The Prithviraj Directorial debut, Lucifer, truly quenched the longing for an entertaining Mass movie from Mohanlal. It's truly 'the thriller' that many of the recent high profile Malayalam movies promised to deliver but was unable to deliver. I must confess, I was not at all a fan of the recent 'Pulimurugan' circus as well (It was at best a below average movie) ! An Ensemble star cast, a humongous budget and the fabled 'first venture' into direction by prodigal son of Malayalam Cinema had 'recipe for blockbuster' written all over it from the day the movie was announced. However the recent high profile duds such as 'Odiyan' and 'Kayankulam Kochunni' did leave the skeptical Malayalee in me a bit doubtful at times. Lucifer, however, did deliver handsomely.
A lot of what was on the screen owed to what was on the paper prior to the first day of shooting. Murali Gopi's script gave us quite a few fan-worthy moments with not so subtle references to 'Erupatham Noothandu', 'Narasimham' and 'Spadikam'. The script enhanced the reputation Mr Gopi had built from his days of 'Left Right Left', although here every single scene had a focal point at Stephen Nedumbally , the character played by Mohanlal. Prithvi did absolute justice to the script and it was quite obvious that the Producers knew it all along with the way the money was spent for the right seasons.
Even though the movie did not allow any of the other characters to have a real screen presence Vivek Oberoi (as the conniving villain), Manju Warrier (as the grieving daughter and aggrieved mother) and Indrajith Sukumaran (as the mad truth seeker) were absolutely brilliant in their portrayal of the roles. Tovino, Saikumar, Shahjohn, Baiju, Fasil and even Prithvi had roles that were good while it lasted but of minimal impact.
Despite all that is mentioned above, I think the elements that contributed an overwhelmingly major share to the movies brilliance is the music by Deepak Dev, Cinematography by Sujith Vasudev and the stunts which were straight out of a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. Khodos to the entire team on the work of art.
In conclusion its a movie that rewrites some of the boundaries that Malayalam movie industry had in terms of 'budget', 'quality' and 'action'. A must watch for any Mohanlal fan !!
A lot of what was on the screen owed to what was on the paper prior to the first day of shooting. Murali Gopi's script gave us quite a few fan-worthy moments with not so subtle references to 'Erupatham Noothandu', 'Narasimham' and 'Spadikam'. The script enhanced the reputation Mr Gopi had built from his days of 'Left Right Left', although here every single scene had a focal point at Stephen Nedumbally , the character played by Mohanlal. Prithvi did absolute justice to the script and it was quite obvious that the Producers knew it all along with the way the money was spent for the right seasons.
Even though the movie did not allow any of the other characters to have a real screen presence Vivek Oberoi (as the conniving villain), Manju Warrier (as the grieving daughter and aggrieved mother) and Indrajith Sukumaran (as the mad truth seeker) were absolutely brilliant in their portrayal of the roles. Tovino, Saikumar, Shahjohn, Baiju, Fasil and even Prithvi had roles that were good while it lasted but of minimal impact.
Despite all that is mentioned above, I think the elements that contributed an overwhelmingly major share to the movies brilliance is the music by Deepak Dev, Cinematography by Sujith Vasudev and the stunts which were straight out of a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. Khodos to the entire team on the work of art.
In conclusion its a movie that rewrites some of the boundaries that Malayalam movie industry had in terms of 'budget', 'quality' and 'action'. A must watch for any Mohanlal fan !!