Love, they say, makes the world go round. Even in the case of a hardcore communist, there may exist intense feelings towards the opposite sex that may defy ideologies, to end up in preconditions to win the hand of his beloved. Yes, that is the amusing backdrop of `Swantham Bharya Zindabad' a movie which tells a plot about the attempts of world's tiniest communist area secretary, to win the heart of his legally married wife. But the problem here is that, the makers couldn't continue with its attention-grabbing premise, ending up in a finale that really leaves you exhausted and worn out.
The movie has Guinness Pakru as Shivankutty, the area secretary of the communist party who takes it as a dignity to mention him as the smallest party leader. Dedicating his entire life for the principles of the party, he even considers his father who is a small time farmer as a bourgeois. He is always in riot with Uthaman (Harishre Ashokan), his brother-in -law and the leader of the right wing party. The initial reels give us a feel of movies like `Sandhesham' and we start to sense an unexpected winner in hand.
But the movie derails towards the end of first half when the party, in need of a women candidate for the upcoming election, asks Shivankutty to marry. After much persuasion Shivankuty agrees to it believing that his wife will be a follower of Marx and Lenin and that they can lead a 'party' family. But with the arrival of Meenakshi (Shruthi Lakshmi), who is a typical girl loving movie heroes and serials, Shivankutty is left in a world where very few persons can understand him. The film unit which embarks on the silent hamlet to shoot a movie also ads to the woes of Shivankuty, as his wife is an intense fan of its hero, Pawankumar (Mukesh).
Pakru as Sivankutty is for the first time in a very realistic character and backdrop and strikes a chord with the viewer. As the local politician who is a bit too much concerned about the environmental and other social issues, he literally shoulders the task of carrying the movie forward. But the screenplay by the director Biju Vattappara relies on often repeated old tricks and situations (earlier used by Sreeni movies) thereafter, and the second half really lacks some imaginative writing. You do smile at times not because the scenes are funny, but because the dialogues are witty. The climax is really disappointing for a movie with such a good first half. Even before ten minutes from the credits rolling, the narrative comes to a standstill and fails to deliver anymore interesting surprises towards the last few minutes.
There are some well constructed characters from the pesticide man who waits for an opportunity to wash his gear in pond, to the character played by Jaffer Idukky who is all set to be in the clothes of the local secretary if by any chance Shivankutty makes an exit. Salimkumar, is also cast in an interesting role of a party goonda. Shruthi Lakshmi as Meenakshi appears beautiful but is not in any author backed role and often goes overboard. Mukesh is just ok as a superstar, while the rest of the cast play to their roles adequate.
Biju Vattappara as a director has improved much from his first endeavor and this time he has adequately used the best of the support from his technicians. The songs and visualisations are mediocre
`Swantham Bharya Zindabad' is a movie that fails due to the absence of a wise, consistent screenplay, though has a very interesting premise. After all, Interesting ideas don't necessarily translate into interesting films.
