Aaraattu Movie Review: Marakkar can breathe a sigh of relief. It is no longer the worst Mohanlal movie of recent times. That lovely credit will now go to Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu, B Unnikrishnan's 'Unrealistic' entertainer. I didn't make that, the movie wrote its own joke in the end-credits. This is a terrible slog of a movie, that struggles in most of the fronts - be it acting, direction, writing or editing. Neyyattinkara Gopan simply has no Aaraattu to offer to the movie watcher. Aaraattu Theme Song Thalayude Vilayattu: Mohanlal Is Fierce in This Rap Number From B Unnikrishnan Directorial.

Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu is set in a village called Muthalakotta. With its intro scene that is suspiciously similar to Mammootty's Chattambinadu, I got this strange feeling that originality may not be the film's forte. True to my aspersions, Udayakrishna's screenplay is anything but original. But more on that later.

When a piece of land becomes a bone of contention between the villagers, led by a quartet of enterprising youngsters called Muthalakotta Battalion. and its owner, played Vijayaraghavan, the latter brings in a fixer to help him retain the land. That 'fixer' turns out to be this Neyyattinkara Gopan (Mohanlal), who calls himself Ganabhushanam Neyyattinkara Gopan. At first he is at crossroads with the villagers, but soon he wins over them and then manages to convince them for a concert in the village at the very same disputed land, featuring none other than AR Rahman. The very same villagers who cast suspicions on his mere presence now wholeheartedly supports his floozy plan, no questions asked.

If you have seen masala entertainers starring the two Big M's of Malayalam cinema, you know that Gopan's purpose in the village is much more than fixing a land or having a concert. And of course, there is going to be a flashback that serves the real purpose of why he is there. It is another matter, that none of that makes any sort of sense in the end.

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A few days back, a video clip from an interview of Mohanlal went viral, where he was ruing how the audience of Telugu cinema wholeheartedly supported the movies there, while he hinted that back home, he sees no such 'support' for his movies. I like to believe Lalettan is making that inference with regards to the cold reception to his last big-budget theatrical release, Marakkar. Maybe it is to give an ode to those blind Telugu fans, the makers gives Gopan a Telugu catchphrase for no reason at all.

As someone who has grown up on his movies and loved so many of his golden performances in the '80s and '90s, I believe it is a highly irresponsible statement from the superstar. It is quite narcisstic of him to expect viewers to support his bad movies. especially the ones that take the fans for a ride. Give us a Devasuram or a Drishyam 2, and we will come cheering you wholeheartedly. But how can you expect us to praise slog-fests like Marakkar and now Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu?

Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu isn't a movie, it is a mishmash of Mohanlal's past hits, occasionally also borrowing from his competitor and friend, Mammootty's memorable movies. The USP of the movie is how Gopan and the characters around him keep on dropping references to his past movies every second scene as some sort of spoof. Not only the shtick gets annoying within minutes, but it is merely an excuse for B Unnikrishnan and Udayakrishna to recycle plot elements from old movies, because they don't have anything new to offer here. So from Aaram Thamburan to Vietnam Colony to Chandralekha to even films like Keerthichakra, Lucifer and shudder, Casanova, everything is put in a blender with no particular measure, and the resultant mess is what turns to be Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu. But hey, they made self-aware jokes, didn't they?

Aaraattu is also a very confused film about how regressive it wants to be. In one scene, the protagonist bashes a cop for making lewd comments on a girl, but later he himself makes double entendres that leave the women around him blushing. Also for all its moral standing on sexual harassment, Aaraattu also has a character call himself a die-hard fan of Dileep. One of the characters is called Swapna, and you know where the movie is winking at. At one point, Gopan appreciates a couple of female characters for choosing education over marriage, but then calls the upright RDO a 'raakshashi' just for doing her job. When Rachana Narayanankutty's character randomly asks Gopan what's his surname, Gopan replies he dropped his surname to be politically correct, a dig at the accusation that he only plays UC characters. It's another matter that the film celebrates the very same UC character inspite the so-called political correctness.

The film is endlessly stretched, comic sequences go on and on without trying to attempt genuine mirth and the large roster of supporting cast are merely therely to glorify the hero, or offer minor roadblocks. Shraddha Srinath is cast as the RDO of the village who is in initial disagreement with the protagonist but then is won over by him. It is a heroine character trope we have seen in many Mohanlal movies of the yore, from Shobana in Vellanakalude Naadu, Revathy in Adwaitham to Kavya Madhavan in Madambi. Sadly, Shraddha hardly gets to do much with her role.

A veteran performer like Siddique is made to indulge in humorless buffoonery, while a talented upcoming actor as Lukman is relegated to a thankless role. Johnny Anthony is made to do the kind of character we have seen the late Cochin Haneefa do in the past, where he played the dim-witted sidekick of the villain. The movie also has posthumous appearances of the late Nedumudi Venu and Kottayam Pradeep.

However, it is the leading man himself - Mohanlal - who turns to be the biggest disappointment. I admit there is a particular charm to see the superstar have fun with his character, but there is no denying that this is his most annoying performance in recent times. If Lalettan feels bad that we are not whole-heartedly supporting his movies, then I also feel bad to see the 'Complete Actor' phoning his performance so badly. The loud BG score does neither the actor nor the movie any favour. Aaraattu: Review, Cast, Plot, Trailer, Release Date – All You Need To Know About Mohanlal’s Malayalam Film.

While there is no plot as such in the first half of Aaraattu - just the film shuttling Gopan from a comic skit to an action scene to a mass scene and then back to comedy, the storyline actually gets rolling in the second half. Unfortunately, by then not only has your patience with the film's editing reached its most frustrating end, but also the supposed 'mystery' is nothing but a damp squib.

After Dhanush's cameo in Kammath & Kammath and Vijay Sethupathi in Marconi Mathai, welcome AR Rahman to the list of awkward cameos of Tamil celebs in Malayalam cinema. The much publicised special appearance comes in the climax and is staged up against a boring action scene. At least, the only silver lining is to see the famed music composer perform "Mukabla" and that's the only nostalgic piece in the film I cared for.

However, the movie refuses to end there and it stretches itself even further, with the director throwing in more and more ludicrous twists and finally ending my suffering in a Lucifer-sort of cliffhanger. Sorry, this is one sequel invitation I want to run away as further as possible!

PS: Can someone please tell Anthony Perumbavoor to give himself a break and stop being the 'Stan Lee' of Mohanlal movies?

Yay!

- Not a Damn Thing!

Nay!

- Three Hours of Migraine!

Final Thoughts

Neyyattinkara Gopante Aarattu makes you wish that you would have rather have spent that time and more revisiting all the Mohanlal movies that the movie keeps referencing and stealing, yes, including Casanova! Aaraattu is the worst Lalettan movie I have seen in the past few years, and I had seen Odiyan FDFS.

Rating:1.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2022 03:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).