What is the safest way to make a box-office hit in Malayalam? Hire Mohanlal and get to rework his mass formula- a larger-than-life do gooder, punch line dialogues, some adipoli songs plus at least four kidilan fight scenes!
The magic formula works once again in Mahsamudram a film strictly for his fans directed by Dr S.Janardhanan, a television serial maker who has nothing new to offer. In fact Janardhanan has helped himself by taking scenes from various films and the climax is a straight lift from a Telugu film Sye. And Innocent’s character reminds you so much of what he had done earlier in Sathyan Anthikkad’s Manasinakkare.
Still, the film is a watchable as it is racy and the plot mixture of high seas romance and action along with an adrenaline pumping football match. But sadly Mohanlal’s first attempt in 26 years to be a fisherman is no patch on other sea faring movies in Malayalam like the classic Chemeen or Mammootty’s brilliant Amaram.
Isahak (Mohanlal) is a Christian fisherman with a heart of gold and looks after the entire expenses of an old-age home run by a priest (Jagathy Sreekumar), where his mentally challenged father Velankani (Innocent) is an inmate. Isahak is a cool guy who is also the star football player for his club ‘Beach Eleven’ of Puthenkara, their rivals are ‘Seven Star’ from Mattukara another fishing village controlled by bad guys. Ishahak falls in love with Devi (Laila) of Mattukara and her brother (Riza Bava) swears revenge.
They wed in the high seas and plan to spend their first night on the boat but her brother plans to cremate them there, which accidentally leads to Devi killing her brother in the melee. Devi is arrested and sent to jail, which leave Isahak heart broken and melancholic. Meanwhile the bad guys kidnap Velankani and the ransom demand is that Isahak should not play the crucial match for ‘Beach Eleven’ in a tournament! At the same time, Devi comes out on parole and Isahak is caught between his love for her and duty towards his father and team which leads to a gripping climax.
There is a huge star cast of supporting actors like Rahman, Jagadheesh, Niyas, Sai Kumar, Krishna Prasad, Indrans among others. Shaji’s camera especially the football scene shots of Mohanlal’s introduction scene and the way he heads a goal are fantastic. Janadhanan himself has written the dialogues including the punch line which Mohanlal says during a game when it gets rough- Pankayam pidicha kaiyum, Goal Adicha kalum aanu… As usual there is one good melody tuned by M.Jayachandran Kando Kando… Kadal Kandittu… sung by Venugopal and Chitra being the pick of the lot.
There is absolutely no chemistry between Mohanlal and Laila, as she looks fragile and timid with hardly anything to do. Mohanlal does his usual superman act and steers this uneven film on his broad shoulders to the winning post. At the best, Mahasamudram is just a time pass Mohanlal masala for Onam sadya
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