Recently released Malayalam film Mandakini is made with many purposes but fails to achieve any of them, it seems. One purpose the Vinod Leela film starring Althaf Salim and Anarkali Marikar is meeting is the flawless acting of the cast. The film, a story that happens in 24 hours time in the life of newly-weds, made as a comedy-drama, never take the viewer to comedic universe or to the dramatic experience it was meant to deliver, instead, it goes on and on with some random dialogues by the crew to make sure they are working on a project. Mandakini has a simple story that can be executed well, but it has been conceived really badly. It would have been better if the makers had put a little more effort in the screenplay and dialogues.

(Spoiler Alert) The movie starts with Aromal (Althaf alim) and Ambili (Anarkali Marikar) getting married in a temple and then going home. Aromal, who is seen expressing his excitement about marrying his lady of dreams and remains ecstatic about the union. But, amidst the festivities, as everything was going smoothly, the villain of the story came – two bottles of foreign liquor. With the twists in the story, Aromal”s plans for a first night of his dreams go astray and then by then end, all is well and cool.

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It is a simple story about things going south on a wedding night. But, the screenplay by Shiju M Bhaskar and Shalu goes south first, then north, then east and west, and in the middle of it they have lost control. A little bit of concentration on the comedy and the dialogues would have helped the movie to make a little bit of impact in the theatre.

But, the acting is good from all the actors. Althaf Salim tries to create comedy from nothingness in his usual way. There weren”t any big acting opportunities for him but he is seen doing well with the chances he was given. Scenes with most acting sequences were given to Anarkali, and the Sulaika Manzil actress is also seen giving justice to the role. She had to be seen as a happy bride, a disgruntled and cheated lover and a woman with vengeance. If anything that helps the movie to sustain, it would be the freshness she brings to the character.

Then, there is Vineeth Thattil as Aromal”s trouble-maker and troubleshooter brother-in-law. His character is all through the whole time in the script and his makeover as the witty and daring brother in the whole mayhem shows the actor who has been destined to be a sidekick or the one who gets most beatings in his previous movies, will perform better if he is given the chance.

Sarith Kukku as Aromal”s mother is fresh air in the whole casting. Her matriarch behaviour and the execution of perfect presentation of critical scenes in the movie lets her make a mark in the movie. Ganapathi”s Sujith Vasu, as the ex of Ambili is also neatly done. His quirkiness and deceitfulness is composed for the make-belief trait of an actor.

Timeline verdict: For a full-fledged comedy, Mandakini is yet to be done with a bit more creativity and care. This film is not achieving its goal as a comedy and loses its stream within 10 after one enters into the theatre.

Crew:

Director: Vinod Leela

Cast: Althaf Salim, Anarkali Marikar, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Saritha Kukku, Vineeth Thattil, Aswathy Sreekanth, Kutty Akhil, Priya Prakash Varrier, Jaffar Idukki, Lal Jose, Ajai Vasudev, Jeo Baby, Jude Anthany, Resmi Anil
Writers: Shiju M Bhaskar and Shalu

Timeline rating: 2/5