Bhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam

Bhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam (2006)

Cast: Mammootty, Sreenivasan, Sai Kumar and Padmapriya
Language: Malayalam
Director: Joemon
Screenplay: Sreenivasan
Producer: Noushad


Malayalam superstar Mammootty's offering for his fans this Onam -"Bhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam" -, is a rip-off of Hollywood flick "Analyze This". Directed by Joemon, the film is co-written by Sreenivasan, who has also played a significant role in the film.

This is yet another attempt by Mammootty to succeed in comedy, but it leaves us dissatisfied.

The story revolves around a notorious criminal 'Current Bhargavan' (Mammootty), who has lost the confidence to pick up a gun or resort to any kind of violence.

So, he seeks the help of a renowned psychiatrist Dr. Shantharam (Sreenivasan). The film is about what follows. This tangled tale may look good on paper, but its execution leaves audiences' hopes punctured.

The main fault lies with director Joemon, who does nothing inventive with the characters and the viewers end up bearing with a stylishly dressed Mammootty showing off fancy caps.

The ever-sarcastic Sreenivasan lampoons the psychiatric profession in his repetitive style. Sample this dialogue: "For a psychiatrist, everybody is mad."

The film is strewn with many such dialogues that succeed in inducing forced chuckles only and not a good full-throated laughter.

Coming back to the story, it is futile to seek plausibility in such plots but there are a few situations that jar in-spite of our low expectations.

Bhargavan is infamous for his marijuana cultivations in the forest land of Kerala and is suspected to have abducted and killed an honest officer of the narcotics department, but still he roams freely around.

The other characters in the film just make fleeting appearances. Rahman as one of the officers of narcotics department and would be brother-in-law of Sreenivasan makes his presence felt. But Sai Kumar as Rahman's chief and Bhargavan go overboard.

It seems that Sreenivasan tried to repeat the success of "Udayananu Tharam" but it backfired. A more realistic plot might have worked better.

This Onam will be lacklustre for Mammootty fans.