Movie Review 'Monsoon Mangoes': More about characters than content
Director: Abi Varghese
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Vijay Raaz, Iswarya Menon, Vinay Forrt
There are some movies, which when you think of, you think with its background score, like Thoovana Thumbikal that old Johnson Master had made his masterpieces with. Monsoon Mangoes could become one such, with Jakes Bejoy’s retro tunes, playing in your mind as you think of the film. And nine out of ten, you will think of it with Fahadh Faasil wearing a orange sweatshirt, his tiny red car, and his adorable array of expressions.
In one word, that’s how you could sum up the film, adorable. And that’s because of Fahadh. The man has come back, after a little break, to easily claim his position as one of the most adored in Malaylam cinema. Innocence comes naturally to him. That’s what makes a major chunk of this character – innocent expressions, words, actions, and then their not-so-innocent results. From the beginning, you try to set a year to the story, but it’s never clear. It is America, New Orleans. It is a tiny area with a lot of Malayalis in it, so much that the ‘last saipe (foreigner)’ flees. But it’s like a fictional world within. They are all dressed the 1970s way, complete with those high hairdos of women. There are audio and video cassettes – cassettes, not CDs – in plenty. No sign anywhere of a mobile phone. But there is a computer, a floppy disk and mention of Windows 95. So you might put the story somewhere in the late 90s.
Daveed alias DP Pallikkal is the 30-year-old young man that Fahadh plays, passionate about cinema, but unable to make a convincing one. Vinay Forrt is his right-hand. His family had enough of his easy-going ways. Nandu his dad who sells ‘lehyams’, a studious younger sister, and a Kottayam-accented mother make characters that don’t just pass in the background, but have spaces of their own. So does Rekha, played by Iswarya Menon, Daveed’s love interest. Daveed’s mother and uncle Suresh are familiar faces to those who have watched the director Abi Varghese’s famous series ‘Akkarakaazhchakal’ .
What ticks off this story is Daveed coming across an old hero of Hindi films called Prem Kumar (Vijay Raaz). He makes him his hero, and proceeds, with other local actors to make a film. Alancier plays beautifully the few scenes he has as a distributor. That’s what really makes this movie – the characters, more than the content. It’s what they say, how they say. Everyday situations excel more than a magical plot that sets everything right and makes the hero come out on top. Monsoon Mangoes is an enjoyable two-and-a-half-hours, if you won’t analyse it hard and try to figure out a deeper meaning. It’s just a nice little movie, like the nice little town it’s set in.
