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You get an inkling of the things to come when the protagonist of the film is equated to none other than God himself. And, to convince us of the fact that he deserves such a comparison, he is shown doing an act of compassion and the next moment fighting half a dozen of goons as a saviour of his boys. This, in fact, is just the beginning of Mammootty's Malayalam film, Mayabazaar.
It does not take us long to realise that this is a packaged superstar vehicle, directed by debutant Thomas Sebastian.
Mammootty is scrap dealer Rameshan, who distributes free lunch in the general ward of a government hospital everyday. But our Rameshan is not an average scrap dealer, who goes house to house collecting waste. On the contrary, he is hi-tech working in trendy overalls dealing only in outdated and wrecked automobiles. At other times, he is a dapper young man sporting funky hairstyle and wearing stylish short shirts displaying his biceps. He has also pierced his ear and has a silver earring.
He is adored by the charming Maya (Tamil actress Sheela rechristened Maya). But being a practical man that he is, Rameshan does not pay any heed to it.
This story unfolds in a scrap yard called Mayabazaar.
There are stock characters to give solidity to the plot, like comedians Suraj Venjaramoodu and Bijukuttan. Rajan P Dev as Rameshan's father Aakiri Damodaran, is reminiscent of his roles in Chhotta Mumbai and other films. Then there is Kalabhavan Mani as the negative character Bhadran, who deals with stolen vehicles and has an eye on Maya and her land.
It feels as if the team behind this film wracked their collective brain to bring some novelty to the proceedings, and seemed to have got something really interesting towards the end of first half. But disappointingly, they fail capitalise on it and rush towards the climax in a jiffy.
There is enough for Mammootty fans in Mayabazaar to cheer, clap and hoot about; punch lines, comedy and their hero shaking a leg in couple of songs. The rest can enjoy their enthusiasm.
Rediff Rating: