In this This Day That Year installment, Subhash K Jha celebrates Priyadarshan’s Malaamal WeeklyWaking Ned Devine) you actually get into the giggly groove of this loud and limpid look at the life of a bunch of villagers affected by a lottery ticket.
Just the sheer pleasure of watching two of the most accomplished actors jamming in a jokey jamboree is enough to keep us watching Priyadarshan’s crisply cut comedy of arrears.
The comic chaos is all about a lottery ticket and its repercussions on a group of villagers who seem to be constantly revved up with a rustic adrenaline. Like the director’s Hulchul the film’s rhythms of narration are dependant on the chemistry among the gaggle of loud characters. They never cease to assert their vocal chords over a mirthful marathon.
You can’t miss the director’s touch in the way he creates a parodic pandemonium within the plot’s distending parameters. There are a large number of characters moving in and out of Sameer Arya’s camera range. Not all of them are funny or even bearable.
But you can’t miss the two protagonist’s frictional brotherhood. Rawal and Puri are in fine farcical form. In their aggressive togetherness they echo Ashok Kumar and Pran in the 1970s’ comedy Victoria 203.
The sheer pleasure of watching the two actors keeps you gazing at the rogues’ gallery. Not as urbane or as stylish as Priyadarshan’s last comedy Garam Masala this one has more heart and warmth.
