Malayalam film "Manglish" directed by Salam Bappu opens to mixed reviews. The film, released on 27 July, has Mammootty and Caroline Bech in the lead. It also has Tiny Tom, Jojo, Vinay Forrt, Mukundan, Sudheer Karamana, Ramu, Sathar, Ravindran, Sunil Sukhadha, Sasi Kalinga, Kalabhavan Rahman, Chembil Ashokan, Sudhi, Kalabhavan Haneef, Aneesh G Menon, Vishnu Ravindran, Kuriakose, Gopalakrishnan, Shrinda Ashab, Shreedhani, Parvathy Menon, Nimarose, Silu Abraham and Pauly in pivotal roles.
"Manglish" is scripted by debutant Riyaz. The cinematography is done by Pratheesh Varma and editing by Vijay Shanker. The music is done by Gopi Sunder and the lyrics are penned by Hari Narayanan and Santhosh Varma. The film is produced by Haneef Mohammed under the banner of Red Rose creations.
Plot: The film revolves around the life of Malik Bhai (played by Mammootty) who is a familiar face in Cochin Harbour. Bhai is a wholesale fish dealer and it is said that no business in Kochi happens without Bhai's consent.
Bhai's life takes a turn when a foreigner Michelle (played by Caroline Bech) enters his life. She is in India for a purpose and Bhai tries to help her to attain the goal. Communication becomes a hurdle between them as they both do not have a common language. "Manglish" is a comedy entertainer that revolves around Bhai and Michelle's confusion in communicating with each other.
Most of the critics reviewed the film as an average affair. When some of them felt that it had more scope in terms of comedy, others felt the film is a laughter riot. The casting and the technical aspect of the film is seen as the major positives. The cinematography by Pratheesh is much appreciated for capturing the beauty of Kochi in the best way possible. The music is also well appreciated.
Here is the review roundup of "Manglish"
"Manglish is better than Salam Bappu's first film "Red Wine" and for diehard fans of Mammootty, it has something to offer. For neutral audiences, the film would give an ordinary feel without anything fresh to offer but at the same time it didn't irritate or test the patience level. I would say "watch and forget it" type movie is "Manglish". Actually, the humour quotient is very limited here considering the language barrier between the hero and heroine which could have been used more. People expecting a hard core fun riot on the expectation that Mammootty is using a particular slang won't be happy as the script focus on that aspect in very limited way. Mammootty uses the Fort Kochi dialect in an effective manner but as I said, the film's focus is more of a serious tone", said Chandra of Filmelon
Thakaran Malik is made for Mammootty. The mannerisms and dialogue delivery is perfect. In fact Mammootty lived Malik Bhai. Srinda did her part perfectly as Bhai's sister. The casting is really nice and it went well for the movie. Caroline is really a bonus for the movie "Manglish". She is really cute may be cuter. She will really make a cult following here. Manglish is a one man show. Mammootty takes the movie in his shoulder and is a laugh riot! The movie is made to please everyone. No one goes out of the theatre disappointed. "Manglish" will satisfy fans as well as the family audience and is a perfect entertainer for this festive season," said Muyals.com
"The music by Gopi Sunder is commendable with the songs proving really noteworthy. But the BGM is ordinary sometimes too loud. Pradheesh Varma's camera captures Kochi in great splendour", said Raj Vikram Raj of Metromatinee
