Odiyan Review: A visual spectacle which no one ever wants to miss out
The most anticipated movie of the year in Mollywood has been released here today and it was Odiyan starred by none other than Complete Actor Mohanlal in the lead. As you all know, this was the biggest hyped movie in Mollywood history and it was the maiden directorial venture of popular ad filmmaker VA Shrikumar Menon. National award-winning writer Hraikrishnan had penned the screenplay for this fantasy thriller which has been bankrolled by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Ashirvad Cinemas. Manju Waryar and Prakash Raj too were in important characters in this period drama.
The plot of this flick revolves around the characters named Odiyan Manickyan, Ravunni and Prabha played by Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, and Manju Warrier. The story was set in the background of a village in Palakkadu named Thenkurishi. It says how Manickyan becomes an Odiyan and why he had to leave his Village. It also shows us the reason behind his coming to his village after many years and why he becomes the last living odiyan in his clan.
We have to say that VA Shrikumar and team had delivered a classic entertainer which will take Malayalam Cinema to a whole new level. The screenplay and dialogues by Harikrishnan was the backbone of this flick. It has everything in it to make the audience glued to their seats till the very end and it has the right mix of class and mass in it. They had presented the plot in a non-linear manner and it tells the story that happens over a period of almost 50 years. The story has great depth and the emotional intensity in it has been just stunning. Each and every character in it has an identity and space and the plot situations were presented in a convincing manner as well. The fantasy element in it was the highlight of the film. Shrikumar Menon had created such a beautiful and epic visual language to the screenplay that the audience will feel that they are in that world where the story takes place.
The performances from artists in this movie has been just fabulous. Mohanlal, once again proved that he is the best in Indian Cinema. His makeover, body language, dialogue delivery and subtle variations in expressions were just stunning. The way performed both emotional and action sequences were just terrific. It has been an absolute privilege to watch him performing with such grace and easiness. Prakash Raj had given one of his finest performances as Ravunni and he played the perfect villain in the plot. Manju Waryar too had just given finest performance of hers after the comeback. She had lived on the screen as Prabha and took her character to another level with her performance. Others like Innocent, Siddique, Narain, Nandhu, Kailash, Sana Althaf, Aneesh G Menon, Sreejaya etc too did their part to perfection.
DOP by Shaji Kumar was one of the highlights of this movie, especially the stunt visuals has been just fabulous, to say the least. His frames in the songs too were amazing. Most of the visuals in this movie has been shot at night and Shaji Kumar had done a brilliant job. Songs were tuned by M Jayachandran and he also gave his finest songs for this film. Background scoring too deserves special mention and it was done by Sam CS. The background scoring had increased the intensity of the film and it also elevated the mass effect of the film to a higher plane. Editing by Johnkutty had given great pace for this film and his sharp cuts made the stunt sequences fantastic. Peter Hein’s stunts were fantabulous and breathtaking.
On the whole, Odiyan is one of the best films ever made in Mollywood and it is a never seen before kind of Visual treat. It will excite you, entertain you and also will touch your heart for sure. It will remain in your heart for a long time as well. We can say that Odiyan is a movie experience that no one will ever want to miss from the big screen.
