Taskaraveeran

Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara, Madhu, Sheela, Innocent, Rajan.P.Dev
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Rasika Entertainment
Director: Pramod - Pappan
Producer: Vindyan, Dinan
Camera: Jibu Jacob
Story: Dennis Joseph
Screenplay: Dennis Joseph
Dialogue: Dennis Joseph
Lyrics: Kaithapram
Music: Ousepachan
Distribution: Celebrate Cinema Release
Year: 2005

Why are the directors Pramod and Pappan (P&P) becoming Mamootty’s favourites? The answer lies in Taskaraveeran where they allow the hero to indulge in his favourite pastime- dress like a teenager, ride a souped up bike, sport a new wacky hairstyle, fight like Ninja, sing and dance with the beautiful Nayantara and of course wear coolers throughout the film!

Mammootty is hep and plays to the galleries with abandon and underlines his over-the-top character normally seen in a Rajnikanth or Vijay film. The story is wafer-thin and is about Arakalum Bhai (Mamootty) alias Kochu Baby who comes back after years from Mumbai where he is an underworld don (!!) to settle scores with Eapen (Innocent).

In a flashback it is revealed that Eapen had murdered Baby’s grandpa Arakulam Peeli (Madhu) to whom he was very attached. In a mix-up that follows Eapen accidentally kills his father Itty (Spadikam George) and the blame is put on Baby’s father Kuttappan (Rajan.P.Dev). The young Baby, an eye witness runs away from the village fearing Eapen.
Baby is called back by Meenakshi (Sheela) who was Peeli’s lover to take revenge on Eapen who is a very rich businessman now. In the meantime Taskaraveeran also falls hook-line-sinker for Thankamani (Nayantara) and marries her. How Meenakshi, Baby and Thankamani brings down the Eapen empire by using brain and brawn forms the rest of the story.

Borrowing bits and shards from John Travolta’s thrillerFace off, our hero at one point puts on a mask and turns into Siddique(villain's son) and another time into a cop! And Mammootty rides a bike in Tom Cruise Mission Impossible style as P&P’s idea was to play to the galleries while making the film a racy entertainer. The entire background score is a rip-off from James Bond movies, Mission Impossible and Joe Sartani.

Ok, Ok, Ok… Taskaraveeran was a black comedy and to call the venture a juvenile would be an understatement. But our heart goes out to Mammootty, one of India’s finest actor being relegated to doing such B-grade roles after winning accolades in films like Kazhcha. Isn’t it better for the gifted actor to mature gracefully rather than sing and dance with the heroine? A beautiful Nayantara has nothing much to do and Sheela hams throughout. The only saving grace is Innocent who is fantastic as the comedian villain.

Maybe, the best part of the film is the animated capsule in the beginning when the credit starts rolling!

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