Cast: Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Lal Jr., Deepak Parambol, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Arun Kurian, Khalid Rahman, Chandu Salimkumar, Vishnu Reghu
Crew:
Based on a real life incident
Cinematography by Shyju Khalid
Music by Sushin Shyam
Edited by Vivek Harshan
Written & Directed by Chidambaram S Poduval
Produced by Babu Shahir, Soubin Shahir, Shawn Antony
Manjummel Boys Movie Rating: 3/5
Gunaa film starring Kamal Haasan, Rekha, Roshini has been shot at dangerously deep caves in Kodaikanal. While those caves existed from long time and many noticed how dangerous and beautiful they are, Gunaa made them heavily popular. Kodaikanal hill station saw tourists asking them to be taken to “Gunaa Caves” for long time. So, the local police and commoners have created a huge tourist attraction out of them.
But the caves are home to a less known abyss known as “Devil’s Kitchen”. Many people do not about the hole whose depth has not been estimated by any climbers yet. So, a group of boys from Manjummel, Kerala, rescued their friend who fell into the deep abyss of Devil’s Kitchen, they became national heroes. Now, a movie has been made on the same incident, that is, Manjummel Boys. Let’s discuss about the film, in detail.
Plot:
A group of boys headed by Siju David(Soubin Shahir) decide to go on a trip. They plan to go to Goa but due to financial restraints they change the destination to Kodaikanal. They find only a Qualis and accordingly, they invite only 9-10 people on the trip. The eccentric and playful boys want their friend Subhash(Sreenath Bhasi) to join them but he declines the invite due to financial distress, he and his family are going through. When Siju and others force him and say that they will take care of expenses, he joins them.
At the Guna Caves in Kodaikanal, they enter into restricted zone and Subhash playfully tries to explain something and suddenly falls into the Devil’s Kitchen, sink hole near by. Now, they run to police, bring locals and try everything in their hands to save their friend. Could they? How did they achieve it when everyone discourages them and states that no one has ever been rescued from that sink hole? Watch the movie to know more.
Analysis:
Gunaa is one of those rare films from Kamal Haasan that found more appreciation among youth but not universally. He has rich list of films like Nayakan, Mahanadi, Maro Charitra, Satya, Apoorva Sahodarulu, Sagarasangamam and so on. The list is endless but his Gunaa, has become more famous for the song, “Kanmani Anbodu” than the story elements.
In that song, director has beautifully captured the beastly beauty of Kodaikanal hills and caves, which became Guna Caves. Hence, people try to catch a glimpse of these caves and love to add them to their exploration list whenever they take a trip to Kodaikanal. Director Chidambaram took this popularity of the song and blended it into his screenplay. It is the song that starts the film and it is the song that ends it as well.
Gunaa film’s effectiveness in making these caves can be attributed largely to the song and its picturisation and that is evident in this screenplay, too. He cleverly used the pop culture reference that this song has become over the past three decades. And technical department has outdone themselves by pulling off the visuals and sets close to real life as much as they can.
While in some shots VFX is noticeable for major portion they managed everything to look real and authentic. The problem though lies in makers giving the incident and bravery, perseverance shown by the group of boys during the incident but not to their characters. The emphasis has been on how well we can show this mission rather than how well can we connect the audiences to the characters.
2018 had characters that connect with audiences and that lent to it becoming a huge blockbuster. Manjummel Boys is also an achievement for the budget and sheer brilliance in the closing 40 minutes that the team executes this rescue operation with. Still, if the main characters had that connectible and tangible emotion going for them, it would have been a great experience like 2018.
The movie doesn’t start off brilliantly as well. It takes a little bit time to fire up and the scenes that plant the seeds for pay-offs in the climax don’t really register to us with the similar impact that they should have. Even though the movie is very tight and gets the rescue operation scenes on point, the choice to showcase Tamil Police in slightly negative light does seem a forcible attempt at creating sympathy. The scenes could have been better thought off, in this portion.
On the whole, movie with a huge ensemble cast manages to make them all appear as a group of friends rather than some junior actors clinging on to senior stars. This dynamic helps the film to be an enjoyable watch with your friends’ group without any doubt. The way it makes us fall in love again with “Kanmani Anbodu” song’s greatness can also be termed as aspirational and exemplery. Had they worked out some bumps in the journey this road trip rescue mission film could have been highly memorable. Still, we can watch the movie without any issue.
Positives:
Ensemble Cast performances
Research behind the incident
Devil’s Kitchen set up and rescue sequence
Kanmani Anbodu song usage
Negatives:
Drag in the first hour
Set up sequences not worked out as expected
Showing every police in a slightly negative light
Manjummel Boys Movie Bottom-line: A trip we can take!