Karyasthan, his hundredth release as an actor is one such example where he tries to do a superhero role but within the limits of his image. Directed by newcomer Thomson and scripted by his trusted team of Udaykrishna and Sibi K Thomas, the film has hardly anything that is original or novel.
As we have seen in hundreds of other movies, this is also a story about two fighting families due to some misunderstanding in the past, and our hero trying to bring them back together after burying all the hatches. Then the story goes to show that how he accomplishes the task.
Krishnanunni (Dileep) joins one of the tharavadu as a Karyasthan (a glorified errand boy) and tries to resolve the issues between the two families. It needs to be said that this film solely depends on the antics of the protagonist and three of his supporting actors namely Suraj Venjaramudu, Salim Kumar and Harisree Asokan to work as there is no narrative to push it forward. It feels like we are asking too much from these people.
The feud between the two families started when Krishnanunni's father played by Siddique ditched the daughter of the other family on the day of his wedding for the daughter of his Karyasthan. And, villainous characters played by Suresh Krishna and team taking advantage of the situation and compounding the misunderstanding between the families and thereby taking utmost advantage from the situation.
So, Siddique and his wife are exiled to rural Tamil Nadu and it becomes the imperative for the hero to undo the misgivings between both the families and as if statutorily required, fall in love with one of the girls from the opposite family and successfully complete the love story.
The leading lady is Sreebala (Akhila, who has made her name by anchoring a musical reality show on television).
To be fair to Dileep; the comedy does work in some places but does not have the steam to propel the film to a higher plain even though he was supported by veteran actors like Madhu, G K Pillai and Siddique. The main culprit for the film is the storyline or the lack of it. It is a kind of patch work on incidents and situations picked up from various films. That is not all; even the theme and the concept for the songs is lifted from other films.
In the end, we cannot do much except feel sorry for Dileep who deserved something better as his hundredth appearance on the big screen.
