Balachandra Menon back with "De! Ingottu Nokkiye"

If you wish to risk your mental stability, you can venture into De Ingottu Nokkiye says Paresh C Palicha on www.rediff.com

Read his review below.... Paresh is too bold and has expressed his un-biased opinion I believe

April 14, 2008 18:07 IST

It intrigues you when you read a caption like 'An Idiotic Film Made with Intelligence and Intention'. It puts you in two minds -- whether this was written with an intention to ridicule the viewer, or if, the film, titled De Ingottu Nokkiye, is indeed a satire.

Anyway, coming from a living legend (the film's small print does say that this is 'A Political Striptease by Balachandra Menon'), you are led to believe that the film is indeed a satire.

However, nothing makes much sense after watching this Malayalam flick. This may be the most incomprehensible film made in the recent history of Malayalam cinema with no cohesive link connecting the events that unfold on the screen.

The scenes and plotlines are picked up from sources ranging from Kamal Haasan [Images] starrer Indran Chandran to the appearance of Gandhi in Munna Bhai.

The only positive thing (if we are desperate to find one) may be that the protagonist of this excuse of a film is veteran comedian Jagathy Sreekumar, that too in two roles (not exactly a double role).

If you still wish to decipher the story, you have to pick up bits and pieces of what you see on the screen and make up your own story. This may be the first time (and hopefully the last time) that a filmmaker has given a jigsaw puzzle to his audience to solve.

The story is about a politician Vettikkadu Sadashivan (Jagathy Sreekumar), who does not even spare his own siblings to get political mileage. Being the Chief Minister, he presents a clean and pious image to the world. A bachelor, he enjoys the company of women secretly and has all the other vices of the world.

He is a role model for his orphaned nephew Vettikkadu Shivan (Jayasurya). But, when he comes to know who his real uncle is, Shivan promises to dislodge him from the chair of the Chief Minister. This is what you understand after pulling out your hair for hours in desperation.

Every actor in this film is loud and noisy. Even an actor like Nedumudi Venu, who can bring sobriety to any kind of bedlam, is not spared of hamming. Jayasurya and the new actress Sara may have felt proud of being the part of a Balachandra Menon film in the beginning but may like to forget this film.