Anuraga Karikkin Vellam Movie Review

Story: The equation of Reghu and his son Abhi passes through various stages, and the dad sees his son making the same mistakes he did once. With a bit of help from someone new in their lives, the family passes through a turf of transformation.



Review: ‘Dad,’ why did she do that to me?’

‘Well son, it’s tough to figure out why women sometimes do what they do!’

… Goes a conversation in Anuraga Karikin Vellam, a tale based on the chemistry between various members of a family, especially father and son. They are trying to discover themselves through each other; while a bunch of plot threads also go in different directions weaving in their equation with the rest of the characters as well.

Reghu (Biju Menon) is a tough cop and has quite a cold connection with his wife Suma (Asha Sharath) and son Abhilash (Asif Ali). Elizabeth (Rajisha Vijayan) is head-over-heels in love with Abhilash, but he finds her presence annoying, of late. But a new female figure enters their lives, and she brings on a paradigm shift in the state of affairs.

The story can easily resonate with all who has issues with ‘bringing that spark back’ in their relationships. It’s a bit sitcom-y in parts, slips into some cliché romantic territories at times, but the simple theme doesn’t lose its charm nevertheless. All characters, protagonists or sidekicks, bounce off each other well and portray the affection, animosity and clutter in a family atmosphere with the right balance.

Biju Menon casually pockets every scene he is part of, but the surprise show stealer of the film is the newbie heroine Rajisha Vijayan. She evinces the loving, animated, frisky ‘Eli’ and her perplexities convincingly, and even reminds us of the performance of the ‘utterly-besotted-by-her-man’ character of Parineeti Chopra in her debut movie. It’s not that she is a great looker, gets the best lines or that the character in itself has a great scope of performance, but Rajisha injects a huge dollop of zing wherever she gets a chance and makes her mark with ease acting.

The second half of the film, especially the sequences towards the climax, is a bit too melodramatic and implausible. As compared to the rest of the movie, this pivotal portion does not impress but luckily, not to the extent that it harms the film’s entertainment value. On the whole, it’s one of those cute family movies packed with a basketful of laughter, emotions and thoughts that you can give in to, without a second thought.