Writers: Amal Neerad, Unni R
Cast: Mammootty, Nafisa Ali, Manoj K. Jayan, Vijayaraghavan
Language:Malayalam
After their foster mother was murdered in cold blood, four brothers try to find out the truth behind the death.
Film is an unofficial remake of Hollywood film 'Four Brothers' starring Mark Wahlberg, which was again loosely based on the American western 'Sons of Katie Elder'. It marked the directorial debut for Amal Neerad who made his name as cinematographer in several Ram Gopal Varma productions. However Samir Thahir handled the camera for 'Big B'. Like you expect from a film made by a technician like Amal Neerad, it is stylishly shot and technically very good. The background score (Gopi Sundar) is excellent and the music (Alphonse) is used well to aid the storytelling. The story might not be original but unlike other Neerad films, there is at least some substance to all the stylishness.
It was not a big success during its theatrical run but has went on to attain a cult status. The highlight of the film is the minimalist but characteristically great one-liners from the title character. It marked a welcome departure from other larger than life character films from those times which had tediously long speeches masquerading as dialogs. Mohanlal and Mammootty were guilty of making many such forgettable films which were kind of natural progression from Suresh Gopi's earlier Police roles in films like 'Ekalavyan' and 'Commissioner'. The filmmakers (Shaji Kailas, Renjith, Renji Panicker) were common in most of these films. So ' Big B' was a generational shift which was refreshing when it came out but then degenerated into spawning sub-genres like 'Fort Kochi' films, 'Heroes in leather jacket walking in slow-motion' films.
Anyways Big B is a great watch especially when it is on a big screen with good sound system. I was lucky to have seen it at cinemas when it was released.
Rating: 3.5/5
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