Makal review: Tribulations of a teenage daughter's doting father

There are some movies which we wish never ended. 'Makal' directed by Sathyan Anthikad and starring Jayaram, Meera Jasmine and Devika Sanjay is one such film. The feel-good family entertainer offers a premise and gripping ambience to leave us totally engrossed in the world of Nandakumar (Jayaram).

Nandakumar is an expat who returns from the Gulf after working there as a mechanic for almost 15 years. He is in fact breaking into the free world shared by his wife Juliet (Meera Jasmine) and daughter Aparna (Devika Sanjay). Back home Nandakumar is into curry powder business.

On the family front his efforts to set certain things right, especially in terms of correcting his daughter, backfire and he discovers that the younger generation has leaped beyond his grasp. This tussle, reflected through his bitter-sweet relationship with his daughter, remains a constant reality. Meanwhile, Juliet, who hails from an aristocratic family, is happy to settle down to the meagre means of happiness her husband manages to arrange for them.

Jayaram has a neatly laid out path to tread on. Meera Jasmine manages to live up to the expectations except that the dialogues were a bit slow and dragging. It's Naslen and Devika who steal the show through their commendable performances. Siddique, Innocent, Althaf Salim, Jayashankar, Balaji Manohar, Dayyana Hameed, Sreedhanya, Meera Nair, among others walk the easy path to meet perfection their respective roles demand.

While S Kumar's frames make the visuals magical, Vishnu Vijay's music keeps the narrative enthralling. However, the narrative could have been spruced up a bit by discarding some redundant details.

The comedy is not hilarious but it's a known tale of family bonds told with a fresh whiff of life. Anthikad has the right mix of performers, plot and music. The master craftsman comes to the fore in the movie with humour and emotions interlaced in a perfect pattern. Every doting father would love to watch this movie. However, the dialogue rendering could have been a bit more realistic.

'Makal' offers a myriad of fresh features unseen in Anthikad's previous movies. It's a collaboration between Jayaram and Anthikad after a long time. The movie sets the stage for a perfect comeback for Meera Jasmine.

It's a lovely world where everything is always beautiful and only emotions are subject to change. The first half leaves you basking in the homely radiance. With pangs, emotions and livelihood concerns of a small, struggling family fanning the interest we expend a heavy dosage of expectation in the first half. However, the story deviates from the track of its origin in the second half and travels through an outlandish terrain before reaching a cathartic culmination.

Apart from repeated dialogues on mood swings and other problems of teenage girls, the conflicts displayed are not that intense and simmering. The director perhaps decided to balance the strain by avoiding excess tear-jerker by limiting the clashes between the father and daughter. Yet, you might love to repeatedly watch certain scenes, which exude the warmth of filial bonding.