Movie : Rajamanikyam
Director : Anwar Rasheed
Starring : Mammotty, Manoj Jayan, Ranjit, Rahman, Saikumar, Sindhu Menon, Padmapriya, Bheeman Raghu, Salim Kumar
The Plot
Young Muthu’s (MAMMOOTTY) widowed mother marries a rich man Rajaratnam Pillai (SAIKUMAR) who’s wife is dead too. His son from the first marriage Raja Selvam (MANOJ JAYAN) refuses to acknowledge the new step-mother & is always bitter. Meanwhile Muthu’s mother, scared of Rajaratnam’s reaction, refuses to acknowledge Muthu as her son infront of her new husband. Angry Muthu does not budge and demands his mother back. Impressed by his guts, Rajaratnam nicknames him Rajamanikyam and develops a soft corner for him.
Unfortunately, Muthu gets falsely accused in a child’s murder and flees the village. The years pass by. Rajaratnam’s business flourishes and his greedy daughter from the second marriage Rani (SINDHU MENON) is always at loggerheads with an equally selfish Raja Selvam to control the vast wealth.
Tragedy strikes when innocent Rajaratnam gets framed in a famous politician’s murder by son Selva with help of cunning Nadar (RANJIT) and is imprisoned. Shocked, he dies of a massive heart attack. However, the trouble does not end for his rivals because Rajaratnam had already willed Rajamanikyam as the sole decision-maker of the entire empire!
How the illiterate yet street-smart Rajamnikyam, now a wealthy buffalo dealer in Bellary, comes back to the village and takes over while deftly managing the bad guys form the rest of the story.
The Review
This movie should put a full stop to those still blah-blahing that the south indian megastar Mammootty is a lame comedian. With Rajamanikyam, he proves once again that he can give the best comedians in Malayalam cinema a run for their money. Fortunately or unfortunately, his presence is the only saving grace of this flick.
The pace of the movie is fast, which’s good.
The dialogues, laced with hilarious local slangs, is another major plus.
Mammotty, Saikumar and Manoj K Jayan’s act leave the most impact. Although Rahman gives a sincere performance, his role as the right-hand man of Rajamanikyam could have been done by anyone else too. He needs a bigger break. Sindhu Menon puts on a good greedy & arrogant act. Heroine Padmapriya does her best to bring some life into an inconsequential role. Muscleman veteran actor Bheeman Raghu & comedian Salim Kumar have done their two-bits to add some laughs to the movie.
The songs are okay. The makers of the movie were intelligent enough to put Rahman forward to do all the complex dance steps while Mammotty safely remained behind those dark glasses to flash his teeth & simply nod his head in approval :)
The action scenes are racy although I can’t help compare them always to the better choreographed Tamil or Bollywood ones. One doesn’t need big budget for that, just a more presentable kick or punch! :)
Even the end was disappointing. The final scenes looked like they were wrapped up in a hurry to check the movie’s length.
Final word -
A 3/5 movie - would have been truly enjoyable with some eye candy locations and better choreographed action in the climax.
Anyway, a good debut by director Anwar Rasheed