Nasrani

Cast: Mammootty, Vimala Raman, Muktha, Lalu Alex, Kalabhavan Mani, Bharath Gopi, Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan, Captain Raju, KPAC Lalitha
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Horizon Entertainments
Director: Joshi
Producer: M. Rajan (Doha)
Camera: Shaji
Story: Ranjith
Screenplay: Ranjith
Dialogue: Ranjith
Lyrics: Anil Panachooran
Music: Bijibal
Distribution: Marikkar Release
Year: 2007

Nasrani was a film that was eagerly awaited because it had Joshi and Mammootty teaming up with writer Ranjith, and was expected to be a big thing. However, though it drew large crowds (mostly die-hard fans) in the opening days, Nasrani is a film that has elicited a mixed response, with more minuses than pluses.

Nasrani takes us to the Kottayam belt, where rich rubber planters and estate owners live. One such rich planter is David John Kottarathil, popularly known as DK. DK spends most of his time at the Cosmo Club, where he is the secretary too. He has his say over all spheres of human activity. He is respected and feared too. That's one side of him.

There is another side too. He is a man with some very grave personal sorrows. His father John is in jail, serving a term for having killed his friend, Eapen, which however was an accidental thing. DK's marriage with Sarah, Eapen's daughter, was called off on the very eve of their marriage ten years back, when things took a tragic turn and Sarah's father got killed and DK's father got imprisoned for that. But the love between them never faded, though Sarah's mother Kochammini had stood in the way of their marriage.

Annie is Eapen's daughter, borne of Alice his mistress. It is the illicit affair that led to the tragedy on the eve of DK's and Sarah's wedding. Annie, studying for medicine, is a depressed girl. When her intimate friend Archana commits suicide on being cheated by Dr. Benny Paul, the son of prominent politician M.C. Paul (who incidentally is Eapen's brother-in-law), Annie gets even more depressed. Benny, who has political ambitions, denies any kind of involvement with Archana in a press-meet. This irks Annie, who sets out determined to finish off Benny. What happens after that and how things culminate form the rest of the plot.

The big plus in Nazrani is no doubt Mammootty who is the saving grace for the film. His electrifying presence and his mesmerizing performance as DK is what makes the film sufferable. Otherwise it is just old wine, which has been served in too many cocktails before. Others in the cast have done their respective roles well. But the film, which obviously was made solely to excite the star's fan-following, has the gifted actor dominating over the whole of the action.

Vimala as Sarah is fine, while Muktha as Annie does a good job of her role. Vijayaraghavan as M.C. Paul is his usual self, while Captain Raju after a considerable gap gets to do a meaty role as John, DK's father. Biju Menon, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kalabhavan Mani and Arun (as Benny Paul) also do their roles satisfactorily. Technical aspects like cinematography, editing, art-work etc are in tune with the theme and the mood of the film. The background score by Ouseppachan also deserves mention though nothing in the music score will stay in our memories for long.

The biggest negative aspect of the film is that it offers nothing new and is far from being impressive. The final scenes which are typical in nature could even provoke you into booing. For all its flaws however, the film is definitely worth a watch if you go for it without any presumptions or prejudices, and just for the sake of watching Mammookka. Hats off to the superstar! Such films are necessary to retain the star-status, and are good for the industry on the whole. Having said that, one cannot but remark that Nasrani could have been made into a better movie, given the potential of the Joshi-Mammootty-Ranjith trio.

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