marketing it as an out-of-the-box product, the ad-filmmaker-turned-director is solely accountable for the outburst of diehard Mohanlal fans. Not as dull as Neerali or not as monotonous as Drama, Odiyan is definitely a better outing from the superstar but not a complete package for the cinephiles to cherish.
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