Movie Review : Hallo. Watch it only for Mohanlal

The views expressed are personal.

' Hallo' , a brand new offering from the Rafi mecartin team , promised a laugh riot before the release and guess what, unlike the usual promises made by the film makers to lure the public to watch their movie, this one did live upto its expectation.
The movie belongs completely to mohanlal who with ease has portrayed the role of a drunken lawyer. There has been never been any actor in the Malayalam film industry who could carry such a role with such finesse. His character reminds us of his older movies like adhipan, No.20 madras mail, ayaal kadha ezhudukayaanu .
However, the story offers nothing new. It's a usual tried and tested story in Malayalam movies of greedy relatives and their goons who are hell bent on eliminating the next heir of a wealthy family, which the director duo themselves had attempted in some of their earlier movies. But this movie is different in terms of its presentation and of course mohanlal. Mohanlal plays a drunken lawyer who never goes to courts, but is a regular visitor at all the bars in and around. He has a flashback for this behavior of his and he holds his own parents responsible for it. However, its one accidental phone call that changes his life and that's why the title. Followed by which, a series of murders happen and at the end the suspense is revealed is a very unrealistic way inside a house with so many onlookers including a fleet of police.
The first half is racy with enough thrills and comedy, while the second half is a bit letdown in terms of the way the various twists gets unfolded. But one cannot expect a complete thriller out of the director duo. Their genre of movies is comedy and a complete family entertainer which they have delivered with conviction.
Among the performances, the heroine Parvati Melton does a fairly good job being a newcomer in the Malayalam industry, though she has a very little to perform. But she should be the next choice as a heroine in this industry which is still ruled by aged superstars ( though somewhere in the movie, she is mentioned as 18 years old which is rather very unconvincing). Jagathy who acts as mohanlals sidekick is not at his best but nevertheless, this talented actor could have enacted only whatever he had been offered. Rest of the comedians are wasted as the entire comedy situations in the movie moves around the hero. Veteran actor Madhu has also been wasted in an extended guest appearance role as the heroines father. Other actors like siddique, riza bawa, jagadeesh, janardhanan, ganesh kumar, madhu warrier have only done what they usually do.
The songs are average, the pick of the lot being chella thamara and mazhavillin. The choreography is appreciable with all the dance numbers having a north indian touch but tht is only because of the story.
Hallo, like its title, is different from the current comedy genre in the industry where sub standard and double meaning dialogues prevail. The movie is an out and out entertainer for all ages and does not bore you at all. This is yet another comeback vehicle for Mohanlal and one would hope him to have this kind of comic timing and elegant acting in all his movies that are to come.