82. Aaraattu; movie review

AARAATTU

Cert 12A

166 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, brief sexual threat, drug references

The whistles and cheers greeted his name as the opening credits rolled and the smiles of the Malayalam movie fans at the end of the movie proved that Mohanlal had lived up to his superstar billing.

As one of them told Mrs W as she waited for me outside the post-movie toilet stop: "He is my favourite film star ever".

It says much that he remains as dear to his public and still can carry off action roles 42 years after his big screen debut.

I was late at the party, having only seen pictures from the past decade and, during that time, I have never been convinced he has chosen the right vehicles.

It may seem sacrilege to Lalettan followers but I have enjoyed his son's movies more.

Anyway, B. Unnikrishnan's Aaraattu is set in a village where people have survived serious floods but, through their own ingenuity, have found a route to prosperity.

They also have their designs on a plot of land owned by a wealthy businessman (Vijayaraghavan) but he refuses, having his own plans for the site.

Indeed, he leases it to the third party (Mohanlal), believing that he will hold it for future levelling which is currently against the law.

This would imply that Lalletan's character is siding with law-breakers and he even says himself that he is "extremely dangerous".

However, the plot of Aaraatu is not nearly as simple as that. In fact, I found it rather convoluted.

Nevertheless, there is always as sense that our hero's muscles would be used to benefit the downtrodden and, sure enough, he uses them aplenty.

But I was also rather confused by the soundtrack which includes many hits from Mohanlal's movie catalogue. 

Regardless, they enabled the superstar to shake his stuff and prove that he is a real all-rounder.

Certainly, the fan at Nottingham Cineworld thought so but I couldn't help feeling that this didn't demand too much of the acting prowess which has established Mohanlal's stellar reputation.

Reasons to watch: A must for Mohanlal fans

Reasons to avoid: Too fast for its own good

Laughs: A couple of chuckles

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Mohanlal aka Mohanlal Viswanathan has received five National Film Awards and nine Kerala State Film Awards. He is the recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan for his contribution to cinema. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and University of Calicut.

The final word. B Unnikrishnan: "He has never been such a happy character before in my films. He loosened up for the role and approached it happily without any inhibitions. That was the brief I had for him—to go all out, be uninhibited. At one point he told me— “You want to be shameless on screen? So be it.” Onmanorama

 

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