A little late to the party. Sorry, we were vacationing in Seattle with our dear friends like family. We were really looking forward to our vacation, because like everyone, we haven’t travelled much since Covid happened. Especially since my son and I are in the high risk category. But now all of us are vaccinated and we are good to go!:)
I have mentioned many times how my son is an ardent Aju Varghese fan. So it wasn’t surprising that more than the vacation and Christmas Day our son looked forward to Christmas Eve, coz’ Minnal Murali was releasing on Netflix on the 24th of December! And we were not going to miss it for the world! Minnal (lightning) struck right on time and how!
Now, Minnal Murali doesn’t need another rave review. It’s declared a superhit worldwide and there are no two ways about it, it’s absolutely deserving!
So this is not really a review, but just rambling thoughts I had while watching the movie.
We started out with really high expectations because we absolutely love Basil Joseph’s Kunjiramayanam and Godha. His way of storytelling is unique. Creating everything out of sweet nothings and it’s probably the reason why he stands out as an excellent director at this very young age. I can only imagine he would probably be laughing himself when he directs the comedy scenes, because they feel so natural and true to the pulse of the current generation.
Minnal Murali is so effective because of the entire team. The actors, the direction team, the writers and the brilliant VFX team. To adapt a superhero concept, we’ve seen only in English movies, to a village in Kerala needs absolute brilliance. The best part is all of this seems so effortlessly clean! The writers, Arun Anirudhan and Justin Mathew (I got that off IMDB), need to be really commended for this. Take a bow!
Comic Vine quotes ;”A hero is only as good as his villain”. Minnal Murali thrives on this revelation. I’m sure there’s not one of us who didn’t fall in love at least a little bit with Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (2019). Giving the villain a story to justify his evilness and giving him (if I may say so) even more importance than the hero itself was an excellent move!
Tovino Thomas shines bright as Minnal Murali, charming, good looking, witty and swift, all attributes of a superhero align absolutely right. He has given this role his heart and soul and it shows!
Guru Somasundaram (Shibu) held this movie on his shoulders! What brilliant characterization and acting.
The other villain providing comic relief too is Aju Varghese and he has done his part so beautifully well. He has a lot of yesteryear actor Jagathy going in this film. Pillaichan from Meesa Madhavan and the evil ‘aliyan’ from CID Moosa et al. Stepping up to Jagathy’s stature is no small feat and Aju Varghese, in this movie especially, reminds us a lot of him!
Minnal Murali wins as an entire package of entertainment. When I heard it’s a superhero movie, I really thought it would be a kids movie. But the director has packaged this movie so well, it’s an amazing experience for kids and adults alike. You know the amazing feeling we had as kids after walking out of a great circus or magic show.
Minnal Murali gave that kind of a feeling! The smile on my son’s face was similar to the one he has after eating chocolate brownies or cotton candy; and that kind of a genuine inner happiness cannot be brought on by just any movie experience. It has to be that good to be felt in your heart!
The VFX team needs to be specially congratulated because, bad VFX would have spoiled the movie completely! It was an intelligent move to not compromise on the VFX because everyone was bound to compare a superhero movie to Hollywood. And that move brought the perfect results.
A simple thing I also liked was giving the superhero a purpose. Just like the “with great power comes great responsibility” tagline for Spider-Man, Minnal Murali has one of his own stated by his father predicting he’s destined to do big things and protect his people.
I thank and commend the entire team of Minnal Murali for a brilliant movie experience!
And here's wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year!