Veteran actress Madhoo, who immortalized her role in ‘Yodha’ is making her comeback to Mollywood after a long hiatus of 28 years. The 51-year-old star is now roped in to play a crucial role in the movie ‘Ennittu Avasaanam’.

The film is being directed by Emcy Joseph, who made the movie ‘Vikruthi’. ‘Ennittu Avasaanam’ will feature Arjun Ashokan and Anna Ben in the lead roles. The first look poster of the movie was released today, and it is now receiving positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.

The script of the movie is written by the director himself. Appu Prabhakar is handling the cinematography for this flick, while the music is composed by Sushin Shyam. The film is jointly bankrolled by Ananth Jairaj, and Jobin Joy.

Madhoo will be next seen in the movie ‘Thalavi’, directed by AL Vijay. Kangana Ranaut is playing the role of legendary Tamil politician J Jayalalitha in this film. According to reports, Madhoo is doing the role of Janaki Ramachandran, the third wide of M G Ramachandran in this upcoming flick.

Apart from Madhoo and Kangana Ranaut, the film also stars Aravind Swamy, Prakash Raj, Jisshu Sengupta, and Poorna in other prominent roles.

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Kappela cast : Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew, Sreenath Bhasi
Director: Muhammed Musthafa
Verdict: Worth watching (4/5).

Kappela was a revelation – including its name. We have been so used to the English word chapel in Malayalam lingo that we forget that the original Latin word is the actual Malayalam one too. That it took debut director Muhammed Musthafa to bring it back to common parlance is ironical. But more importantly, he has brought in a pressing issue to the limelight – youth and their fascination for virtual friendships.

Here the kappela is only a small shrine of St Mary on the edge of a cliff in a non-descript village called Poovarmala in picturesque Wayanad. It is almost the private sanctuary of the heroine who goes to the shrine to pray and ask for guidance each time she is confused or worried. In the end, she goes to the kappela for thanksgiving – for saving her from danger and for the predictable but safe life she will lead. That she is able to come out of an ordeal unscathed and without the knowledge of her conservative and strict parents shows the power of her guardian angels – one spiritual and one human.

The heroine Jessy is the three film-old Anna Ben, who has done a commendable performance as a simple village girl from the high ranges longing for the beach and theatre and beauty parlor and falls for the deep baritone of an autorickshaw driver in another district. A wrong phone call leads to a budding romance between the two, and reaches a crescendo when she is desperate to escape an arranged alliance with Benny, who is so besotted that he uses her as the unsuspecting model for his new textile shop.

Sudhi Koppa as Benny looks the perfect rustic chap with his disarming yet genuine smile and his unwavering resolve to marry Jessy in spite of his domineering mother’s displeasure. He even suggests to her farmhand father if they could make her a doctor – that she has failed in four subjects in her 12th Boards is cleverly conveyed through the bursts of firecrackers at the church festival.

Roshan Mathew’s charm and versatility as an actor comes out well in this small neat story sans complex plots like in movies of yore. Like Fahadh Faasil, he belongs to the new breed of young Malayalam stars, willing to experiment with villainy or shades of grey. The twist in the plot in what looked like an ordinary romance is Kappela’s victory.

Sreenath Bhasi’s Roy lends mystery and the necessary stunts to bring in the dark underbelly of cities, where naïve village lasses can get trapped and traded if not for a chance savior. The Jessys in real life may not be as lucky; hopefully, young girls will remember this when they strike online friendships or elope with fly-by-night suitors.

The shutters of aanavandi, Kerala’s State transport with the elephant emblem, is used to convey the brief darkness in Jessy’s life while its lone flickering tubelight throws light on the state of our public transport. Jimshi Khalid’s cinematography is a visual treat as it captures the pristine beauty of Wayanad; the heaviness of raindrops brings the heroine’s trepidation to light as she embarks on a trip to the city to meet her beau.

Like the needle that runs through the movie title, the movie stitches piety with middle-class values and occupations. Jessy helps her seamstress mother with the embroidery and running errands in a lower middle-class household which cannot afford the daughters a smartphone or a bicycle. It is as true as life can get, and is devoid of any glamour. Interestingly, Jessy is seen with a small gold cross adorning her neckchain while Vishnu spots a tilak but the differences in religion doesn’t crop up in their conversations or their plans for the future.

Kappela, after its short theatrical run before the COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill, is now streaming on Netflix.

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