Manorathangal Cast: Mohanlal, Mammootty, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Fahadh Faasil, Biju Menon, Narain, Nadhiya, Surabhi Lakshmi, Aparna Balamurali, Indrajith Sukumaran,
Crew:
Narrated by Kamal Haasan
Written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Directed by Priyadarshan, Santhosh Sivan, Ranjith, Jayaraj, Shyamaprasad, Mahesh Narayanan, Ratheesh Ambat, Aswathy V. Nair
Music by Bijibal, Ramesh Narayan, Rajesh Murugesan, Rahul Raj, Jakes Bejoy, Anshuman Mukherjee, Saeed Abbas
Streaming on ZEE5
Original Language: Malayalam
No: of episodes: 09
Genre: Drama, Anthology
Manorathangal Web Series Rating: 2.25/5
Manorathangal is an anthology series developed based on legendary writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair’s short stories. Several renowned directors from Malayalam Cinema like Priyadarshan, Santhosh Sivan, Ranjith along with others came together to bring his short stories to life on the celluloid. Mohanlal, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil kind of big stars joined the project to showcase their respect to the writer. Even Kamal Haasan got attached to the project as a narrator. Let’s discuss about this star studded anthology in detail.
MT Vasudevan Nair is known for bringing intricate psychological characters to the fore front in his short stories. No matter what you anticipate, he has way of connecting us to the journey of his characters and deliver the punch. After O. Henry short stories in English, many experts claim that MT Vasudevan Nair has a peculiar flavor in dwelling into the human psychology. With so many stars coming together as well, our expectations from this series are high. Sadly, the series fail to live upto them.
With flat narration, the intricies found in great man’s writing doesn’t translate likewise on to the screen. We try to look for the moments where the actors like Mohanlal, Mammootty shine but the setting and their performances don’t really match. With the title like Manorathangal, the makers have stated that it will concentrate on psychological dynamics of humans but in execution none really shine. We get one story after another running through the forest like a stream but not like a waterfall that peaks our curiosity and excites us to stay in its company.
The forest stream is only useful when you are looking for water otherwise it just follows on its own. Manorathangal is such a series where you have to push yourself to really find something as so many favorites took such pain and time to craft each story. Some interesting choices with Mohanlal and Mammootty stories does surprise but don’t engage us. Each filmmaker had an opportunity to deliver some strong message or a lasting impression with the content available but they just deliver functional series that neither excites us nor really feeds our enthusiasm. Manorathangal remains an attempt that brought many big stars together but not an effort that stays with us for long.
Positives:
Ensemble Cast performances
Music
Choice of Stories
Negatives:
Flat Narrative
Lacks gripping screenplay
While some stories does engage overall doesn’t
Lacks any impact with such great cast
Manorathangal Web Series Bottom-line: Disappoints big time
