Nature inspired movie ✅ check
Love Track ✅ check
These ingredients came together to cook up an unwelcome flop for Mohanlal during the winter of 2004. The tale, which centers around an area in Trivandrum that would rather boast about its lush, beautiful scenery than discuss the dumpster fire of a film named after it.
Welcome to the much-explored tale and lore of the caricature land called Vamanapuram and Vamanapuram Bus Route
Director
Writer
Release Date
Genre
Sonu Sisupal
Sudheesh-John
23 January 2004
🎭 Comedy , Drama
Random Musings
Kalachakram (2002) - Sonu Sisupal's Debut Film
The blog piece wouldn't be complete, without typing out a couple of lines about Sonu Sisupal.
Sonu Sisupal's first rodeo with direction in Malayalam Cinema, came with Kalachakram (2002), a historical sci-fi thriller, that was very well ahead of it's time. This movie pops up on Reddit discussion threads frequently , regarding movies that were ahead of it's time or those that were not appreciated by the audience at the time of release.
A still from Kalachakram
Peppered with nice tracks penned by Sonu himself, the concept of the movie whose gist was to safegaurd Hitler's clone into taking over the world, through dominance and lack of empathy, was a plotline that was a stuff of fantasy.
Kudapole Poomanam and Ende Moundam are soulful tracks that probably don't relate to the movie's overall setting, but deserves more recognition amongst music lovers.
Probably due to a lack of promotion or word of mouth, this flick could have done little to peak people's interest back then. The legacy of the film has been secured, with it having the right to be called, "Malayalam's own effort at the Sci-fi genre".
Kalachakram ran, so that flicks like Bharathan Effect and Gaganachari could walk, be created and appreciated (no 🧢)
Kalachakram's CD Cover
Great performances from Devan , Jagadeesh , Shiju, and a late cameo by Siddique were in hindisght, let down by amateur VFX / Effects depicting the hacking scenes and bomb blast.
Considering the limitations back then, with an added constraint on budget, let's excuse it and look forward with optimism thinking that the film did reach a lot of people since Lockdown started, with the inception of multiple tickle-arousing reviews on YouTube
If you do love a good sci-fi thriller film, please do give Kalachakram a watch, It's available on YouTube and though it has a couple of limitations, it's one of our own. So, do give some love.
Sonu Sisupal's Sophomore Project and it's Contrasting Fate
Sonu was an assistant to veteran director Priyadarshan and his sophomore project was helmed by Mohanlal, with a script that was not penned by him. Please let me make that very clear, as the vision could have been very different with a script that was penned by the director itself.
The fate of both the director, writer and the actor were pretty contrasting after flopping hard with this flick.
Things started getting better going forward for Mohnalal after this flop, with the hits secured by Mambazhakalam , Natturajavu and a phenomenal 2005 (which is a magical tale for another day). A much needed box office success was a godsend.
Sudheesh-John and Sonu teamed up for Jayam, another unremarkable flick, that warranted it's own review on YouTube. It really does convey something, when the review gets more views than the movie print.
Oblivious to the incoming change of fate was Mohanlal gearing up for his first film of 2004, following a average 2003, with fares like Mr. Bhramachari , Kilichundan Mampazham, Balettan and Hariharan Pillai Happy Annu, A10's luck could'nt have got any worse
Goings-on
Gopalan Nair (Jagathy) harbors a dream to represent his constituency Vamanapuram on the legislature stage and needs to conjure up a plan to show his income / wealth. Being a Panchayat president doesn't pay well I guess and his plan is to get approval for a bus route for Vamanapuram, connecting it with other towns and performing corruption
The opposition party's leader (Janardhanan) opposes the plan (as required) and deploys a ruffian 'Karripidi Gopi' (Aditya) to nullify any plans to get approval for a bus route or to run a bus through the dusty (wink,wink) roads of Vamanapuram.
After much consultation and brainstorming, the MGR-loving rowdy bird of bus routes is suggested to be the remedy for Gopalan's requirement, Lever Johnny. Enter Mohanlal with mascara and Vijay inspired costumes with a bar fight to set business rolling.
Lever Johnny arrives at the serene village of Vamanapuram, runs around the rice fields in motion for a mass elevation song and starts business of putting the opposition in their places. After Gopalan's daughter catches sight of Johnny, a sense of curiosity surround the pair, finally culminating in the both of them sneaking away to be married, with the background of Vamanapuram's lush fields forming the background of the movie's much needed climax.
What in the world is happening?
1. Toilet Comedy trope of lore
2. No dub scenes that are reminiscent of movies from the 2000's. Similar to pathetic attempts at fillers, from movies like Rapid Action Force (Thakida Thom ) and Black Cat (IFYYK) (xD)
Reaction:😐
Credits : API Malayalam Movies (YouTube)
3. Violation scenes in the name of komedy (a dishonorable compilation)
Reaction:🤬
Credits:API Malayalam Movies (YouTube)
4. Mohanlal trying hard to sell the MGR Fanboy character and tapping into the 'Namma Malayali' nostalgic feelings for the Tamil Superstar, who we will proudly call one of our own.
Reaction:😐
Credits : API Malayalam Movies (YouTube)
5. The crazy goings on leading enraged fans to wreck seats at the theater. Shubham 😏
My reaction exactly, after wasting 2 hours on this film (even after watching roast reviews).
FML
Afterthoughts - The Bad (mostly) and Good
It is pretty sad to see natural performers like Rajan P Dev , Jagadeesh and Mohanlal being reduced to mere dunces in this movie, in an effort to take the movie forward. The whole 'body shaming' treatment of A.S Joby (Mathapp) was not good. However, it's a sad fact that such comedic tropes ran movies, at that time and were used as comedic relief.
The camaraderie between KTS Padanayil and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy was one of the few redeeming qualities from the film, along with the villain character played by Jagathy and Adithya, to perfection. The grandfacther's character arc was pretty unique and stood out to me as impressive, throughout the film. Poor old man got detonated by miniature bombs, but is a progressive guy.
Credits : API Malayalam Movies (YouTube)
This movie had a pretty forgettable soundtrack as well, with the whole picturization of the reprised 'Rajavin Parvai', looking horribly dramatic. Some praise for debutante Manjari's track 'Thanne En Thamburu' exists somewhere in the annals of the Internet, from 2005.
Trivia
- The movie battled against Sethurama Iyer CBI on the same day and you can guess which won the BO tug of war.
- Vamanapuram is a real place in Trivandrum, located on the MG Road stretch.
- Innocent makes a late cameo facilitating Johnny boy to call Meenakshi out on her wedding day.
- Came across a YouTube channel (which I presume belongs to Sonu Sisupal). It has some tracks from Kalachakram, which were uploaded, back in 2018
- Found actor Aditya's blog whilst doing some searching on this movie. It's always a pleasure to discover and witness someone else's public relic, that was used to showcase moments from their life and which can forever be called as one's own. Imagine this blog being archived until the end of the Internet and curious people digging up the same, probably a decade or a half century later!
- Aditya followed up this film, by being paired as the superstar’s antagonist in the afore mentioned Joshiy-directorial, Mambazhakalam and in Wanted, that released the same year (2004). A pretty much happening year for the terrifying villain (played to perfection by Aditya, of course).
Parting Notes
It's easy to see why people like hating on Vamanapuram Bus Route, as it's lore and legacy have secured it's position in the bracket of movies, "that are so bad, that they are good".
It's baffling to think how a respected artist like Mohanlal commits to such brain dead projects, either out of friendship or by blindly placing trust. It's more painful to see the actor laboring on screen, for projects like these. Lever Johnny will be one character that the superstar will be looking to forget.
Isn't it ironic that the subject of crap films being churned out in the 2000's was addressed and criticized in the Rosshan Andrrews directorial 'Udayananu Tharam', starring Mohanlal, in 2005?
Stars aligned for the superstar to utter the very dialogues in the movie, that criticized such half-baked films. I would not like to name-drop anyone here, but it's the harsh and sad truth that Malayalam Cinema was going through a bad collective phase, during the 2000's.
In hindsight, I do hope the brilliant dialogue from Sreenivasan brought along, a dawn of realization for those related to Malayalam Cinema. It wouldn't be until 2009, when the new wave of cinema rolled on to the shores of Mollywood. Rithu, Passenger, Kerala Cafe and Traffic being notable torchbearers.
My Reddit Thread discussing Udayananu Tharam.
Credits : API Malayalam Movies (YouTube)
If the film's crew were looking to capture the family audience to steer the film, they did'nt know that this desire would go horribly wrong. On Reddit, I have seen a couple of redditors admitting that comedy scenes from the film are a guilty pleasure. Each one to their own, i guess (xD).
Sonu Sisupal will always be remembered by me, as a "what if (?) director", that had the vision and talent to provide us with much more. Credits to him for crafting Kalachakram and it's wonderful soundtrack. It's a cruel fact that he will be remembered, just for this film. It would be interesting to see, if he makes a comeback to the director's chair.
Blindly placing trust shouldn't be an issue in my book, if the superstar believed in the director's vision. However, things started getting better going forward, with the hits secured by Mambazhakalam , Natturajavu and a phenomenal 2005 (which is a magical tale for another day).
External Reference
A Reddit Thread discussing Sonu Sisupal
No doubt about that
Movie Memorabilia
Audio Cassette Cover, with track listing
~ Noel
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