Weekend Cinematic Universe

Tovino Thomas

Guru Somasundaram

Aju Varghese

Vasisht Umesh

Shelly Kishore

Femina George

P Balachandran

Harisree Ashokan

Baiju Santhosh

Arya Salim

Thennal Abhilash

Awan Pookot

Sneha Babu

Jude Anthany Joseph

Mamukkoya

Rajesh Madhavan

Bijukuttan

Azees Nedumangad

Gibin Gopinath

Devi Chandana

Sudheesh

Benzi Matthews

Devanandha

Hareesh Pengan

Syam Cargoz

Aliyar

Geethi Sangeetha

Pauly Valsan

Vishnu Soman

Rohit Sangwan

Basil Joseph

Surjith

Vlad Rimburg

Shaan Rahman

Sameer Thahir

Supreme Sundar

Manu Jagadh

Mahesh Ganguly S

Sushin Shyam

Manuel Cruz Darwin

Manoj Poonkunnam

Manu Manjith

Aswathi Naduthodi

Makarand Surte

Nixon George

Justin Jose

Deepali Noor

Melwy J

Hassan Vandoor

A. S. Dinesh

Vazhoor Jose

Marthyan

Vipin Raveendran

Narayani Gopan

Mithun Jayaraj

Balu Thankachan

Sooraj Santhosh

Nithya Mammen

Pradeep Kumar

M. G. Sreekumar

Anjana Philip

Arun Anirudhan

Justin Mathew

Sophia Paul

Livingston Mathew

Manu Swaraj

Nithin Abey Alexander

Unni Palode

Sanu Thahir

Action

Comedy

Fantasy

മിന്നൽ മുരളി

Weekend Blockbusters

India

Tejas Nair

You'll feel a sense of wicked delight originating from the cinematic social milieu that Basil Joseph is so known to masterfully create as you sit down in your living room and watch Baiju and Rajesh Madhavan in their policemen characters waiting in a "thattukada" for a man to give him an earful, perhaps a handful. The man is a poovalan who's supposed to come down to a bus stop to meet his girlfriend. That deed may or may not happen but that is not the point of this fantastic sequence that introduces almost everyone in the film that needs an introduction.

It is therefore this world-building that I want to point out that makes Minnal Murali (Lightning Murali, Mister Murali) a fresh wave into the Malayalam cinema. With equal weightage given to the primary and secondary characters (especially the central duo) and a weaving plot that experiences starting trouble but soon takes off, Minnal Murali maintains a steady pace with a mix of dry humour, heavy drama, and scattered social commentary. None of these take centrestage though as the story evolves into a bona fide superhero template that still doesn't feel trite. The background score and surprisingly well-done VFX were the highlights for me as I sat down being enthralled by the sheer magic in the way the story is written.

Minnal Murali has heralded the superhereo genre with the punch that it demanded and I for one am riding the happy wave. More than anything, this is clever cinema, one that makes you marvel at all the tiny and larger bits of writing that make up this jubilant confluence. Something that you can use to forego the cliched shadow that hangs over the plot sore. You can't miss how the story evolves at a meandering pace, narrating the origin of the evil and the good equally well. Something that I don't see usually in this genre. Watch it, you'll like it.

(Reviewed post embargo on 22 Dec. Watched during its world premiere at the MAMI Year Round Programme.)

English

Minnal Murali

Making of Minnal Murali | Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, Sophia Paul | Netflix India

The World of Minnal Murali | Exclusive Interview | Tovino Thomas | Basil Joseph | Netflix India