Njan Prakashan - Malayalam

Njan Prakashan is definitely that entertainer movie that you won’t regret watching from the theatre. Yes, it is a template that we have seen in many of Sathyan Anthikkad’s movies were an irresponsible young hero evolves to become a responsible man. But we have Fahadh Faasil becoming Prakashan effortlessly and Sreenivasan writing witty moments that are so much in his zone. Both these elements elevate the predictable story into a charming entertainer.

Prakashan is the son of a teacher named Achuthan. He is so egoistic that he refused to do the nursing job for which he studied, saying the job doesn’t suit men. The opportunist Prakashan eventually faces a big setback for his crookedness and the movie shows us how this guy transforms for the better after that incident.

We have all complained that the movies of Sathyan Anthikkad have lost the old charm. And if you look at his vintage works, the actors had contributed a great deal in the success. The X factor that makes this movie extremely entertaining is none other than Fahadh Faasil. Sreenivasan has a way of tuning characters and situations into satirical caricaturish way to establish his wit and politics. Fahadh’s level of conviction makes those portions look so funny. In the second half, the movie becomes slightly more in the zone of the director and it was a little too predictable especially if you know Mr. Anthikkad’s filmography. But the performances in those portions were surprisingly raw that even the clichéd moments got a different tone. 

Structurally, Njan Prakashan has the same chassis of Vinodayathra and it has used parts from other works of the director. But Sreenivasan manages to play with some of the ideas in an engaging way. The usual female bitching propaganda to gain the claps of the audience was tweaked nicely to make it a learning experience for our crooked hero. In the second half when things become so predictable, there is a deliberate reduction of melodrama and inclusion of humour to make it an easy film for the viewers. Sreenivasan as usual asserts his political ideas in conversations and the counter dialogues reminded me of his well written movies. Even Sathyan Anthikkad -S Kumar team manages to craft the visuals in an updated manner. Cuts maintained a good tempo and the very minimally included music and background score also helps the film.

Minus Fahadh Faasil, I would say Njan Prakashan would have easily become that overdone comedy with a predictable story. But his style that almost all of you might have seen in that impressive teaser just makes the movie really entertaining. There is a scene in the second half where he narrates an incident to the character Sruthi and asks for water without taking a breath, such minimal inclusions were just fabulous. Sreenivasan was much energetic and was flowing when compared to some of his recent acting outings. Nikhila Vimal was pretty and convincing as Salomi. Devika Sanjay who made her debut with this movie is indeed a promising talent. Anju Kurien with the voice of Raveena Ravi was okay.