Lonappante Mammodisa DVD Released

 Painting a perfect story to an audience, without even a brush stroke out of place is an art par excellence. Lonappante Mammodeesa is a film that tells the story of someone who enjoys building such wonderlands through his words. He can make a bizarre universe feel like a usual space, make a strange fantasy sound real. Facts are a lot more complex than fiction, and the film tries to elaborate how the facts of his life treat Lonappan, the way he learns to handle them and live his life. 

Lonappan (Jayaram) and his three sisters (played by Eva Pavithran, Shanthi Krishna and Uppum Mulakum fame Nisha) are middle-aged, and they live together, un-married, with their share of joys, private sorrows and frustrations. Though he runs a watch repairing shop with his assistant Shameer (Hareesh Kanaran), his mind is hardly invested in it. An event that throws him back to his childhood reminds Lonappan of his passion for story-telling. From then on, the film shows how the protagonist and his passion keep chasing each other from time to time, through twists, shocks and surprises that the many turn of events throw at them. 

Jayaram is perfect as Lonappan, who can stimulate the senses of those around him through his imagination, words that urge you to visualise and the apt tones for each of the situations. He has the right kind of charisma to balance the trials and tribulations of someone like Lonappan. The relationships in the movie seem authentic and believable for most parts. The camaraderie that the siblings share, for instance. They play well off one another and have a great, realistic sibling rapport. The way the various other elements are portrayed, like the equation of families in the neighbourhood with each other, the various layered characters set against a relatable village of Kerala, the other cumulative moments of warmth are all easy to be immersed in as a viewer. The sequences that show the flashback into the school days of the protagonist are also lovely. And as a movie that came in with a lighter baggage of expectation, the tangent of its story is also decently engaging. 

On the flip side, the film opted for a rather easy end, leaving the audience imagining what could happen after certain turn of events. There are also many unanswered questions and loose ends in the stories, like the ‘publication plan,’ for instance. The making of the film seems to hark back to the old school style, though there are Facebook and selfie sprinkled dialogues at regular intervals. It gets a little preachy at times, and as opposed to one’s regular expectations, Hareesh Kanaran’s character doesn’t have any laughs to offer in this movie. 

The film might make you smile and probably, urge you to think about re-visiting your long-lost passion, if it’s given a chance. That said, it is no conventional comedic experience that one might expect from a Jayaram film.