'Malayalee From India' Review: Nivin Pauly film takes too long to deliver message

‘Malayalee From India’ Review: Nivin Pauly film takes too long to deliver message

These days, making a political drama is like walking on a tightrope. With propaganda films often taking over theatres and OTT platforms, it has become increasingly difficult to make a political film which can offer a new point of view. Director Dijo Jose Antony’s ‘Malayalee From India’ is a film that is strong in its political stance and takes a dig at the current scenario in the state and our country.Â

Aalparambil Gopi (Nivin Pauly) is a funny guy, who loiters in the village with his friend Malghosh (Dhyan Sreenivasan). An untoward incident without proper understanding results in violent clashes between the Hindus and Muslims in the village. To safeguard Gopi from the police and the violent mob, he is sent abroad to work. Do Gopi and Malghosh realise the extent of their mistakes? How does Gopi’s time away from his family help him?Â

Dijo Jose Antony’s ‘Malayalee From India’ is a self-aware film. It makes fun of the current political scenario in Kerala, Indo-Pak relations, Nivin Pauly’s weight gain and whatnot. These comedy stretches offer top-class political commentary, which is casual and hard-hitting at the same time. One of the biggest assets of ‘Malayalee From India’ is that it’s a politically strong film. It tells you how a man, who has no understanding of politics, could escalate a situation with his half-baked thoughts.Â

Here’s the teaser:

Dhyan Sreenivasan’s Malghosh reminds us of people who believe in these WhatsApp forwards and gravitate towards religious hate. The film shows the repercussions of his act and how Gopi suffers because of it even though he had no clue about it. While this makes for a brilliant story, ‘Malayalee From India’ is far from being perfect.

The film beats around the bush too much before it gets its point across. The film initially looks like a dark comedy, then goes on to give political commentary. Then, it literally takes us to Pakistan, which reminds us of Prithviraj’s ‘Aadujeevitham’. Then, the film gets serious again towards the end and offers a much-needed social message. This is where ‘Malayalee From India’ falls flat on its face. It takes us to different places and different genres before trying to convey its message.Â

Nivin Pauly, as Gopi, is perfect for the role. His comedy timing, especially the sequences with Dhyan’s Malghosh, is a hoot. These comedy sequences worked majorly and saved the film from being a dull affair. If only the screenplay didn’t take us all around, it could have been a solid film from Dijo Jose Antony after ‘Jana Gana Mana’.

Anaswara Rajan had too little to do in ‘Malayalee From India’ and did not impact the story in any way. Deepak Jethi, who played the role of a Pakistani, along with Nivin Pauly, had some heartwarming scenes.

‘Malayalee From India’ was also too long for its good. The film, which has its heart in the right place, had a handful of feel-good scenes, which worked well. However, the rest of the film seemed too long. The movie looked like a result of what happened when ‘Aadujeevitham’ and ‘Bhajrangi Baijaan’ had a crossover. The film also talks about religious politics and communal hatred. Throw in some Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, you get ‘Malayalee From India’.

2.5 out of 5 stars for ‘Malayalee From India’.

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