The Rainmaker

Movie: Chattambi Nadu
Language: Malayalam
Date: 24th, Dec

Review
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Originality and New Theme are the last things that you expect in a commercial festival movie like 'Chattambi Nadu' and that is exactly what it renders. Shafi who has made some better commercial movies like 'Kalyanaraman', 'Chocolate' and 'Mayavi' this time ends up with a rehash of some previous Malayalam movies. At strict 2 hours of length, 'Chattambi Nadu' won't bore you to death but neither will impress you much.

Theme
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The theme is oft repeated. The hero returning to village with which he has a past. Two warring groups and families in the village and the hero stealing the show. 'Rajamanikyam' is still fresh in all our memories hence the similarity is so obvious. Even 'Aaram Thampuran' and so many other movies have had this kind of a story in which a hero with a past returns to his village and so on. Even though expected, theme wise, 'Chattambi Nadu' is a major disappointment. Shafi is capable of bringing out some interesting themes within the commercial format like say in 'Chocolate'. Nothing of that sort happens here.

Mammotty and the Rest
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The saving grace of the whole affair is Mammotty who is once again superb in using diction and dialect to perfection. Even though the 'RajaManikyam' hangover is obvious, Mammotty lifts an ordinary role to a notable one with his use of the diction and flexibility in presentation. The rest of the cast is ho-hum except for Suraj and Salim Kumar. Suraj's antics are worth a few chuckles and Salim Kumar though looks jaded, manages to hold on with some one liners.

Direction is below par except for the handling of Mammootty's character. Lekshmi Rai and Maithili are wasted while Vinu Mohan tries hard to replace Rehman in the
RajaManikyam format. Music doesn't have much to write about either.

Verdict - 2.5/5 and 'Strictly Average'

Chattambi Nadu - The Usual Routine