ENNUM EPPOZHUM MOVIE REVIEW

He wants a nice cover story and she wants to take complete custody of her child. Ennum Eppozhum is a family drama based on the lives of two people. Mohan Lal plays Vineeth N Pillai (often called as Vineethan Pillai), a lazy, but an honest senior journalist and Manju Warrier on the contrary, is a bold advocate. While Vineeth wants to interview Deepa (Manju), to regain his freedom at the office, Deepa the single parent, enjoys her routine and leads a simple life with her only daughter.   

The maturity with which Malayalam cinema function is a boon to Indian cinema. Staying committed to the story and justifying the intention of it is a rarity in today's cinema. With very strong and competent performers, even the simplest of the stories get elevated. Mohan Lal makes the process of enacting a scene so simple with his effortless performance. If there’s somebody, who can daringly play their age and need not flaunt the waxed chest and oily six packs, it is Mohan Lal. His continued ability to literally tease the camera and pull off any emotion is a true delight to watch. Be it the tiff with his camera assistant or tricking a driver like a drunkard, or even trying to adjust the pant that hardly stays on his hip, Mohan Lal has been there and done that. 

Almost after 17 years, Manju Warrier is teaming up with Mohan Lal and her acting on the given role is no less. By her efficiency as a prolific advocate, Deepa becomes the talk of the town. Her controlled acting and her way of emoting fearlessness, hatred and empathy talks of her experience in the craft. Even her Bharathnatyam is so perfect and original.
 

With minimal characters and an over-exposed story line, Ennum Eppozhum gets unexciting towards the second half. Without a concrete villain or an antagonist, the travel of the lead characters also gets stopped halfway. Reenu Mathews’ role of a bossy chief editor does kindle Mohan Lal's character, but her sudden liking for him is a letdown. 

Innocent's role of a very supportive neighbor anchors the story detaching from the core plot. When enough has been said about the story, the character detailing of Mohan Lal needs all the mention. The habit of showing his glasses in place of the ID card, getting intimidated when his name is mispronounced, not fueling his car until it goes empty in the middle of the road, the ability to fight because of being a boxing champion during college and love for Rod Stewart songs, Vineeth is a loner, misses his mother and is single ready to mingle. The mediocre setting of the story, functional camera work and dramatically influenced background score enhance the story, but does give a soap-opera like feel. The reliefs are the timeless, comical gimmicks by Mohan Lal along with his sidekick Jacob, who plays the dim-witted photographer.   

All the songs by Vidyasagar are enchanting and soothing. Applause to director Sathiyan for opting the montage factor for the songs and not take the leads to a foreign land and make them dance under extreme climatic conditions. Primarily being a dialogue driven film, Ennum Eppozhum demands attention throughout. Raveendran and Rajnaj's story and screenplay have been well translated into a movie, but some more of engaging scenes could have made the modest film a little more than ordinary.