It is high time the Malayalam film industry gets stars who can be successful at the box-office. Many have tried different combinations but success always eludes them.

One such emerging combination is Rahman and Kalabhavan Mani. Unfortunately, they too have not found the magic potion that can woo the public to the theatres.

And the blame goes to the directors who fail to provide them with themes that are original and interesting. Their latest venture Nanma, scripted and directed by Sharath Chandran Wayanad, suffers from the same defects.

Here, Mani and Rahman are presented as father and son with conflicting principles and ideas. Muthu Chettiar (Mani)'s menial job of retrieving dead bodies from underwater comes in the way of his son Nakulan's (Rahman) progress, who is well educated and skilled but has to depend on being a goonda for a chit fund company.

This leads to friction between father and son. Then we have the subplot of penury in rural areas and farmer suicides.

But, the screenplay throws up a surprise villain in the interval in the form of Paramashivan (Aditya), the owner of the chit fund company for whom Nakulan works.

Paramashivan has some old scores to settle with Muthu. From here on the rigmarole goes round and round leaving us jaded in the process. The story told in flashback looks inspired somewhat by the late Bharathan's Thazhvaram and Lohithadas's Kanmadam.

Technically, this is an average film offering nothing extraordinary, except for some fight scenes and a couple of dance numbers.

Kalabhavan Mani's getup, complete with shaven head and twirled moustache, looks interesting though the same cannot be said of the character. Similarly, Rahman's character has all the mannerisms of a star but lacks real mettle. Even Paramashivan played by Aditya has the cliched getup of salt and pepper hair, added with moustache and menacing look.

On the whole, the title Nanma seems to be misleading as the film focuses more on the evil rather than goodness around us.

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