Velipadinte Pusthakam Review: Where Lal Jose lost his magic!

After years of speculations, Mohanlal and director Lal Jose finally joined hands this year for Velipadinte Pusthakam. The movie has hit screens today as a grand Onam release in 400 centres all across India. As always, this Mohanlal starrer also good pre-release hype. Let’s see if the movie could live up to the expectations.

Velipadinte Pusthakam starts off with the story of Bullet Vishwan, played by Anoop Menon. From there it shifts straight to a campus backdrop where we are introduced to two groups of students who are at loggerheads. Mohanlal’s character, professor Michael Idicula lands at the scene with the suspension of the vice-principal. The actual core plot takes off with his arrival, which brings a change in the mindset of the students.

A movie’s base in always it’s script and here, scenarist Benny P Nayarambalam has failed to deliver a quality product. Velipadinte Pusthakam stands on a shaky base which which keeps pulling down the movie despite the presence of stalwarts like Mohanlal and Lal Jose at the helm of things. The lack of depth in the screenplay gives the feel of a half baked product. Lal Jose has managed to get on board some fine young talents but most of their characters do not have any scope for performance.

Mohanlal, as always, has done his part well and stands tall among the host of other supporting actors. While seasoned actors like Anoop Menon Siddique and Chemban Vinod were impressive, youngsters like Anna Reshma, ‘Appani Ravi’ Sarath Kumar and Arun Kurian looked out of place.

In the technical side, Vishnu Sarma’s cinematography and Shaan Rahman’s music were perfectly in sync. Editing could have much better with less usage of slow-motion shots during the action sequences.

Overall, Velipadinte Pusthakam could not live up to the expectations that a Mohanlal-Lal Jose combo evoked. It has come out as a totally disappointing experience for the common audience.