Mukundan Unni Associates

I never imagined Vineeth Sreenivasan surprising me the way he did with his sublime portrayal of an anti-hero in this film. The role of Adv. Mukundan Unni is undoubtedly his career-best thus far. Writer-director Abhinav Sunder Nayak carefully builds up the sadistic, cynical character of Mukundan Unni who goes to any extent to achieve his idea of success. It's the kind of role Jake Gyllenhaal did in Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler - just a different breed of "bad guy". The screenplay (by Vimal Gopalakrishnan and the director himself) is razor-sharp in its details, and there isn't a single scene that doesn't add to the plot or character development. The darkly humorous approach works wonders here, making us absolutely invested in the sociopathic side of Mukundan Unni and his dramatic rise to prosperity.

Not only does the film prove to be a scathing look at cynicism, but it also gives you an insider look into the bizarre handling of accident cases. Every character taking up screenspace (incl. A snake) is relevant to the plot, and ones that leave a mark include an excellent-as-usual Suraj Venjaramoodu, a confident Arsha Baiju, a beautifully vulnerable Tanvi Ram, and the ever-dependable Sudhi Koppa. One can't help but laud the effective use of background score (by Sibi Mathew Alex, especially that foot-tapping beat), the articulate voice-overs, the insertion of animated sequences to help elaborate certain points, the changing aspect ratio, and the way the makers subtly mock the "thank you" card at the very beginning. This is one of the finest black comedies I've seen in recent times, and you'll connect to its proceedings better if you're an unprejudiced viewer that doesn't seek message-driven, always-positive cinema.

Insight into the actions and inner monologues of a cold-blooded psychopath. (This is a genre which is not really explored in Indian Cinema, at least not as an attribute of the lead).

The strong point of the movie is the editing, direction and acting (especially Vineeth).

Mukundan Unni as the opening says is not Grey, but Black ! He is a true pyschopath - unapologetic, unremorseful, coldblooded killer. He is true wolf, not a Hyena in sheeps cloth !

The movie proceeds in an almost thriller manner and really just shines light on the characters without really taking any real moral stands.

Deserves a watch.

Mukundan unni associates, now this is a movie that will standout.. it's so dark or one can say dark comedy, haven't seen any movie like this in malayalam.. a movie that comes to my mind is the movie parasite, that one was on another level of dark theme... Both are not comparable ! But that's the only movie that came to my mind after watching mukundan unni associates. Some aspects of the movie felt creepy real and others felt like too fictional. Apart from the theme excellent performance from vineeth sreenivasan, movie has perfect casting, script, etc.. It's was worth the watch, you can decide for yourself go ahead and watch it !

Mukundan unni associates gives a very nightcrawler vibes, but pitches the characters brutality to next level.

A character with no emotional change or arc is something i really enjoy. The movie tries to establish this character who tries to go to any extent for success and Vineeth Sreenivasan plays the character amazingly. The basic theme of the movie is that there are only two types of people in the world, "one who exploits and the one who is exploited". The movie establishes this theme nicely. The extensive use of voiceovers is something new and not used much in Malayalam cinema, but they uses it consistently to work amazing black humor and it also connects the audience much more to the characters psyche.

After a point i never felt rooting for Vineeth Sreenivasan's character as they stretched his brutality a bit too much but did not create enough empathy towards the character to support that.

A nice and different movie.

Rating - A solid 8.7/10

I have to say that this movie is underrated in a sense that it hasn't created much of a buzz. Mukundan Unni Associates (2022) has been perfectly casted and the acting from every single one of them is just perfect. I like how the maker's have tried something new by introducing a character like Adv. Mukandan Unni. The greedy, super smart and apathetic Mukundan Unni is so well presented by Vineeth Sreenivasan.

Overall - Yes, the movie feels like Mukundan Unni is very lucky and that he gets away with whatever he does. But the the dark comedy, the character depth, the acting and everything combined with a solid script and direction makes up for that. This is a great movie and is easily one of the best of 2022.

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