A Fantastic Mohanlal Powers This Warm Hug Of A Film

Mohanlal and Sathyan Anthikad have been defining the emotional core of the average Malayali for over four decades now.

- AVINASH RAMACHANDRAN

Mohanlal and Sathyan Anthikad have been defining the emotional core of the average Malayali for over four decades now. Despite technological advancements, the propensity for action extravaganzas in today's times, and the seeming erosion of the audience's attention span, Mohanlal and Sathyan reunite for a film that reminds us why these two were allowed to define emotions closest to our hearts. Anger, love, fear, guilt, regret, happiness, devastating sadness, and a smile that finds its way through it all.

When Sandeep Balakrishnan (Mohanlal) gets a heart transplant courtesy of a donor, Colonel Ravindranath, the stage is set for a sappy family drama about a grateful recipient and a bereaved family. But Akhil Sathyan's story and Sonu TP's screenplay have other plans. They want us to know why Sandeep says, "A heart is just a tool. It is just doing its job. There is nothing sentimental there." This is the first time Sandeep is addressing the new heart placed in his body, and he chooses pragmatism over emotions. Of course, we have seen enough films to know that the literal change of heart would result in a figurative change of heart. But we wait because what is the fun in wanting to predict the narrative in a Sathyan Anthikad film? His template has worked like clockwork since the 1980s, and somehow, it still ticks like it is just another Monday.