After a good show in 2010 with a couple of hits, Urvashy is back to shoulder the lead demands of a family movie with the new flick 'Kathayile Naayika'. Coming from a debutante director Dileep, the movie is a usual family drama with elements that are cliched to the genre.
The movie has Urvashy as Nandhini, a municipal overseer, who is also working as a part time marriage arranger, to make her domestic financial ends meet. She is now a widow with two girl children, after her husband George, a small time social worker was stabbed to death for appearing as a witness in a case. Her small family is composed of her children, her mother( K P A C Lalitha), mother-in-law(Sukumari) and her brother Shiva( Kalabhavan Prajod), who is an aspiring actor and also the anchor of the evening show in local television. Nandhini is more concerned about the rising prices in market and is taking all efforts to run her family with the limited income that she has.
Meanwhile, Shiva is managing his calls to the phone-in programme by encouraging all of his relatives to call to the show. And in one such efforts, he happens to get a call from Archana(Roma), the only daughter of contractor Menon. She reminds him of her friend who was killed by a gang of four while she was calling to the same live programme. Archana requests Shiva to help her to find clues to the killers and to support her in pressuring the local police to take the investigations more seriously. The movie follows the twists that happen in the life of all, as Archana and Shiva tries to locate the young criminals who have already erased an entire family.
The movie has the central talkative character with her share of social commentary with amusing remarks, all through. The construction of this character is what works in this small movie. Though there a plenty of loose ends, the scriptwriter Sunoj Nedungolum has managed to keep the proceedings engaged till a poorly etched out climax lead, which is forced and doesn't match the narratives. The dialogues in the movie are enjoyable, though some, including that of the drunkard played by Suraj is lifted heavily from the stage shows. From the different title presentations to the final titles with background voices, there are also some elements of freshness offered from the directorial side.
As you expect, Urvashy is the highlight and USP of the movie who manages the entire movie with the command of her performance. She is natural to the core in the role of a self-reliant woman who doesn't find life easier, with its loads of pressures and anxieties. Prajod seems to be a last minute reaplacement in the role of Shiva, though he has done fairly well for the character. But in terms of Box office prospects, a more popular young actor would have helped the makers to attract more families to the theatres. All others in the cast of this low budget fare are adequate in their roles. It must be also noted that after quite some duds, Suraj venjaarmoodu has managed to crack some comedies that work, in this movie playing the role of Sugunan.
In the technical front, Saadat in camera has done an average work while Vipin Manoor's cuts have helped the movie to remain racy and to end in a short two hours mark without much boredom. The songs in the movie by Thej Mervin are regular though 'En Kanne' is an interesting hear.
Altogether, if you are in a mood to go for a movie with the least of the expectations, 'Kathayile Naayika' may not disappoint you. But do remember, apart from that regular family plot and some interesting dialogues, there may not be much in store for you. In the box Office, the movie if marketed well may fare better than the recent flicks, as there is no competition from big movies until the ramzan festival.
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