Udayon

Udayon is really an excellent movie.Lal's performance is the best in this movie.Sooranad Kunju is surely the best ever performance from Lal.He is not acting,he is living as Kunju.We even forget that its Lal. How fantastic is his performance as the 70 year old man.We can surely say that after Iruvar this is his best film,on account of acting.A few scenes from this film can be given as a test for Institute students.I'm sure no other actor in India,except Kamal Hassan can come even a little near to his performance.Two scenes I shall tell,one in the police station where Kunju comes to know that his son is responsible for the death of the police inspector.Watch the expressions on his face,how brilliant.First sorrow,then anger all in a sudden.Who can do it in Indian film industry.Then the climax scene.We get thrilled by his performance.Lal crying "Daivame" sitting inside the police jeep, the entire audience get stucked.No doubt Kunju is his best ever performance.Lal is the gift of Malayalees as Yesudas.

Mohanlal, Manoj K Jayan, Bindu panicker, Kalabavan Mani, and Salim Ghouse were excellent. Really a very good movie while comparing with some over rated malayalam movies that are releasing now.

After 5 years of its release and initial hatred towards the movie, I was awestruck by the brilliance of this movie which was sadly ignored by critics and masses at the time of its release. But after watching many more movies in the last five years, I can say Udayon is one of the finest works in the last decade of Malayalam cinema. This may seem like a blind overstatement; but this movie received brickbats for not being the movie everyone wanted. No one took the movie for what it is: an engrossingly character study of a deeply flawed protagonist played by Mohanlal. Although the director falters in many scenes by incorporating unwanted humor, songs and additional characters, the central premise is intriguing as any other great movie. Don't expect the usual entertainer - take the movie for what it is and I for one, found myself mesmerized by this movie. The technical department and acting department do their jobs well. Mohanlal, Bindu Panikker and Manoj K Jayan are at their top of games in this movie.

Udayon (the Landlord) is the story of Sooranadu Kunju, a 76 year old who passionately loves and values his land more than even his blood-relatives, be it his sister or his own sons. This passion for land has been quite impressively picturised by director Bhadran through a few touching sequences in the movie. MohanLal plays the protagonist with absolute conviction, though it's hardly surprising if u know him. Manoj.K.Jayan and Bindu Panicker too fits the bill and make-up man Pattanam Rashid too has done a commendable job. But.. there is virtually nothing else remarkable about the movie - no good plot or convincing script, pretty ordinary technical effects, forgettable humour scenes, weak characters and a poor climax. In fact MohanLal is wasted as the son-character (he does a double role). But Udayon is rated watchable on account of the sheer performance of MohanLal as Sooranad Kunju. The director of movies like Spadikom and Olympian Antony Adam is capable of doing better.

Udayon gave me much more than what I expected. It will certainly be a milestone in Lal's career. I think he has every possibility for a state award this year. I am not going into the details of the story. I think the 1st half mainly contributed to all those negative reviews. But the 2nd half was much better. And Lalettan looks younger in this film.

There was absolutely no kooval inside the theatre. And Kunju's and Jagathy's intros were well applauded by the audience. When the fight sequence between Kunju and Thevar in the climax ended, I could hears youths sitting behind me clap saying "Setup aliya Setup". And when the movie ended, I could hear the person who sat next to me asking his friend - "ee padathinu enthade kozhappam?". If everyone gets this feeling, Udayon will succeed in spite of the negative reviews.

I would say Mohanlal as Shooranad Kunju is the best performance in Malayalam in the recent times. He proves yet again why he is the Udayon of Malayalam Cinema. Even if the movie flops, I am sure his performance will not go unnoticed.