Orkut Oru Ormakoot Review

'Orkut Oru Ormakoot' is one of those films that you are likely to approach with some amount of cynicism. Orkut is now almost out of vogue, and the film with new faces seems a low-profile thing which you may not add to your 'must see' list. The people behind the scenes too don't seem familiar. But, better give it a try as this 'Ormakoot' is not totally dry. It may have flaws, but when we see those terribly inconsistent movies delivered by established directors and big stars, this film seems much much better.

A gang of five, out to make the most of their youth around women and booze - they are the protagonists of the film. One member of this gang, at a stage, breaks away and the group now comprises of only four members- Aby, Rony, Sooraj and Arun (played by Ben Lalu Alex, Joe Siby Malayil, Anu Mohan and Vishnu Raghav). They stay together and go about enjoying the excitement that life provides them at their age. In the meantime they get an online friend, a chat friend named Christel Falk Reitz from Germany. Christel, who introduces herself as a German girl, talks about planning to come to India. The boys arrange everything for her, including a flat for her stay in the same building as theirs. They are at the airport to receive a 'blond' Christel, but are taken aback when they find an Indian looking girl. Anyway they are happy with Christel's arrival, they take her to the flat and then, in the course of further talks they realise that Christel is a Malayalee by birth and speaks Malayalam too. Christel then gets more intimate with the boys and their families and things go smooth. It's then that Christel reveals that she is in Kerala in search of her roots. In the meantime, the boy who had broken away from the gang has a fight with the gang and the very next morning he is found dead, making things complicated for the group. You expect the film to take a new turn, evolving into an investigative flick from here onwards. But no, it's going to be a different film altogether.

We won't say that 'Orkut Oru Ormakoot' is sans flaws; you can perhaps point out many. But it's a film that has in it the element of goodness, something that makes it stand apart from the trash that we get to see in the name of cinema these days. The performance of the lead players are good, Rima Kallingal as Christel and others in supporting roles (Menaka, Siddique, Vijay Menon etc) do their parts too in a convincing manner.  Swaroop Philip's camera and the music by Leela Gireeshkuttan are also fine.

'Orkut Oru Ormakoot' reminds you, at times, of K.S.Sethumadhavan's 'Venalkinaavukal', especially the song with the lines "Poothumbikku koottaayi maari." (Some of the lines, reminding you of the song 'Peraattinakkare akkare akkare etho.' from 'Venalkinaavukal'). The film anyhow, shouldn't be compared with the Sethumadhavan- MT Vasudevan Nair masterpiece, but still 'Orkut oru Ormakoot' has things that make it good. The film though a little slow and predictable in the later half, reminds us of the many good things that get trampled in our mad race for money. The film teaches us how to make the most of life and love. It tells us how important it's for us to know our roots. Above all, it's a movie that doesn't bore us, a film that you can watch and remember for quite some time.

Rating-5/10