Swarna Kaduva is one of the few Malayalam films that took on the hypocrisy and corruption behind the alcohol ban in Kerala. The film really tears into the hypocritical Catholic priests and corrupt ministers who combined to deny Malayalis their fun and also destroy the livelihood of many bar owners and employees. But that is only one of the film's sub plots. The film is primarily about Rini Ipe Mattumel (Biju Menon) who is the street smart "Man Friday" of Lonappan Muthalali (Innocent). Rini is a man would do anything for money. Opportunity presents itself when Lonappan accidentally kills a man. The blackly comedic adventures of Rini and his assistant Joju (Harish Perumana) forms much of the film.
The first half is excellent. But the film falls apart a little bit in the second half due to some uninteresting sub-plots. It needed a tighter editorial hand. The uninspired background score by Gopi Sunder does not help matters. Jose Thomas' direction is nothing to write home about. I checked his filmography and realized that he has made many awful films like Mayamohini and Shringaravelan. He was a strange choice to direct this film. Lijo Jose Pellishery, Jude Anthony Joseph or Lal Jose could have made this film a classic.
The writer Babu Janardhanan is the real "behind the scenes" hero. He comes up with many witty one liners and twists. Biju Menon and Harish Perumana make a great team. This could well be a breakthrough film for Harish who is hilarious with his Thalaserry accent. Iniya is very impressive as a sultry woman who catches Rini's eye.
