MaranaMass
Introduction
The tide is turning for the Malayalam Film Industry yet again with respect to the genre it is catering to. If it was the ‘Thriller’ genre that was ruling the roosts a while back, films like Bromance, Alappuzha Gymkhana or even the recently released film Padakkalam have ensured that the industry doesn’t lose sight of the ‘Comedy’ genre. And that is the sign of an industry that understands itself meticulously, almost being self-aware of how it was getting repetitive while unleashing a flurry of releases that are away from the then popular genre. And the Vishu release, Maranamass tags itself to a variation of this genre by dishing up a drama that is a black comedy. From the structural standpoint, the film reminded me of last year’s Malayalam film Kishkindha Kaandam (2024), purely because the first act did not quite have a hook with respect to its central conflict (and that isn’t such a bad thing either). But as the drama progresses, it ends up being a tale of two halves with the curse of the second half setting in, to make the drama partly sluggish. But thank god for the Motley group of performers who somehow hold things together, ending up saving the day for the film.
Story & Screenplay
The scattered cold open (in a good way) cannot be denied in Maranamass. There is a serial killer on the loose using an inanimate Banana as a tool for his murder, a local sigma male who riles up the public for his highs, a local bus conductor awaiting the return of his father for 20 years, a cop more concerned in looking for his missing pet dog rather than tracking down the serial killer, a bus driver who us finally on the cusp of being married after previous 21 failed attempts, and a very specific family featuring a grandma (and her son) who “gifts” a pepper spray to her granddaughter owing to a serial killer on the loose. In any given context, this Motley group of characters could feature in an Agatha Christie classic, or in a Bollywood-ized version called Housefull 5! But this ain’t that tale.
The underlying theme of Maranamass remains that of a misadventure or chaos. If it was the Malayalam film Nunakkuzhi (2024) last year, it is Maranamass this year (and incidently both are headed by Minimum Guarantee “Breakout” Star Basil Joseph). These are the kind of films that have heavy references from the Priyadarshan or Siddique-Lal brand of comedies, invariably bringing all characters under one roof. The “roof” here is a moving bus where an unassuming crime takes place. But the novelty in the first hour is much to do with the drama that builds up towards the central event. The serial killer goosechase is essentially branched out with respect to three characters – Luke (Basil Joseph), a blonde haired Tik-Toker resembling non-conformist sigma male is more of a suspect due to his wacky looks and antics that have made the folks of the town root for him. Keshava Kurup (Puliyanam Poulose) is an elderly nymphomaniac (“Tharki” in Hindi) who is known to grope women under his naive elderly guise (and sent to an Old Age home for this very reason), invariably also is being tracked. But the actual serial killer (Rajesh Madhavan) is living an isolated life as a school teacher SK (lol, don’t miss the acronym of his name that literally stands for ‘Serial Killer’). And in many ways, the twisted setup of the drama is an anti-thesis of sorts given that it is a naive-looking Jessy (Anishma Anilkumar) that finds herself in the middle of a crime that was unwittingly committed.
There is a definite freshness to the drama even when it chooses to relish on its silliness, with all characters stationed under one-roof. The mood swings are palpable from a frivolous setup to a tense followup and later a mad gate-crash, almost all in sync with the looney tone of the drama. This also extends in the form of a social commentary with respect to the media circus around the serial killer, or the plight of the cops ignoring the ‘actual’ serial killer and going after innocent lives, or even a political party choosing the corpse-ridden vehicle as their means of transport. Even the shift in the setting to a graveyard evokes a sense of laughter with a couple indulging in ‘Save The Date’ photoshoot in the middle of the night, thereby the motley group in disposing the “body”. The interactions and character dynamics are immensely funny in the first hour leading up to a revelation out of nowhere at the halfway mark. But this is also where the drama comes to a screeching halt.
The main issue that I had with the writing was on how safe it turned out to be in the second hour. It almost felt like an accidental misfire that stemmed out of its own ability to shoot itself in the foot. If this was a game of football, the term used would have been a ‘self goal’. The reason being that the gags are repetitive and the tonality is skewed, at times deviating into an emotional spree out of nowhere when the actual need of the hour was to amp up the fun quotient in the drama. There are momentary moments of relief with plot-points involving Luke discovering the lost pet, or a couple of funny meta-references to Malayalam films like Ponman (2025) or Marco (2024), but the stutter was evident along with a sense of lethargy. Unlike a Priyadarshan comedy that literally hits the roof in the second hour (generally speaking and not counting Hungama 2 (2021)), the fun quotient remained on mid to low levels, slightly elevated during its final act that slightly contributes to saving the day. And that summed up the screenplay that remained a contrasting tale of two halves resulting in a mixed bag at the end (a similar issue that I had with Pravinkoodu Shappu (2025) too).
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are witty with several pop-cultural references that felt like a tonal extension of the drama itself. The lines are funny and sprinkled with meta-references that hit the sweet spot more often than not. The music is pretty good too even as the BGM is in overdrive mode to extract the nuances in the screenplay. It was pretty evident that the BGM was designed to highlight the inherent comedy in the drama (not that it is a problem though), and to be honest, it did its job in elevating a handful of scenes. The cinematography is excellent too comprising of frames that create an ambience of a dark comedy wonderfully well. The minor issue for me with respect to the frames though was more to do with the drama unfolding over a single night, that limited the depth of the frames to an extent. And so, maybe some neon lights of different colours that could have used just to break to monotonous palate of colour grading with an intention to counter the flaw. The editing is excellent in the first hour but allows lags to creep in, in the second hour thereby resulting in a mixed bag. The film could have been trimmed by atleast 15 minutes for a tighter watch. Director Sivaprasad definitely showcases enough skills to tell me that he knows his job pretty well. He handled the hard part of the script really well by handling characters and maintaining a firm grip on the drama. But he does falter in the second hour when the stakes needed to be raised. It was probably a case of co-writer Siju Sunny and Sivaprasad himself, lessening the impact of Sivaprasad the director. You could take your pick, even as the direction remains impressive in parts but seldom hitting the sweet spot, overall.
Performances
The performances are pretty good by the members of the cast although not all actors get a proper character arc to play with. Pooja Mohanraj and Joemon Jyothir are hilarious as the couple in the graveyard and both of them left me chuckling to bits. Dheeraj Denny as Sumesh, Nadira Mehrin and Jeo Baby have their moments to shine. Prasanth Alexander and Babu Antony exhibit different shades of varied craziness as the two cops, and both manage to leave a mark. Puliyanam Poulose as Keshava is clearing seen having a blast, and he invariably makes you chuckle even with respect to the fate that he incurs. Anishma Anilkumar as Jessy has a solid screen presence and she remains quite earnest and sincere with her act. Siju Sunny as Aruvi and Suresh Krishna as Jikku are wonderful to witness and maintain lasting contributions in the drama, although the writing of their characters remained sketchy while never quite going beyond the standard traits that they were introduced with. Rajesh Madhavan as SK is a revelation – partly looney, partly intimidating and a complete laugh-riot. He was excellent to the core here. Basil Joseph has got to be that one actor who is the most versatile in recent times. He can be the looney cop in Pravinkoodu Shappu (2025), the helplessly frivolous yet toughened money lender in Ponman (2025), and an out and out trippy character as Luke here who is completely a non-conformist even with his actions that invariably results in a bout of laughter. The marijuana sequence is particularly impressive because the writing wasn’t pitch perfect, but it was the antics of Luke that really kept me invested in the moment. And keeping that in mind, the talented motley cast do save the day to a very large extent even when the writing falls a little short.
Conclusion
Maranamass boasts of an exceptional cast that saves the day in a contrasting tale of two halves. It sizzles then fizzles but still remains firmly watchable due to a brilliant Motley cast. Available on SonyLiv.
