User reviews

"Nalpathiyonnu" 41 Malayalam movie.

Movie belonging to satire genre.... interlacing politics, atheism and family affairs to give a full drama.

Biju Menon as Ullas, the hard core left activist with his atheist ideas trying to bring about social changes, suited well into the character. Saranjith, as Vava Kannan, the party-goon alcoholic, whose life events, lead the story.

Even though the original plan had lots of interesting events going on, the screenplay failed to knit these events well, for a smooth presentation.

Kannur party village to Sabarimala, the trip is interesting, Director has taken extra precautions, not to hurt any parties nor any religions sentiments.

6 on 10 for a atheistic logics.

Many characters, including the heroine is loosely knitted, director should be more careful. Even though Ullas is the hero of this presentation, the story belonged to Vava Kannan... his life, his problems, his alcoholic excursions. Saranjith has definitely did well his role as an addict.

For a Lal Jose movie, below PAR. ' Sorry.

An atheist accompanies an alcoholic ward on a journey to Sabari Mala. He witnesses a stampede and experiences another tragedy at this famous Hindu place of worship. He comes back a changed man with a little more understanding about the ways of the believers.

What a ridiculous premise for a film made in 21st century India.

Alcoholism and atheism are the least of India's problems. It is extreme religiosity as a result of organized religion that is destroying this country. How many alcoholics in India declare openly that they are alcoholics? In Kerala, they tried to introduce alcohol prohibition in 2014. Also, who are the prominent Indian atheists like Hitchens or Sam Harris? There are none. In fact, some of them like Kalburgi were murdered over the last few years.

But the religious folk, led by the Hindu fundamentalists march on in 21st century India. Yet, this film suggests the atheist must understand the point of view of the believer.

How about believers try to understand the point of view of alcoholics and atheists?

One of Lal Jose's weakest, Nalpathiyonnu (Forty-one) flip-flops between being an an active satire that poses the right questions about faith and an aimless drama that induces boredom in the viewer while eventually trying to describe man's vices and his ignorance about them with a little bit of help from rationalist ideas central of which is a naive middle-aged man (Biju Menon) who sees himself as the ideal man. TN.

Wonderful movie, khudos to all... Highly sensitive but wonderfully directed without hurting any

41 aka Nalpathiyonnu movie opens with a scene where Biju Menon's character is seen meditating on air, literally! A curious crowd gathers around him. Minutes later, he is seen challenging the divine God.

The Lal Jose movie is more or less based on this aspect where the protagonist Ullas is an atheist and he has his own set patterns for life.

For instance, on the eve of his wedding, he goes to the bride's home and sets a few conditions. In yet another scenario, Ullas is seen helping an old woman at a medical camp, while his own old-age mother taunts him for not helping him.

But his life takes a turn when he decides to reform Vavachi, who is also a party worker and an alcoholic.

Set between religious sentiments and political affiliations, director Lal Jose plays it safe not intruding too much into either of the two. Like his usual movies, Lal Jose' narrative stamp is evident in this one too. The well-crafted story telling helps in keeping the audiences engaged.

If Biju Menon's last film Aadhyarathri was a take on the argument of "what will the society say", his 41 exhorts the society to change itself.

Though we know that he has strong convictions with regard to his life, we are never shown as to what made him so. Scripted by debutant PG Prageesh, the interesting twists and occasional fun-filled moments keep the film moving at a good pace.

Biju Menon, as usual, effortlessly fits into the character Ullas and entertains as well as make the audiences think with his amazing one-liners.

Equally laudable was Dhanya as Suma and debutante Saranjith, who impressed as Vavachi. Be it as a drunkard or as the goon and even during the emotional moments, he manages to deliver a neat performance. So was Nimisha Sajayan, who is seen both as young girl and a matured woman. With her dialogue delivery and mannerisms, Nimisha makes a wonderful impression. What works in the movie is the slices of real life shots with realistic treatment. Bijibal has composed the music and lyrics is by Rafeeq Ahammed.

S Kumar is behind the camera and the cinematography is gripping. Take for instance a scene where Vavachi goes into the well to clean and suddenly slips down, the camera moves in circular pattern to give viewers the same feel.

41 aka Nalpathiyonnu also throws light on how crucial are the 41 days for a Ayyappa devotee.

With references to movies like Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala, 41 seems like an ode to the Malayalam cinema of 90's. This Biju Menon movie will entertain the audiences who love light-hearted films.

Debutant young scriptwriter Prageesh P.G. Has captured our heart's through his highly anticipated move Nalpathionnu(41). A move with an out of the norm subject, stemming from current affairs. The story follows an atheist making a pilgrimage solely to better the life of his friend, however ends up realizing that humanity supersedes all. It is appreciable of Lal Jose for selecting a different story line for his 25th film and he has done a magnificent job with it. Stunning visuals of Shabarimala by cinematographer S.Kumar is a very notable aspect of this movie. Also Bijibal's incredible music has created and enhances the total mood of this move. Definitely a must watch move for all age groups.

I don't know about the negative reviews for this film, but I enjoyed the film as a whole and all the songs was superb like in all of the Lal Jose films. He have a great sense of humour and sarcasm. Therefore it was absolutely a fun ride along with some random political and philosophical thoughts.