Vellimoonga

Jibu Jacob's first film is about a small-town political candidate in his forties. Mamachan, played by Biju Menon, entered politics by following his father, but he has neither a particular talent nor a distinct principle; he simply continues. Meeting a woman, and a connection in her past, pushes the story toward both comedy and embarrassment. The film's achievement is shifting Biju Menon's position. An actor seen for years in supporting and comic parts carries a film alone here, and that set the line of his career in Malayalam cinema for the years that followed. The humour comes out of the daily workings of local politics: negotiations, family ties, small lies, who owes what to whom. It mocks these without declaring anyone a villain. The pace is slow, and deliberately so. Who it's for: viewers who enjoy quiet comedies set in rural Kerala. Who it's not for: viewers wanting dense incident and fast humour; the film spreads its jokes across long scenes.