Hallo is pedestrian fare

Jithin Arts produces "Hallo" starring Mohanlal and scripted and directed by Rafi- Mecartin. To start with, I have never been a big fan of the Rafi- Mecartin brand of humor. Whatever tall claims the duo may try making, they are the ones, along with the likes of Shafi, Benny P Nayaramblam and Uday- Sibi who brought about double meaning humor to Malayalam Cinema. We have always made good comedies- ones which were decent, ones which were close to life and reality and ones which we can remember for generations. But, apart from Punjabi House and Thenkashipattanam, none of Rafi- Mecartin's comedies would figure in that list. The others were made by experts like Sathyan Anthicaud, Sreenivasan, Priyadarshan and Siddique- Lal. With every passing film, Rafi- Mecartin seem to be losing the little bit of magic that they had. Their previous directorial venture, if I remember right, was the immensely irritating "Pandippada" which did not have even a single scene or dialogue worth remembering. The script of Hallo is nothing better. It is saved from being a complete disaster by Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar though. Hallo is the story of Advocate Sivaraman (Mohanlal) who is a full time alcoholic, thanks to his parents (Janardhanan and Fathima Babu) and younger brother (K B Ganesh Kumar) who did not allow him marry the girl of his choice (Samvrutha Sunil), who eventually is brutally killed. Sivaraman roams around from one bar to another and it is Chandi (Jagathy Sreekumar), his friend who brings him back every time he goes missing. Sivaraman receives a call on his mobile from Parvathy (Parvathy Milton), a rich heiress, who is being targeted by her money hungry relatives and he decides to save her. From here on, life is one big ride for Sivaraman and how he successfully tackles all obstacles that comes his way and saves Parvathy and her family from the villains is what the rest of the movie is about. To start with, Hallo lacks a plausible story- line and it is so very difficult to relate to what is happening on screen because everything looks made up and unrealistic. The script goes haywire and the dialogues are pointless, save a few good one liners here and there. Technically too, there is nothing extra ordinary about the movie. Even the music department helmed by Alex Paul fails to deliver. New comer Parvathy Milton lacks screen presence and talent and she will easily pass off as a one film wonder. Siddique with his bald plate looks different but has little to do. Veteran actor Madhu just comes and goes. Suraj Venjarammoodu irritates while Jagathy Sreekumar entertains. The rest of the cast just pass muster. Mohanlal is at ease playing the drunkard, but starts looking lost while the movie progresses. However, there is no doubt that had it not been for the talented actor, the audience would have definitely stayed away from this movie. Malayalam has produced excellent comedies in the past and Hallo cannot be compared to any of those. The movie is apparently, running to packed houses probably because of the charisma of Mohanlal. In my opinion, such movies should not be encouraged since these only serve to bring down the standards of Malayalam Cinema. I would remember Hallo for one reason though- the funny ring tones of the mobile phones appearing in the film.