Film: Ayal Njanalla
Direction: Vineeth Kumar
Starring: Fahadh Faasil, Mridhula Murali, Renji Panicker, Sreekumar
Doppelgangers provide such fascinating possibilities to filmmakers, but rarely have those in the Malayalam industry taken up subjects weaved around this. Padmarajan’s ‘Aparan’ is one memorable film that explored it effectively, through the story of a naïve young man who struggles due to his facial resemblance to a criminal.
In Vineeth Kumar’s debut film ‘Ayal Njanalla’, things are a little different in that here the person resembling the naïve young protagonist is a big film star. The time periods in which these are set are also vastly different. In the present age of 24-hour live television and social media, chances are that doppelgangers of famous personalities are brought to the limelight sooner than later, as in the recent case of a Saudi Arabian national resembling Oommen Chandy. The protagonist here, Prakashan (Fahadh Faasil), who hails from Koyilandy, has been working at his uncle’s workshop in rural Gujarat for several years. When his uncle passes away, the responsibility of repaying the huge debts falls on Prakashan. To save his workshop, he decides to sell an ancestral plot back home, with the help of a friend in Bangalore. In Bangalore, filled with Malayalis, he learns that he resembles a famous Malayalam film star.
Things do sound good on paper, but it pans out not so excitingly on screen. The initial parts, set amid the dreary landscape of Kutch, run along pointlessly and almost resemble old Doordarshan-era social dramas. The proceedings pick up close to the interval, when the doppelganger thread comes into play. Sreekumar, as the assistant director who uses Prakashan’s resemblance to the film star for his own purposes, lights up these parts.
But post-interval, the script goes on a downward spiral as the initial excitement of the star-resemblance and the obvious confusions that follow, wears off. If these parts still remain watchable, it is thanks to Fahadh’s performance. He rattles off lines in the Koyilandy accent quite convincingly and plays the naivety of his character to the hilt. Barring that short period of 15 minutes each on either sides of the interval, ‘Ayal Njaanalla’ does not manage to hold the audience’s attention. This could be one of the least exciting on-screen doppelganger stories.
S.R. Praveen
