What it's About Set in the backdrop of Mamankam festival of the 17th Century Malabar, "Mamankam" filmed by M.Padmakumar, narrates the bravery of the suicidal warriors of Valluvanad in their quest to defy the supremacy of their arch rival Zamorin during Mamankam festival in 1695. Impressive Story; Decent Script Backed by a powerful universal theme, Mamankam has an engaging story to tell. However, the script built around the impressive story, even though decent, lacks the pace and high voltage drama, expected out of an celluloid epic, leading to a rather dull first half. The Second half of the movie is much better with film picks up the pace and packs a few punches towards the end with matured performance from Mammootty and the actors, Unni Mukundan and Achyuthan excelling in the fights. The movie ends on a philosophical note, depicting the brutality of war. Mammootty underutilized/ill-utilized ? Mammootty was the trump card in the movie, being part of the hugely successful history based movies in the past such as 1921, OVVG, Pazhassiraja. This is underlined by the fact that the worst part in this movie are those without him in action. Even the female get up of the actor, supposed to be the main highlight of the movie, was ill conceived and badly taken with the much ?trolled? dance sequence included for the reasons only heaven knows. In the limited space given on screen, the actor outshines the co actors in the second half with his impeccable dialogue delivery and matured emoting. Producer: the Compromises Hurt ! They say "Horses for the courses". One needs the very BEST crew when going for the big budget extravaganza on screen. Experience can make such a huge difference in Big Movies. Compromises are the last things you want in a big project. A veteran in scripting and film making could have made a big difference. Producing a Great Movie require some cinematic vision and a nose for the best in the market. Fans or Foes? When it comes to the box office fate of the movies of the Big Ms of Mollywood, their fans play a huge role. The films once given up by fans inevitably fails at the Box office. The response from the fans camp after the opening show was far from convincing. Given the fact that Mamankam would easily be part of top 5 movies of Mammootty in this Decade, silence from their part was a little hard to digest. Verdict Strong content, Rich Production Values & Decent Performances makes ?Mamankam?, one of the few good movies released so far this year. Rating: 3/5
