Oru Yamandan Prema Kadha – OYPK Movie Review
Reviewer: Chandra Mohan Gopinath
If your primary intention is to be part of some hilarious moments in a film and get yourselves entertained without giving too much of a thought process into the substance part, Oru Yamandan Prema Kadha – OYPK will be a passable outing. However, if logic and depth in the story is brought up, then I feel OYPK directed by B.C. Noufal is not your cup of tea. The funny side in the story manages to keep the film afloat to some extent through the screenplay struggled when it came to doing a balancing act when it came to the humour, romance, and sentiments due to the unconvincing part relating to the love track in the plot.
The film is set in Kadamakkudy and tells the story of Lallu and his friends. Lallu belongs to the Kombanaayi family and is the son of John. John is the only educated man in the locale and is an advocate. Like every parent, John also wanted his son to excel in studies and get a good job, but that wish didn’t bear the fruits. Lallu is a painter now, and his parents want to find a suitable girl for their son. However, Lallu intends to fall in love with a girl in whom he sees some “spark” and so he is anticipating that one day, that girl will come. Will, he finds that girl with a spark? Oru Yamandan Premakatha OYPK answers that question.
Bibin George and Vishnu Unnikrishnan who had successfully scripted Amar Akbar Anthony and Kattapanayiley Hrithik Roshan adopt the same strategy of relying more on light-hearted comedy and fun as one of the primary element in the plot. The humour part was quite active and took the film forward without any boredom or lags. However, when it came to the severe and all-important angle of love, the screenplay failed to give a convincing touch.
The sentimental and emotional portions towards the fag end of the story were presented and performed well, but the impact those sequences created was very minimal because of how the turn of events in the latter half was portrayed. Not that the hero’s search for the girl and the events leading up to that was wrongly described, but the overall impact created out of those portions didn’t yield the intended results in the end.
However, the saving grace and what comes in support of the film is humour and kudos to the actors who were part of those scenes for making them as funny and lively as possible. When it came to the engaging level, I would say the first half is the highlight here though it has nothing fresh to offer and runs in a familiar format which we have seen from the screenplays of Bibin and Vishnu. When it came to the latter half, the sudden turn of the film from a lighter version to one with a serious and emotional tone with a big ending, that somehow did not gel well with the whole story.
Dulquer who has not stayed away from films, thanks to his presence in Bollywood and other south Indian languages was silent for some time in Mollywood. It is close to a year and a half since we last saw the actor in Malayalam. I would not say his choice of OYPK has gone wrong or bad, but to his standards, the character of Lallu was an ordinary one. Moreover, as far as his performance is concerned, it met the demands of the role he was portraying.
Salim Kumar once again excelled in a comic role and is one of the live wire in the whole story. Dharmajan was funny enough, but for me, he was under-utilized while Hareesh Kanaran once again lived up to his expectation as an actor who can always make us laugh. Suraj in a cameo role made his presence felt while Soubin, Vishnu, Renji Panicker, Dileesh Pothen, Asokan and Baiju did their supporting acts quite nicely. The female leads Samyuktha, and Nikhila Vimal doesn’t have much of a significance and screen presence in the film, but as a character from the perspective of the story, one of them have a more significant role. Bibin himself portrayed a position that was half-baked as a result of not explaining much about his back story.
Veteran cinematographer P.Sukumar’s camera work was notable. Nadirshah composes songs, and the three songs were quite good matching the mood of the situations in the plot. At two hours and forty-five minutes of running time, the film was on the lengthier side. Some cuts were badly needed. Background score was okay, nothing exceptional.
Oru Yamandan Premakatha – OYPK has entertaining moments, thanks primarily to the wits and counter wits in the first half. Though overall the film doesn’t make much of an impact, the colour tone and packaging (again old wine in a new bottle) of humour comes in handy to its rescue to make it a one-time watchable flick.
