‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is moving and intelligent, and is bound to take your breath away with the shine on its treatment of a much documented theme. This is a deeply resonant film that is truly life affirming and which is humorous and heartbreaking by turns.
Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s ‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is testimony to the fact that tales seldom go stale. Imaginatively reworked and reworded and with fresh emotional instants thrown in, even the most recognizable of tales cast on the most well-known of canvasses , assume a vivacious life of their own and hold your interest right through.
The key characters in ‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ are downright familiar, and we have very well seen multiple versions of Bhaskara Poduval (Suraj Venjarammoodu) and his son Subrahmanian (Soubin Shahir) in quite a few other films. And yet, Ratheesh’s film is one that is at once funny and moving, and which touches the heart without ever being melodramatic or moving over the top.
Subrahmanian is distraught that his ageing dad has no intention of letting him leave home, despite the former being offered lucrative job opportunities. Bhasakaran who is horrified at the very thought of his son flying away, tries every trick in his trade that range from logical explanations to emotional blackmail to keep his son back home.
But eventually fly away, Subrahmanian does, and when he moves to Russia to work in a Japanese company, he entrusts his dad in the care of a home nurse. Bhaskaran however sends one home nurse after the other feeling for their lives, and when Subrahmanian brings in a surprise robotic caretaker , Bhaskaran is least amused. At least, initially.
The first half of ‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is sprinkled all over with plenty of smiles, and the camaraderie that this father-son duo shares is one that is instantly appealing. There are also several interesting characters that Poduval pulls into the narrative, like the home nurse with a penchant for dropping steel vessels all over, Subrahmanian’s affable cousin Prasannan or the man who imagines that he has a job while idly loitering around all day long.
With the robot offering to lend a hand to Bhaskaran, things take a turn not just in the old man’s life, but in the film as well. Thereon, ‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is even more of a joyride, with the man reaching out to the machine, and even believing that he has finally found someone whom he could definitely lean on during the concluding phase of his life.
There are two parallel romantic tracks that run along, one which involves Subrahmanian and his Japanese colleague Hitomi (Kendy Zirdo) who claims to be a half Malayali, and the other which involves a rekindled love affair that Bhaskaran ignites via Facebook with a woman (Maala Parvathi) whom he had once loved and lost.
This is indeed a huge risk that Poduval indulges in, and having a robot as a chief character that takes up about three fourth of the screen time, is nothing short of audacious. And it is to the film maker’s credit that his daring efforts pay off, and that too extremely well. Barring a climax that appears a bit too forced and sudden and a robot that appears in it as suddenly altered, the rest of ‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is a breeze that blows by leaving behind a whiff of brightness around.
This film belongs to Suraj Venjarammoodu, and the actor is astonishingly good as Bhasakaran. Soubin is certainly not one to be left behind, and along with a sparkling feat from Kendy Zirdo and a host of other astounding actors, some known and a few unknown, he wraps up another winner in his kitty. The musical score by Bijibal is enticing, and the frames by Sanu John Varghese, exemplary.
‘Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25’ is moving and intelligent, and is bound to take your breath away with the shine on its treatment of a much documented theme. This is a deeply resonant film that is truly life affirming and which is humorous and heartbreaking by turns.
Verdict: Good