Guruvayoorambala Nadayil Review - Decent Watch for its Enjoyable First Half!

Ashwin Ram

Guruvayoorambala Nadayil is a comedy drama directed by Vipin Das of Jaya Jaya Jaya Hai fame. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Basil Joseph in the lead roles.

Premise:

Basil Joseph is engaged to Prithviraj's younger sister. Prithviraj who mistook his wife Nikhila Vimal gets along with her after a gap with the help of Basil Joseph. Turns out, she is his ex-girlfriend and is the reason for the couple’s misunderstanding. The drama around the characters forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:

The director is well aware of the audience, he has utilized the fact that the title of the movie would be difficult for everyone to grasp and has made a scene out of it. The film starts exceptionally well, it establishes the bonding between Prithviraj and Basil Joseph in a simple yet solid manner, their initial phone conversations are very lively and sets the light-hearted tone of the movie. The conflict is serious and treatment is fun, this contradictory attempt works big time till the halfway mark. The progression has many fun-filled situations executed accordingly, even some small elements like Prithviraj re-adding his wife in their WhatsApp family group as he reunites with her after a sour period are carefully done. Prior to the interval, Basil Joseph sets some external factors for the wedding to fall apart, but later changes his mind, his lame plans turn towards him and hits back in the second half, at first it lands funny but the same pattern is repeated throughout which makes the full final hour flat as humor appears to be silly. The core conflict is sufficient enough to create an impact drama, but many unwanted characters and situations take the central theme away.

Performances:

Prithviraj is perfect as the angry man in the family, his flip innocent behavior towards Basil Joseph is adorable, however his stylish look doesn’t suit the nativity of the story world. Basil Joseph gives the boy-next-door feels as usual, he fits in the thick of his character, his melting attitude towards Prithviraj is super cute. Nikhila Vimal and Anaswara Rajan have their base set right as important characters in the story, but they don’t have much to do as it progresses. Yogi Babu in an extended cameo is boring on-screen with situations not being good enough for him to score with comedies. Some good characters in the family circle, outside of that there are many unwanted and uninteresting artists who act just as fillers.

Technicalities:

Superb music by Ankit Menon, delightful original songs and the ‘Azhagiya Laila’ reference number adds a big commercial value. Background score is foot-tapping at many places, giving so much energy even to some flat scenes. Quality cinematography, despite most of the movie happening interiors, the angles and the way the artists were presented on-screen are neat and bright. Editing was a mixed bag, started afresh with some creative cut-patterns, the split frames strengthened the portrayal, excessive lags in the second half which the editor could have easily trimmed and provided a better output.

Bottomline

Interesting conflict creates an engaging drama in the first hour with the humor working vastly in the film’s favour. But too many characters and relentless situations around them deviates from the core story which results in a dull second half.

Rating - 2.75/ 5