Gopalapuram is the kind of film you venture into for old time's sake, despite knowing there would not be more than two dozen people in a 400 odd capacity theatre. This Malayalam film's posters had Mukesh in prominence and the previews promised this to be a comedy.
Ten minutes into the film, and no sign of Mukesh. You start feeling restless but still try to concentrate on the story, which is somewhat interesting as you see veteran Rajan P Dev holding it together and others trying to rally around him.
So, what is the film directed by K K Haridas all about? Well, it is about a good-for-nothing young man Gopalakrishnan (Ramana, the Tamil actor), who is ashamed to help his father (played by Rajan P Dev) run the dairy farm in the village. He is always making get rich quick schemes, which includes buying lottery tickets with the money he is supposed to buy food or marrying a rich woman even if it means a job to look after her kids.
And still no sign of Mukesh. It's almost the interval when he suddenly pops up (as if the director had gauged our impatience) fighting half a dozen goons at a busy city junction. When the police appear he takes a female from the crowd as hostage and flees. The hostage happens to be Gopalakrishnan's sister Nandini (Suji Bala). He drops her unharmed at the village. This gives the gossip mongers in the village an opportunity to humiliate her family. The next thing we know is Vishnu (Mukesh) coming with a marriage proposal for Nandini.
Vishnu, we come to know post interval, works as an errand boy for a jewellery merchant Mathew (Sai Kumar). His duty is to shunt undisclosed gold for his boss. Later he takes Gopalakrishnan with him. Now, it's time for a trite twist in the tale.
This film would have worked if the makers had concentrated on making it less cliched. The 'father-son conflict is amateurish and stagey.
Ramana acts as if this is best role with ample scope to showcase his pumped biceps. Mukesh's role is the serious version of that in Vinodayathra, but not solid enough. It is Rajan P Dev who holds the fort, but there is a limit to what he can do.
Uninteresting films like Gopalapuram are making it to the theatres as bigger films release only during Vishu.
Rediff Rating: 
