Shakespeare M.A. Malayalam, from the debutante duo Shaiju-Shaji, is a film with no super heroes, no loud villains and no glamorous heroines. Rather, it is a feel-good comic escapade, featuring a team of comedians from Malayalam cinema coming together in a refreshingly engaging plot that induces continuous laughs with good technical support, background scores and winsome dialogues.
The story of the movie is based on Shakespeare Pavithran (Jayasurya), the award-winning playwright of Jayabharathi Theatres, who has the habit of using real-life characters as the basis of persons in his dramas, especially people around him and those he knows personally. Pavithran is a man who follows the Shakespearean quote "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players" with full spirit.
As Pavithran urgently needs to write a new drama for the coming season and time is limited, Kottayan Gopalan, the lead actor, director and owner of Jayabharathi Theatres, prompts Pavithran go to the remote, peaceful village of Kakkathuruthu where might get inspiration and material to pen the play. Pavithran comes to stay in the village, accompanied by Sugunan (Salim Kumar), and Sarasan (Anoopchandran) who are two of the troupe's actors.
During his stay in the village, Pavithran happens to meet Alli (Roma), loaded with her share of grave problems. He observes Alli and is mesmerized by this gullible character; naturally, is inspired to make the character a part of his play. This lays the foundation for his new play - 'Prakasham Parathunna Penkutty'. But things take a sudden turn when Alli is forced to take certain drastic steps to save herself and her family. What are these steps? What happens to her? What happens to Pavithran's play? This forms the rest of the plot.
The story by Rajesh K. Raman is fresh, moving away from the stereotyped fare regularly churned out. Scripted by the director duo Shaiju-Shaji with support from Jiju Ashok, the movie wins us over with its intrinsic humour in the writing and the immensely likeable characters, especially in the first half. But the post-interval portion tends to lag. However, it does not detract from the liveliness of the movie, even though the (predictable) climax holds few surprises.
Jayasurya is good as Pavithran, while Roma impresses very much as Alli. Almost every one, from the incredible Jagathy Sreekumar to the indispensable Suraj Venjaramoodu, is in top form. It is good to see Kalabhavan Mani return to comedy after a break. Saikumar is comfortable with his character, even though his role is minor; Salimkumar repeats his usual role; Bijukuttan is very much in his element; Suraaj Venjaramoodu as Chalingadu Joshi is his usual self.
Jibu Jacob supports the directors with good visuals; Mohan Sithara's songs merge seamlessly with the situations. Of the songs, the first is melodious and well picturised, while the others don't impress. Considering that Shakespeare M.A. Malayalam comes from debutante directors Shaiju and Shaji, it is a good effort, one of the movies worth watching this season.
