Minnal Murali (2021)

In a village named kurukanmalla, lives a young man jaison(tovino) who wants to go to America. Shibu(guru somasundaram) is a lunatic and lives as an outcast in the village. On the eve of Christmas, a lightning hits both of them but they miraculously survive and gain superpowers. Jaison gets superspeed and superstrength whereas shibu gets telekinetic powers. Jaison uses his powers for the first time to beat his ex girlfriend's cop dad who assaulted his father and names himself minnal murali. On the other hand shibu murders his lover usha's brother daasan to get her and blames it on minnal murali. Rest of the movie is how jaison clears minnal murali's name and save the village from shibu's wrath.

Malayalam cinema is a financially small industry but rich in content. Due to this basil joseph focused more on the film industry's strength and weakness. Instead of making it a visual spectacle, basil focused more on the story, characters and emotions. The action scenes and vfx are decently executed considering the budget. Though the film was promoted with tovino's face value, at the core this film totally belongs to guru somasundaram. He has a well developed character and is given lot of focus including a romantic song. At the end, you will feel sympathy for him. Tovino fits perfectly as jaison. Aju varghese character reminds us of jagathy in mithunam.

Coming to drawbacks, I expected it to have lots of fun along with heart like godha. But here, there is hardly any comedy. All the focus is on the hero and villain unlike kunjiramayanam and godha where there were many memorable supporting characters. Also being a superhero film, I didn't get any wow or goosebumps moment its not with reference with the action scenes or vfx but with any normal sequences, for example 1. Peter getting his powers back in spiderman 2 2. Bruce wayne escaping the cave without a rope in dark knight rises 3. Peter lifting the fallen building on him in homecoming Also what was terribly missing is a theme music for the superhero which would have elevated each and every scene.

On the whole, minnal murali is like that dimwit kid who just passes in a difficult exam without any distinction but his teachers and parents will praise him as a huge achievement.

Fmovies: RATED 5/10 Language: Malayalam Source: Netflix

The hero and Villain backdrop is the core for this movie...The problem of the movie is more of Drama and less of super heroes. There is very few entertainment and lot of drama and sentiments. I felt that "Mugamoodi" super hero beginning is better than this one. Mugamoodi has lot of childish scenes and logic mistakes.... The second half of this movie also looks like same to me... Not my cup of tea.

It is definitely a good try from the Mollywood industry, films from which doesn't play well across box offices (read: generates no big money), hence they're doomed to make way too low-budget films and that's precisely the reason why their movies fail to succeed.

The action sequences with good VFX are the soul of any superhero movie and the finishing of every single sequence of that kind in this film lacks heavily with the finishing touches and just that one part of it kills the entire film, IMO. Otherwise, at the least, this film would've been the first decent attempt from Mollywood. Also, the characterisation, actors selection, music/bgm, nothing stood out as such, they were all just normal like other films and mainly there's no emotional connection or anything for the audience to take home with them.

The dead slow screenplay is another factor that kills the film.

Taking the route of the Comedy genre is not new but that route also didn't work out very well, there's not a single scene that creates laughter itself is a big disgrace to the film.

Overall, still, it is a very good try and I wish the makers get more power to make more such films in the future as it looks like they've got the calibre to do so.

Minnal Murali fmovies. Superhero movies are nothing but gleeful oddities in the space of Indian Cinema, let alone in a regional sense. We have had our own share of imaginations and iterations of Superhumans in the past, but In an era, where Marvel and DC have already ascertained their unprecedented authority onto the said subject; it's really hard to come up with an idea that could even stand a chance. Minnal Murali with its comparatively rooted interest may as well be the first in crushing such constraints of preconceived scepticism and conservative mindsets.

Let's start with the technical aspects; The Cinematography is elegant and graciously well-handled. As well as the visual effects, which seemed to have had consummated all the essential requirements. The Score is simply incredible and is indeed my personal favourite down here. What a wonderful composition, that seems to adapt according to circumstances.

Now if I speak purely from a character perspective, initially, Jaison and Shibu, both have given me the impression of two premeditated gambles at crafting characters with greyer shades; but as the story moves forward, things started to make much more sense! It's not your typical "Good vs Evil" set-up; on the contrary, with its indirect yet penetrating presence of subtexts and social commentaries, the story desperately wanted to overstep the limitations of deep-seated stereotypes.

Despite falling into the same caricaturish dilemmas oftentimes, and with minor hiccups and difficulties in the Screenplay; the decisive performances and a strong emotional base eventually led it to great success. Basil Joseph's experiment may not break any newer grounds by definition, yet his film did just enough to convey its credibility on a global scale.

So, the much awaited Super Hero movie in Malayalam has arrived. It is great that the film makers did not create a huge publicity stunt in terms of their perfection or making or blah blah blah.

Well written for the Malayali (Indian) audience that it gives a feeling of the story in a familiar yet, imaginary village. There are a lot of Easter eggs you can find like "Dhakshayani Biscuits" from "Midhunam". The formula is well balanced. To have a great super Hero, we need a powerful villain. Here, they are so successful in creating one, and the actor did it so well that his character became the charm of the movie. Excellent acting from almost all cast. Basil Joseph proved that he is such an amazing talent in our industry. Cinematography was obviosly amazing from Sameer Thahir, so was the editing by Livingston Mathew and art by Manu Jagadh. The Vfx was really impressive that it is hard to find such quality work in our Industry.

Another fact that impressed me was how the songs were used. It was very well blended in the movie without irritating or causing serious damage to the course of the movie.

Overall, impressive work. But, be careful, over expectations can let you down.

Review By Kamal K

Minnal Murali very much stems from the arc of the several international superhero movies that we have been watching for decades. Yet it stands out. For its freshness, for its simplicity, for its clean storytelling. Neat and cleanly executed considering the premise of the story and the available budget too.

Tovino Thomas is a wonderful actor. The actor is funny and charismatic. Femina George who is cast as the ass-kicking Biji is also brilliant in the film.

However, the best actor in 'Minnal Murali' is without a doubt, Guru Somasundaram. 'Minnal Murali' is a good film because of its brilliant villain. Shibu AKA the fake Minnal Murali is well written and fleshed out.

Minnal Murali is a good attempt at a Malayalam superhero movie. Of course, there can be even more improvements - but some quality acting, comedy and music makes this movie quite memorable. If nothing else, watch it for the villain.

For Movie - 6/10 For Attempt - 6+1/10

Postive -

Shibu's Backstory

The Unexpected Comedy

Guru Somasundaram's Acting

Minnal Murali Origin Story

Negative -

Length

Superhero Editing Could Have Been Better.