''Njangalude Veettile Athidhikal'' () is a 2014
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
-language family drama film directed by
Sibi Malayil
Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name.
Etymology
The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hin ...
. It stars
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...
, after a long gap, opposite
Priyamani
Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...
in the lead;
Priyamani
Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...
has been paired up with
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...
for the first time.
Narain,
Innocent
Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is prior to the sense of legal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the op ...
,
Kalabhavan Shajon
Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 199 ...
, and
Lena play significant roles in the film. The movie is penned by
K. Gireesh Kumar. The background score and soundtrack are composed by
Bijibal
Bijibal Maniyil is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. In a career spanning more than twenty years, he has composed for more than 150 feature films, several television commercials and a few d ...
and
Ratheesh Vega respectively.
Kalabhavan Shajon
Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 199 ...
debuts as a singer in the film through the song ''Maaye Maaye''.
The film is produced by
Milan Jaleel under his banner Galaxy Films. Popcorn Entertainments Australia distributed the film all over Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The film released on 23 October 2014 coinciding with the
Diwali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...
festival with mixed reviews.
Plot
The film's story revolves around Advocate Manoj and Bhavana played by Jayaram and Priyamani, respectively. Their life takes a turn when their only daughter meets a tragic death. The demise of their daughter leads to a gap between them. Eventually, Bhavana will start doubting her husband of having an extramarital affair. The film then talks about some uninvited guests, who come into their life and how they influence the couple and their life.
Cast
*
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...
as Manoj
*
Priyamani
Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...
as Bhavana
*
Narain as Rajiv Menon
*
Innocent
Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is prior to the sense of legal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the op ...
as Sreedharan
*
Kalabhavan Shajon
Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 199 ...
as Rajan
*
Lena as Maya
*
KPAC Lalitha
Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest actresses in the ...
as Manoj's mother
*
Noby Marcose as Lalu
*Niyas Backar as Priyan
*
Manju Pathrose as Rajani
*
Antony Thekkek
*
M.G. Sasi
Critics review
Paresh C Palicha of ''
rediff.com
Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
'' rated 2/5 stars and wrote "The film cannot be taken seriously and it turns out to be a miserable disappointment". ''Cochintalkies.com'' rated 2/5 stars and said "Watchable, But do not expect anything. A movie made out of desperation that would the exact sentence to define this movie. Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal with no doubt has a good story but mediocre script and lousy direction has ruined this movie ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
.com'' gave "below average" verdict and stated "There is no point in mincing words, Njangalude Veettile Adhithikal tests the patience of the viewer big time. Watch it at your own risk please!". ''Indiaglitz.com'' rated 5/10 stars and wrote "Even after with a convincing story and decent performances from the key players, the movie fails to impress, enthuse or amuse at any points of its narratives. The problem with the movie is that the whole theme is handled in an inept matter by K Gireesh kumar, whose script lines fail to bringing any impressions."
''Nowrunning.com'' rated 1.5/5 stars and gave a "poor" verdict and wrote "From the levels of a normal family drama, the movie attempts to become a psychological thriller. Technically the movie doesn't bear the stamp of an experienced director. 'Njangalude Veettile Athidhikal' in all likelihood will struggle in theatres like uninvited guests in a party.". Unni R Nair of ''Kerala9.com'' rated 2/5 stars and said "The film seems just about OK, but fails to impress; it once again proves that it's the script that makes or mars it all. In this case the script mars it all, despite the story being convincing and the key players delivering rather decent performances. The film, on the whole, fails to impress, excite or entertain." and concluded as "Unimpressive; poor scripting mars it all....Forgettable!!!".
''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' rated 3/5 stars and wrote "As likely as not it deals with a subject related to a mental malady, audience see the ghost of ''Manichithrathazhu'' here and there. One also wonders why certain scenes which could have been handled better with situational comedy. Overall the film is worth a watch for the subject that Siby Malayil has tried to deal with and has its heart in the right place.".
Music
Composer Ratheesh Vega's album features three tracks. One is sung by actor Shajon and the rest by newbie singers. Though it boasts of no musical novelty, it's a playlist-friendly album with one melodic fast number and two other soft melodies. Shajon debuts as a singer through singing the track ''Maaye Maaye'' penned by Santosh Varma. The song is rhythmic and has a folk feel. ''Mazhavil Thundu'' by Sanup is a melody that sets up a hazy mood. However, it reminds you of many other hit melodies here and there. The song Oru Naal is included both in the male and female version by Joju Sebastian and Anitha. Rafeeq Ahamed's lyrics for the song are also haunting and romantic.
References
{{reflist
2014 films
Films directed by Sibi Malayil
2010s Malayalam-language films