Scenarist and director Midhun Manuel Thomas is someone who has managed to carve a niche for himself with the few movies he has done. From the engaging ‘Om Shanti Oosana’ script to his first independent directorial ‘Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyaanu’, he has shown immense promise. His third and latest release ‘Ann Mariya Kallipilanu’ sees him exploring a different path. The movie is more conventional in terms of style and making when compared to his previous movie and he has come good. The movie is fully a fun ride and also the story is unique and holds its own.
Children are often inspired by their parents. Fairy tales and stories told by them would stay fresh in young mind and inspire them in untold ways. A father’s innocuous tale of a fairy up in the mountains who would make every wish come true invariably left a deep imprint in young Ann Maria’s life. She too wanted the fairy to help her win the long Jump medal like it happened to her father. Such innocent fantasies and child like emotions are what Ann Maria Kalippilanu presents in a fascinating manner. The entire movie is shown from the perspective of a child.
It is at this point when Ann Maria is dreaming big and staying happy that she happens to overhear a conversation of her PT sir telling a teacher, "we had a good time together", and the teacher turning away in tears. A perplexed Ann Maria reports this to the principle doubting how a good time together can lead to tears. The innocence with which she asks this bears opens the child’s mind. From here begins Ann Maria’s 'Kalipp'.
It is amazing to see how Midhun Manuel Thomas has conceived the child’s world, which is so very different from the adult's world. The narrative deftly portrays the innocence, the shattering of innocence, and the process of knowing things. For instance, the way Ann Maria encounters the word Gunda, or the word divorce, is presented beautifully. The narration is also high on humour, like the instance where the fox theme music plays when Poompatta Gireesh (Sunny Wayne) falls or the Baby on board sign accompanying Kottayam based miser business man played by Siddique. Also hilarious are the conversations between Sunny Wayne-Aju combos as well as the mother-son duo of Sethulekshmi and Sunny. Equally comic are the exaggerated tales of Sarath and the ever helpful friend of Ann, Avinash. The humor is fresh and situational making of the movie was very entertaining to watch. Also the use of animation added an interesting dimension.
While the movie heaps up some emotional stuff in the beginning with the sweet and energetic Sara owing the screen, the entry of the small time crook Poombatta Gireesh along with his affable side kick Ambrose (Aju Varghese) spices up the pace. The character of Poompatta Gireesh has been molded well by Midhun. He is this lazy, happy go lucky fellow who prefers to live on his mother rather than do a day’s work. Along with being Ann Maria’s tale this movie is also the tale of Poompatta Gireesh’s transformation. Sunny Wayne impresses with his comic timing and his surprising agile physical capers. This is something that he has not done before and he nails it right. Aju Varghese has done the side kick role umpteen times and does it with much flair. Their combo is a highlight. They acted pretty well. It was also amazing to see Siddique mould his character according to the tone of the movie and completely owning the screen. As the antagonist, John is quite good and so are some of the others including Darmajan, Biju Kuttan and Shine tom Chacko who appears briefly. Saiju Kurup and Leona Lishoy as Ann Maria’s parents also fit the roles perfectly.
Throughout the movie the presence or the idea of the presence of an angel is dominant. There is a constant alluding to this magical being who will make everything right. This build up eventually finishes of in a fascinating encounter. But again, the makers have deliberately kept it undefined so that the child in us wonders if angels are for real or if they are imaginary. The magic realism employed here comes off to good effect as the movie concludes. A cameo by a leading star as the angel was striking.
Edits and BGM were laudable, while the Shaan Rahman songs were catchy. Camera by Vishnu Sharma and Lijo Jose were neatly done.
‘Ann Maria Kalippillannu’ is a pleasant movie with Sara’s adorable and energetic act and Sunny - Aju combo’s act lifting it. Director Midhun Manuel has done a neat though conventional work. The movie is a pleasing watch sure to entertain the viewers.
