Cast: Prithviraj, Mamta Mohandas, Chandni, Srinivasan.
Director: Kamal.
If you want to know how the first Malayalam
movie was made Kamal brings you all the information you want in Celluloid.
Prithviraj plays J.C Daniel (the father
of Malayalam Cinema) and Mamta plays his wife Janet. Celluloid revolves around events
leading upto the filming of the first Malayalam movie “Vigathakumaran” and it’s
aftermath.
The first half of the film moves at a
brisk pace showing the positive and energetic efforts put in by Daniel for his
film. Before you even realise it you would be out buying popcorn in the
interval. The film has limited scope for performances as the script is mainly
events driven. Nonetheless everyone puts in good performances, but you would
really be impressed by Chandni who plays PK Rosie. She is so natural at innocence
and emoting and adorable. After the beautiful song “En undo di” you are almost
in love with her.
The second half takes on a serious tone with unexpected trouble hitting
Daniel and the consequences. You would not come out of the theatre with wet
eyes but Kamal has made sure that you will empathise with J.C Daniel. There are
a few technical flaws but you would not even notice that considering the
sincere portrayal of facts by Kamal.
A special mention has to be made about the production design and the art
department for the wonderful depiction of the 1920s India.
I am giving a 3.25/5 for
Celluloid. Let us salute the father of Malayalam Cinema.
Rating Scale (Out of 5)
Less than 2
-
Unwatchable.
2 to 2.25
- Below
average.
2.5 to 2.75
-
Average.
3 to
3.25
- Good.
3.5 to
3.75
- Great.
4 to
4.25
- Exceptional.
4.5 and
above
-
Extraordinary.
