A Sumptuous Dinner and a Disastrous Movie

Had a wonderful evening yesterday. Anirudh and I decided to meet up, since we had not met for a long time, and also we very badly wanted to watch a mallu movie in theater. So we decided to meet in front of Kumarakom, a famous mallu restaurant in Arcot Road. Arif, another of our TAPMI classmate also agreed to join.

I was not aware of the fact that there were two Kumarakom Hotels in Arcot Road. One was very near to the Nungambakkam High Road, while the other was a bit far away from Nungambakkam High Road. The one farther away from Nungambakkam High Road was the original and the tastier of the two.

As usual, I went to the wrong place, and messaged Anirudh that I had already arrived. Anirudh called after 15 minutes enquiring about me. I told him that I was standing at the entrance of Kumarakom, and to my surprise he also claimed that he was in front of Kumarakom. Then we realized our mistakes and decided to have dinner at the old Kumarakom.

We had Kappa. Meenkarri, Aappam, Parota, Chicken curry and Mutton stew. We ate like we had not had food for a long time. The food was amazing, and any mallu in Chennai who loves to eat non-veg and has not visited this place, then you know where to go this weekend.

After the dinner, we proceeded to Anand to watch the movie. Mohanlal’s Onam release Naran was running there and we decided to watch it. The reviews about the movie were not good, but since we had decided on watching a movie, we went in.

The movie turned out to be a real torture. I never expected this from a Mohanlal movie. Firstly Mohanlal was not suited for the role. He is too old to play a strong, fast moving, fighting machine who terrorizes the village in which he stays so that people remain good. The movie lacked a story and the first half was totally directionless. There was some story in the second half, but by then the only thing the viewer wants is to get out of the hall and go home.

The movie showcases Mohanlal and nothing else. No other actor has any significant role, except for Siddique, who plays the villain.

For people who have not watched it, I’d recommend you to skip it.

Being a die-hard Mohanlal fan, it pains me to watch him play the kind of roles that does not suit his age. Its high time Mohanlal realizes it and switches over to the roles that suit him and his age. If he continues to take roles like these, people will soon get bored of him.

He is a remarkable actor and I love his acting. I consider him as one of the best actors in the Indian film industry. There are so many of his movies, which I do not mind watching over and over. But that was a different phase and this is different. I hope both he and his directors realize this soon and we can see him more good roles like the ones he played in Devasuram, Kireedom, Kilukkam, Chitram....... there are so many movies that I can add in this list!!!