The Rainmaker

Movie: 2 Harihar Nagar
Language : Malayalam
Date : 15th April, 2009

Review
Good Memories are probably like our favorite dish that our Moms made back at home. Firstly, just as we would love to have that dish all over again, the same way we cherish to relive the good memories. And secondly, just as that favorite dish would even today have a instant liking in our mind even before we start having it, the same way the good memories would have an instant liking in our mind even before we start reliving them.
This longing to relive the good times and the instant liking are the two factors which the director Lal utilizes to the hilt and comes up with one of the most well directed commercial cinemas in recent times - 2 Harihar Nagar.

Return of the Good Comedy
'2Hariharnagar' starts off when the 4 friends reunite at their den for one of their engagements. What follows is a laugh riot to say the least! The situational comedy is worked out well and the dialogues leave you in splits. For years, we have been suffering with seeing the 'comedy for the sake of comedy' stuff but the true daddies of good comedy are back and how. The first few gags in the airport involving Jagadish and Atlas Ramachandran may seem crass but soon the comedy machine catches speed and what follows up until the interval is complete pure entertainment. I really was trying to recall when was the last time in recent past that I laughed so much in a theatre. Frankly, I have no recent memory!!

The Sweet Formula in Right Mix
In the second half, there is a scene when Mukesh and Siddique break in to fight and for an instance the whole friendship breaks over an important issue. At that poignant moment, I realised that it was the 90s Sidiqque - Lal formula that was being used in the entire movie and it wasn't even being noticed. They used to have a rollicking first half full of pure comedy, building the premises for the second half which concentrated on the story movement completely.They usually used to have the street fight between brothers (God Father) or break up between friends (Kabooliwala) somewhere in the second half as a sentimental moment. And here it was! The perfected formula is repeated all over again with great skill and expertise and you never notice.

The Real Hero
The Real hero of the movie is none other than the director Lal. There is no two ways to that. The opening credits showing the first editions scenes will make u smile for sure.From setting up interesting gags and situational comedy to witty dialogues.From adding a prelude to the famous friendship from the childhood, to one of the best twisted climax, he is in awesome form. From getting competant performances from his aging actors to the palpabale pace of the proceedings in the second half, his single directorial debut is so impressive that it you wouldn't have seen such a debue for a long time.

Performances
I believe that even in the first part, Mukesh's and Jagadish's character are the best developed ones and Ashokan's and Sidiqque's the lesser developed ones. Ashokan though got mileage in first part due to the dialogoue 'Thomaskutty......'.That better development for Jagadish and Mukesh stays almost the same here too. Jagadish and Mukesh put in the best performances in that order.
We need to accept that these 4 actors have aged. For the first 30 minutes, many of Mukesh's reactions look plastic to say the least and Jagadish looks excessive in expressions. But soon they fall in to groove. Ashokan gets mileage for stuff that can't be discussed here. And Siddique is perhaps the least worn out of them all. He looks younger of the lot and perhaps the actor who has grown most of the 4 in last 20 years. He does well of what is given to him. Lakshmi Rai looks good and acts ok.

Negatives : But who cares?
The negatives which one can easily overlook are firstly the plastic reaction of the 3 (except Siddique) at many instances. The lack of well conceptualized side characters. The first part had Filomina, Baharathan, Ponnama, Suresh Gopi, and so on. Here its only Appa Hajah and Salim Kumar. The music though looks sound and feels good in the theater somehow looks below standard when you listen independently. I was wondering during the movie that are these the same songs that I hated while listening before? And also some gags (starting ones) are of the crass type.

Must Watch
3 kinds of people who shud watch this for sure.1. Sibi Udayan, Thaha, Shafi and many others who made crass comedy the in thing in Malayalam Cinema. They shud see it to understand what we all love - Pure Good Comedy.2. Amal Neerad - For once to understand that movies are not all about Visuals and Audio but about script.3. Anyone who has good friends and always is longing to relive those moments.

Verdict - 4/5 and 'VERY GOOD' for '2Harihar Nagar'.
'2HariHar Nagar' - Relive the good times!!