Indrajith is another addition to the list of mediocre films from Kalabhavan Mani that is hitting Kerala theatres, at regular intervals. The delayed release robbed the film of half its interests, if any. If the question is whether this movie is worth your time and money; the answer will be yes only if you are a strict Kalabhavan Mani fan. Otherwise, you can give it a miss.
Indrajith tells the story of a son Bhasi who is brought up by his father to become a bigger rowdy than himself, in the remote village of Moolikkandam. 'Chembarunthu Bhaskaran,' (Rajan P Dev) the famous goonda wanted his son Bhasi to become a goonda, to protect his family against the increasing number of the enemies who were after them. Even though Bhasi is averse to this, circumstances however conspires him into beating up goons and being a dutiful son, according to his father's wishes.
Bhasi moulds himself as a goonda and gains popularity, in a very short time. He has got a gang composing of Rajendran (Riyaz Khan), Hakim, Jamal (Sreejith Ravi) and Vinayan who is eventually into anything, that is lawless in the village. The story of their bravery and guts very easily made their leader popular in the name Changootam Bhasi.
The president of the moolikandam village, Madhavan Nair, has only got a long time menace on his popularity in Bhasi, who was a demi god in the village, helping the poor financially with the Kuppam that the collects from the prominent money makers in the village. The panchayat is for long, trying to give tenders to run a quarry nearby, but very few people will make an attempt on the offer, as they fear of the heavy Kuppam that Bhasi demands from them. The president, every now and then try to defame Bhasi and to under rate his popularity, but many including his daughter Lekshmi is a big fan of Bhasi.
It is at this point, the story takes a turn as a daring youth Zaheer Muthafa appears in the village, helping the panchayat by taking the tender of running the quarry. He announces in public that he will never give Kuppom to Bhasi. Bhasi's gang hears about the story, but their leader's silence on the incident surprises everyone.
Bhasi has his reasons to stay silent. But increasing pressure by his men and the widely spreading stories about his cowardice in dealing with Zaheer, pressures Bhasi to take on him and in the process he kills Zaheer, and is sent to jail. But it is only then Bhasi realizes that not everyone who enrolled in his gang had the best of intentions. In his absence from the village, more shocking truths are brought to light, which makes moollikkandam, a more hopeless village to live. And now the entire village, including the president Madhavan Nair, is eagerly waiting for him to return from the jail to manage the newer terrors that they face.
Director Haridas used the same formula of a goonda with a golden heart caught in the web of wrongdoings. The movie could have been much better if director had worked hard on the script and writer Rajesh Jayaraman, could have maintained the tempo of the first half, not deviating it into another run-of-the-mill story in the later.
Coming to the performances, Kalabhavan Mani is no stranger to these kinds of roles, tries his best but is handicapped by his usual fast paced dialogue delivery. It is high time that talented actors like him reinvent themselves and avoid such stereotypical roles, the heroine Divya Viswanathan gets little screen space, with virtually nothing to do. Indraja, Shalu Menon and Rajan P Dev appear in brief roles, while Saiju Kurup makes the most as Zaheer Musthafa. Nedumudi Venu is in his usual self as the president. Cochin Haneefa as S I Udumbu Rudrakshan and Manikantan as the drunkard evoke a little laughter. In delivering a below-par product, Haridaas has also failed to extra
