Anandam ; Film Review Malayalam Cinema has had a fair share of campus movies to its credit with films like “Chamaram”, “Sarvakalasala”, “Classmates” being the cult ones. “Anandam”, directed by the debutant, Ganesh Raj is the latest Campus Movie for You. Campus Movie with a Difference! Ganesh Raj, the writer cum director, has explored an interesting route in “Anandam” taking the “campus” backdrop out of the equation. He has employed the framework of a journey (technically called “Industrial Visit”) as the main backdrop of the movie, thereby giving the movie a dynamic thrust characteristic of “road movies”. Simple Plot The film starts on a promising note with a batch of professional students making earnest preparations for their much awaited “Industrial visit” scheduled to last for 4 days from December 28 to December 31, with Humpey , being the main destination. The focuss of the movie is on a group of 7 students (Varun, Goutham,Akshay,Unnikrishnan, Devika, Dia and Darshana). Among this group, a few are in relationship; a few aspire to form relationship; And a few want to enjoy the moments of friendship. The movie is all about how their relationship gets transformed as the journey progresses. All in all, there are no big surprises waiting for you in the plot. The Journey Element: The Highlight The main highlight of the movie is the 4 day long journey part of the ‘Industrial Visit”. This element has been cleverly incorporated into the narrative and that gives a special charm to the film. The movie is quite pleasing to the eyes with its grand visusals of Humpey and Goa, adding the much needed push for the plot which is completely devoid of thrills and melodrama. Solid Performances With a bunch of newcomers in the lead roles, the fate of the movie would have been dark, had their performance been unconvincing. Surprisingly, all of them deliver decent performances. The chemistry between Thomas Mathew as Akshay and Siddi Mahajankatti as Dia worked. So did Ron Davis as College Teacher and Vineetha koshi as lady Teacher. Vaishakh Nair as kuppy provided the much needed humour quotient. Arun Kurian as Varun was good too. Restraint in Making The film maker does deserve special applause for the well controlled making that helps movie throughout. The Dialogues and actors don’t go overboard, even while the movie is on the romantic gear. Some of the campus movie clichés like group dance have also been done away with. Also, minute attention has been paid to each and every frame so that there are no dull moments in the film. Final Analysis Apart from refreshing format of journey, there is hardly anything fresh about the content in the movie. After a promising start, the film falls back on the predictable track focusing yet again the romantic interests among the teenagers. Despite its shortcomings in content, “Anandam” is a neatly made Movie with superb visuals, solid performance from the lead and good Music that offers a pretty good package for campus movie lovers. Verdict: Watchable Small yet Beautiful: A phrase often used to describe Feel Good Movies. The same phrase seems appropriate to describe “Anandam” also. This Movie seems a perfect Choice for Teenagers and for others, it’s will be an ‘OK’ Feel Good Movie. (NB: Keep your Expectation Level to Minimum for Best Results)
