Urumi - Movie Review by Galatta.com

Producers :Prithviraj, Santosh Sivan
Cast : Prithviraj, Genelia, Prabhu Deva, Tabu, Vidya Balan, Nithya Menon, Arya
Director : Santosh Sivan
Music : Deepak Dev
Writer : Shankar Ramakrishnan
Editor : Sreekar Prasad
Cinematography : Santosh Sivan

Ace cinematographer turned director Santosh Sivan's magnum opus Urumi is one of the much-anticipated films in the recent times. The reasons are many. First, it's a multi-starrer with a bench of talented artistes including Prithviraj, Genelia, Prabhu Deva, Nithya Menon, Vidya Balan, Arya and Tabu. Second, it is a multi-lingual, being made in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English. Third, it has a whopping budget of more than Rs. 20 crores, making it the second most expensive Malayalam film ever made after Pazhassi Raja. Now, the question remains: Does it live up to the expectations and hype created so far? The answer is a big YES.

The film starts in the present day. Young Krishna Das (Prithviraj) and his friend (Prabhu Deva) are offered a huge amount by a big corporate for Krishna's ancestral property in Kerala. While he arrives in Kerala to sign the papers, Krishna Das is told some truths about the land and his ancestors in a flashback mode.

In the flashback, we see a brave warrior (Arya) who wants to kill Vasco Da Gama, the Viceroy of the Portuguese empire in India. But the warrior is brutally killed by the invaders and his son Chirakkal Kelu Naynar (Prithviraj) sets out to take revenge with a golden Urumi (flexible sword) that he makes with the ornaments of dead women and children who were burnt alive in a ship under the instructions from Vasco Da Gama.

Chirakkal Kelu Naynar is supported by his childhood Muslim buddy Vavvali (Prabhu Deva). In the journey to take revenge, Kelu meets warrior princess Ayesha (Genelia), who is also fighting against the invaders. Will they be able to kill Vasco Da Gama? This forms the rest of the film.

The main plus point of the movie is that though it is made as a period drama, Santosh Sivan has avoided too many talks and bombastic dialogues about freedom struggle and heroism. It gives a new insight into how ancient heroes thougt during crises. Coming to the performances, Prithviraj as Kelu is outstanding. Though it is a difficult role, he has come out with flying colours, especially in the climax. Prabhu Deva does comedy and romance with ease and the chat song with Nithya Menen http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifis superb. Genelia has shed her bubbly image to portray a warrior princess (nary a smile!) and her Kalaripayattu action scenes are thrilling.

On the technical side, the main highlight is the fabulous, intricately crafted script by Shankar Ramakrishnan, beautifully supported by Santhosh Sivan's brilliant cinematography. Music by Deepak Dev and Sreekar Prasad's editing without any gimmicks are impressive. All in all, go for Urumi. It is a must watch!

SOURCE : http://malayalam.galatta.com/entertainment/review/malayalam/reviewnews.asp?n=829671016