Film Review:

Cast: Jayaram, Meena, Divya Unni, Rasika,
Direction: Haridas
Music: Ouseppachan

Jayaram seems to be in a deep turmoil where he just can't hope for a magical movie to give a fresh life to his career. His latest, to add to the list of non starters will be ‘Magic Lamp', the movie which was waiting in the cans for the last seven years. And as expected, this identical individuals' tale definitely give that depressing, silly air of the nineties. This logic-defying, light-hearted comedy (intended) movie seems to be caught in a time warp, which never ever will manage to entertain the viewers of the new millennium.

‘Magic Lamp’ also reminds us that nonsensical film like this, used to be made with unerring frequency in the early nineties, when audiences know exactly what to expect from them. The movie opens with Anupama (Meena), a rich and spoilt girl living in Bangalore, landing up on a photo of a young man, when she happens to drive by. On seeing the photo her two friends identifies the man as two different persons. Anupama who aspires to become an airhostess has just finished her interview and is waiting for her appointment letter. But her rich aristocratic family in Kerala is very much against the decision, as they consider the job below their status.

Having lost her parents at a very early stage, Anupama is take care by an aged grand father (Oduvil Unnikrishanan). Her two uncles always have an eye on her wealth, and they want their respective sons to marry her. The sons Mohana Krishnan (Baiju) a Veterinary doctor and Omana Kuttan (Kottayam Nazeer) an Ayurvedic doctor are also competing with each other for her attention. To escape from marriage she weaves stories, one after another, about her fictitious lover whom she had seen in the photo. Later with the help of Adv Lalan, another lover who is also after her, Anupama keeps unwanted marriage alliances at bay, by another cooked up story about herself as a victim who was molested by the same man at Goa! A search for 'the man' by different persons of the family leads to Sunny Kuruvila (Jayaram), a coach in a women’s College about to be betrothed to Alphonsa (Rasika), to Dr. Nandakumar (Jayaram), married to Viji (Divya Unni) and to Chandrasenan, a macho guy with the twirled up moustache from Peruvannapuram. With this alleged relation with Anupama, each of their families faces unexpected problems.Now Chandrasensn who is toughest one among the three decides to unearth the real problem maker and the reality behind the stories which brings him face to face with Anupama.

Ranjith who is credited with the story has a done to death premise of brothers at war for wealth. The screenplay and dialogues also never rise above the ordinary. And as you watch the drama unfold on the screen, there is this feeling of deja vu in almost every scene, making you remember the likes of Rajasenan’s movies of the nineties.

The first half an hour is really a torture where the director has apparently forgot what quality comedy is all about and made a crass concoction abundantly supplied with plenty of uncomplimentary hints, double entendres and songs. Jayaram tries hard to give a different look and pattern of accents to each of the characters, while Jagathy runs all through the movie, enters every scene with his characteristic demeanor, as he used to be in the films of the nineties.Meena as Anupama is in his usual self, while Rasika and Divya Unni make eye candy appearances in a few scenes.

In delivering a below-par product, director Haridas appears confused throughout, dealing with the different characterizations of mismatched identities, all played of Jayaram. He also has also failed to extract the best out of his technicians. Music by Ouseppachan is average while more atrocious is its BG scores by S SP Venkatesh. The camera work by Vipin Mohan never rises above the pedestrian and the costumes and sets are tasteless and outdated.