'Iyobinte Pusthakam' is the new film from Amal Neerad, which impresses you with its visual settings and charm and its making. The movie, a period drama, is set in British India, with the tea estates of Munnar making splendid canvas for a revenge story.
The story that tells about love, hatred, betrayal, revenge , feuds and blood sheds unleashes as a type written monologue of a senior communist leader who reminisce the early days of the party at Munnar. The rather lengthy prologue begins with a British planter Harrison landing at Munnar and how Iyob(Lal) becomes his closest slave like companion who inherits his riches to become the master of Munnar Hills. Upon the death of his wife Annama(Reenu Mathews), Iyob’s elder sons Dmitri (Chemban Vinod), and Ivan (Jinu Joseph) grow up just like his father while his youngest Aloshi (Fahadh Faasil) flees from their home to join Navy as a officer taking part in the second world war.
After some years when Aloshy comes back, his terrain has changed for worse,with his brothers becoming more cruel than they once were. Aloshy is in love with Martha(Isha Shervani), the daughter to Britisher Harison’s last mistress Kazhali (Lena).The return of Aloshy was not a welcome affair to others in his home. His socialist principles and local connections has made him a problem to his father and brothers and he is asked to leave sooner. His brothers but have more intentions to clear him off than to allow him to return. The movie continues with its tale of sibling rivalry, which catapults to periods of no return with the arrival of Ankar Rawthar( Jayasuriya) with hideous business interests in Munnar.
The movie and the scripts by Gopan Chidambaram seems to be heavily inspired from the classic, 'Brother’s Karamazov' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The period drama picks up momentum after the initial commentary that goes on for thirty minutes. All the ingredients for a period drama, from the ethnic settings to old cars are done without fail and the action scenes are perfectly choreographed, but the real thrills seems to be mysteriously missing. With plenty of bloodshed, and gunshots towards the climax, the reality element from the movie is taken away, where the movie also turns immensely predictable..
In the performance side Fahad Faazil is fine as Aloshy with his new looks with twisted moustache and minimal dialogues while Jayasurya is exceptional with his dialogue delivery as a shrewd, villainous Tamil businessman Angoor Rawther. Iyob is safe in Lal’s hands while the rest of the cast including Padmapriya who does not have much dialogues is in impactful roles in the movie. Vinayakan , Reenu Mathews, T. G. Ravi, Sreejith Ravi, Isha Shervani, Chemban Vinod and Jinu Joseph perform well in their roles. The technical sides are perfect with the warm tones, and textures and unimaginable angles from Amal Neerad which is its biggest highlights . The background scores and songs by Neha Nair and Yakzan Gary Pereira sync well with the movie. The song’ Raavu’ though choreographed well appears a speed breaker while the rest including the Amala Paul song push on the narratives. Iyobinte Pusthakam' largely thrives on the settings and grandeous ways in which it is pictured than anything else. Prescribed for an onetime watch to see a different tale and setting pictured in style and technical finesse.
Rating: 6/10
