Goodalochana (2017) Malayalam Movie Review – Veeyen

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It’s a nothing plot that evolves into nothing that messes up ‘Goodalochana’. Strange and sad, since all that colour, energy and flair that it had in store, looks regrettably frittered away in this stratagem sans a strong spine.


Goodalochana-Review-Veeyen

If at all there is a conspiracy in ‘Goodalochana’, it should be one against the unwary viewer, and is a film that for the umpteenth count in recent times starts off with a tribute to a city. Despite its eager efforts to embrace craziness, there is only one message that the film drops straight on your face, which is that a gauche melange of goof-ups do not a fun film make.

Dhyan Sreenivasan, Aju Varghese, Sreenath Bhasi and Hareesh Perumanna play the four youngsters – Varun, Prakash, Ajaz and Jamsheer respectively – this time around, who like those several ones in the long line of their predecessors, are on the lookout to make some quick money. Their club, that has been named ‘Malarvadi’ for very obvious reasons, is witness to their antics that range from the purely asinine to the mildly tolerable.

Goodalochana-Review-Veeyen

Thomas Sebastian is left with very little to work on, since Dhyan Sreenivasan’s writing debut is marred considerably by the discrepancies in his script. The primary (and at times, sole) aim is to provide an limitless supply of laughter, and the focus is more on plain slapstick and much less on those wise cracks that could have probably made a difference.

Money rules the roost in this over-stuffed tale of ambitions, which hardly manages to draw in the viewers into its fold. The questions as to why, how and for what abound, and the answers offered often trite and a bit too corny. Forget the pulling in, the audience is left stranded on the folds as mere onlookers who would want to have absolutely nothing to do with the craziness that’s happening inside.

Goodalochana-Review-Veeyen

‘Goodalochana’ is a nontoxic film without doubt, and even brings in a sparkling element, courtesy Mamta Mohandas and Padma, the art dealer that she plays in it. But it fails to bank on this tiny flicker of hope any further and instead continues to be the clunker that it originally was. It goes back to its uncertain ideas yet again, and ambles down a tedious road to its climax.

Given his first script, Dhyan is without doubt a much better actor than a writer, and is a welcome relief when it comes to the nonstop ruckus that is raked up by the rest of the gang. Hareesh Perumanna does have his moments, and Mamta Mohandas, I presume, must have agreed to the role on a moment of extreme benevolence.

Goodalochana-Review-Veeyen

This is kind of a step down for the incredibly talented Niranjana Anoop, who is wasted in an inconsequential role, while Alencier and Vishnu Govind find themselves on tricky ground. Gopi Sunder and Shaan Rehman do try their best to perk things up, but this is one vastly messed up ploy that renders their job difficult. There are a few fine frames by cinematographer Akhil George, while Sandeep Nandakumar must have been a tad stricter with his editing scissors.

It’s a nothing plot that evolves into nothing that messes up ‘Goodalochana’. Strange and sad, since all that colour, energy and flair that it had in store, looks regrettably frittered away in this stratagem sans a strong spine.


Verdict: Disappointing