Mannar Mathai Speaking 2
Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film directed by Mamas K. Chandran. It is a sequel to the 1995 comedy Mannar Mathai Speaking and the third installment in the celebrated Ramji Rao franchise. Actors Mukesh, Saikumar, Innocent, Janardhanan and Biju Menon reprised their roles; while Aparna Gopinath, Shammi Thilakan and a few others are also included in the cast.[1] The film features original music & background score composed by Rahul Raj.
| Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical-release poster | |
| Directed by | Mamas |
| Produced by | Siby Thottupuram Joby Mundamattom |
| Starring | Mukesh Saikumar Innocent Biju Menon Janardhanan Shammi Thilakan Aparna Gopinath Niyas Backer |
| Music by | Rahul Raj |
| Cinematography | Vishnu Narayan |
Production company | SJM Entertainments |
| Distributed by | Kalasangham Films |
Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Plot
Mannar Mathai (Innocent) is now running a travel agency Urvashi Tours & Travels,his partners in this agency are his old mates Gopalakrishnan (Mukesh) and Balakrishnan (Saikumar). Their drama group which was started in 1989, is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Manaar Mathai wants to perform a drama on this occasion. But Gopalakrishnan & Balakrishnan are not ready for this because their previous attempts in drama led them to nothing but problems. When they need a driver for their agency, they give an Ad in the news paper. But Mathai also gives an extra Ad which says "Heroine required" which leads a young woman named Nithya (Aparna Gopinath) and her friend Unni (Basil Joseph) to their agency. Balakrishnan and Gopalakrishnan see Unni as a potential driver replacement for their old driver Koshi (Shammi Thilakan) due to his fluency in English because most of their customers requesting for travels are from other countries and Unni, being fluent in English, would be able to help them. Meanwhile, Mathai sees Nithya as a potential lead actress for his upcoming play which would bring back glory to Urvashi Theaters and respect to the field of drama. One night, they get an unexpected visitor - Mahendra Varma (Biju Menon). Much to the relief of Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan, and Mannar Mathai, when he fell from the top of the building in the last movie on to the hood of Ramji Rao's car, he became mentally impaired and is always requesting for Beedi cigarettes. Later onward, the three decide to forgive Mahendra Varma for his wrongdoings against them, but discover other things as well. They discover that Unni and Nithya were framed for bank fraud back in the town where their college was and fled from police. To their horror, they discover that Nithya is the daughter of the bane of all policemen and authorities and a person that the three hoped they would never hear from again - her father was Ramji Rao (Vijayaraghavan). However, Ramji Rao, after escaping with the money from the second movie, has given up his criminal ways and was baptized, becoming a Christian and soon marrying and having Nithya as his daughter. He was no longer Ramji Rao, but went by his pastor name of Kunjumon (meaning "little boy" in Malayalam). Another thing they find out is that Mahendra Varma has a twin brother named Hareendra Varma (also portrayed by Menon), an international criminal wanted for murdering an Italian diamond merchant for a rare diamond that let loose a light pattern on the wall when held up to light. Mahendra had been entrusted with the diamond by Hareendra but Mahendra had wandered off. Hareendra kidnaps the twin teenage daughters of Gopalakrishnan and Stella Fernandez (now living under the alias "Lakshmi") and demands the diamond. Mannar Mathai, Balakrishnan, and Gopalakrishnan realize that the bag that the diamond is in is under the possession currently of the local police S.I. and decide to get "Kunjumon" to resume his alias of Ramji Rao and steal it for them by faking that Nithya is in danger, but "complications" arise when Garvasees Aashan kidnap Nithya in order to force Gopalakrishnan to accept the lead actress that they pick out.
Reception
The film received negative reviews from critics. Sify movies commented, "You can only watch Director Mamas's Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 with tremendous anger and disbelief as he makes a mockery of two much loved films with this one. Please don't speak again, Mr. Mannar Mathai!" Rediff movie reviews commented, "Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 is a repeat of what we've seen before."
Cast
- Mukesh as Gopalakrishnan
- Saikumar as Balakrishnan
- Innocent as Mannar Mathai
- Vijayaraghavan as Ramji Rao / Kunjumon
- Biju Menon as Mahendra Varma & Hareendra Varma (Double Role)
- Janardhanan as Garvasees Aashan
- Indrans as Ponnappan
- Priyanka Anoop as Shakunthala
- Shammi Thilakan As Driver Koshi
- Aparna Gopinath As Nithya
- Akshitha-Malayali House Fame
- Kalabhavan Shajon As Babumon, SI of Police
- Niyas Backer As Cook
- Basil As Unni
- Chembil Ashokan
- Ullas Pandalam
- Andrew Ross As the Diamond Smuggler
- Vani Viswanath as Lakshmi (Meera/Stella Fernandez) [Special appearance in the title song] (From the first part's film shots)
- Sukumari as Balakrishnan's mother [Special appearance in the title song] (From the first part's film shots)
Music
| Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 17 January 2014 | |||
| Recorded | 2013 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 20:11 | |||
| Language | Malayalam | |||
| Label | East Coast Audio | |||
| Producer | Rahul Raj | |||
| Rahul Raj chronology | ||||
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The music and background score of the movie are composed, orchestrated and produced by Rahul Raj. The soundtrack opened to positive reviews with Music Aloud.com saying "Composer Rahul Raj continues the franchise's tradition of entertaining music", while particularly mentioning that the interludes of Gathakalaporin are 'brilliant'.[2] Milliblog.com hailed Mizhikaloro as the best song for its fantastic tune and catchy arrangements.[3]
| No. | Title | Singers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chemmana Chelorukki (Urvashi)" | Vijay Yesudas, Teenu Tellence | 4:42 |
| 2. | "Mizhikaloro" | Haricharan | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Thirayane" | Arun Alat, Nithin Raj, Lonely Doggy, Rahul Raj | 4:18 |
| 4. | "Urvashi (Sufi Reprise)" | Maqbool | 2:04 |
| 5. | "Gathakala Porin" | Afsal, Tom Sebastian, Vipin Xavier | 5:17 |
References
- http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-26/news-and-interviews/43396062_1_ramji-rao-mannar-mathai-movie-buffs
- http://www.musicaloud.com/2014/01/18/mannar-mathai-speaking-2-music-review-malayalam-movie-soundtrack/
- http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2014/01/18/mannar-mathai-speaking-2-music-review-malayalam-rahul-raj/