Film: Karinkunnam Sixes
Starring: Manju Warrier, Anoop Menon, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Babu Antony
Direction: Deepu Karunakaran
Not having an exceptional past record helps at times, as in the case of Deepu Karunakaran, whose fifth film Karinkunnam Sixes has just reached the theatres. His list of films, which include the likes of Crazy Gopalan and Teja Bhai , does not inspire much expectation. This goes a long way in fashioning our reactions to his latest flick.
Karinkunnam Sixes is one of those rare sports-based movies in Malayalam, the last such film in the genre being 1983 two years ago.
The film is set around a volleyball league, modelled on the popular commercial premier leagues in other sports. When Aby (Anoop Menon) pitches this idea to a sports promoter (Shyamaprasad), his only intention though is to get his own team Karinkunnam Sixes to play in a major league, not to gain the riches that come with it.
However, with Aby brought down by a crippling injury, and his team members falling to the lures of money offered by rival clubs, it is up to his wife Vandana (Manju Warrier) to build a team from scratch and take it to the tournament. For a change, here it’s not just Manju Warrier fighting the odds alone, as has been the trend in her second innings in films. She has for company an entire volleyball team which she picks from convicts at the Central jail.
The film follows faithfully the sports movie template of underdogs fighting against insurmountable odds. But at the same time it manages to bring in some level of interest thanks to the jail setting. Suraj Venjaramoodu, as tough cop Nelson, shines in these parts. So do team members Sudheer Karamana and Babu Antony.
Another interesting thread that runs through the film is that of match fixing in such leagues on which crores of money are invested. But, the volleyball matches do get repetitive after a point. Thanks to low expectations, Karinkunnam Sixes gets a place in the watchable territory, without trying anything out of the box. Staying true to the template seems to have helped in holding things together.
S.R. Praveen
