After the stupendous success of Rajamanikyam, Anwar Rasheed is back with his new film Chotta Mumbai -- not a classy affair, but surely an entertaining one. And, the credit goes to screenplay and dialogue writer Benny P Nayarambalam for fleshing out the characters of this thin concept of a bunch of happy-go-lucky guys staying at Fort Kochi.
The film is a rollicking ride with minimal dull moments. Every time the narrative lapses into an emotional drive, it jumps back with witty one-liners. Sample this: Vasco (Mohanlal) estranged from his father Michael (Sai Kumar), meets his sisters at the market buying fish for their father's birthday feast, and Vasco says with moist eyes: 'this is the first time I will be missing my father's birthday feast', and then wiping his eyes to say: 'every year he used to give me thousand rupees on his birthday, this year I won't get that'. These kind of snippets are spread throughout the film.
The story line is pretty thin, which is about a gang of petty criminals headed by Vasco nicknamed Chotta Mumbai. Their antics make most of the comic action in the film.
Chotta Mumbai also gives Mohanlal an out and out comic-action role where he does not have to be the all-sacrificing big brother or younger brother for that matter. He excels as expected and is ably supported by his gang consisting of Siddique, Jagathy Sreekumar, Manikuttan, Indrajit and Bijukuttan.
The pairing of Mohanlal and Bhavana is also deftly handled, with no overt display of romance or expression of love. The presence of Sai Kumar and Rajan P Dev as fathers of the hero and heroine respectively is endearing. The former is a pehelwan and the latter is nicknamed Pambu (snake) as he crawls on all fours in a drunken state.
Chotta Mumbai is a light-hearted film.
Rediff rating: