കവി ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചത് (Kavi Udeshichathu) (2016)

Director: Thomas, Liju Thomas
Writers:  Thomas, Martin Duro
Cinematographer: Shahnad Nalla
Cast: Asif Ali, Narein, Biju Menon, Anju Kurien 
Language: Malayalam

Film is set in a village in Iritty (Wayanad-Kannur border area) which is crazy about volleyball. Asif Ali's and Narein's characters are enemies from their schooldays and both of them have a crush on each other's sisters. Film revolves around a bet that they make on the result of a volleyball tournament for which each of them field a team.

It is from the makers of short film 'Ramaniyechiyude Naamathil' which went viral on social media and garnered several awards. It stood out due to its production quality and paved their way for getting this film made which is also an in-house production from Asif Ali. The big question was whether they will be able to make the transition from short films to feature length. The short that they did had a decent idea executed very well. The big question mark over here was the quality of the script.

The beginning of the film was quite average and it started pulling off its humour only after the introduction of their respective love interests. Many of the comedies in the middle portion worked well before the film reached its highly predictable and longer than necessary climax portion. Biju Menon's character was introduced only in the second half and I found his role and the writing around it very underwhelming. It is the other side characters that shine well in the film as a whole.

Overall, it is a watchable film with a disappointing beginning and end. It is kind of caught between its clichés surrounding its setting and somewhat fresh kind of comedies. They could have done away with some of the unnecessary songs and shortened the hugely predictable climax. They have also reused the idea from the short film which should be interesting for those who haven't already watched it.

PS: The title of the film is a colloquial expression which roughly translates as 'Dafaq did you mean'. You can ask the same to the makers regarding the choice of this title as well.

Rating: 2/5