Readers Write In #676: Malaikottai Vaaliban (2024) Review: Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Thrilling Epic Action Drama

By Vikas Yadav

Malaikottai Vaaliban is filled with circular images. It opens with the shot of two donkeys moving in circles. A few minutes later, the camera focuses on a wheel that (temporarily) gets stuck on a path due to some rocks. We also see a man who rotates his mace above his head in a circular motion. Moreover, the villagers stand in a circle around the titular character (played by Mohanlal). Unsurprisingly, then, that mace-wielding man is defeated with a cloth that Vaaliban ties around his neck by moving in…circles. But this circular thing is not just limited to the visuals. You can also find it in that scene where Vaaliban and a woman are seen lying on a round-shaped bed together, and the woman narrates a story that brings us back to this image of these two characters resting on the bed.   

If Malaikottai Vaaliban had been made by a pretentious filmmaker, we would have just passed our time by spotting such patterns. Director Lijo Jose Pellissery, however, offers us the pleasure of experiencing a story and observing colorful visuals. He has tight control over his scenes, and his characters clearly look like pawns. This is not a complaint, however. Pellissery’s films work best when his military-like control, his sharp directorial precision are in service of an equally calculated material. This matching of style and substance gives rise to hypnotic rewards. I like most of the movies made by this director, though Churuli is my favorite. Only Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam doesn’t work because its dream-like atmosphere conflicts with the film’s rigid style. You feel as if Pellissery himself is detached from his work. 

But Malaikottai Vaaliban once again gives us the Pellissery who has the power to excite us with his vision. While watching the movie, you wonder if Pellissery was inspired by Zack Snyder (the inspirations here range from Sholay to Star Wars). For starters, the slow-motion technique is used in abundance. It imbues a sense of mythic grandness in the images (the scenes become so slow that at one point when Vaaliban lifts the bars of a cell to defend him and his friends, you get sufficient time to wonder why don’t the enemies just insert their spears in the gap present between the rods to injure this warrior). Pellissery uses slow motion better than Snyder. Malaikottai Vaaliban is also a better comic book movie than any of the recent Snyder productions. The frames seem to be directly plucked from the comic book pages. They are lively and colorful and make you as giddy as a kid who first encounters the world of graphic novels. 

The actors here are so good that you accept everything about their characters without making any fuss. A superb Mohanlal wears the face of a brawny, confident warrior. This man has fought with many people. He knows how to handle his opponents, which is why he looks calm inside the ring while the other person huffs and puffs and shows off. The women – Sonalee Kulkarni as Rangapattinam Rangarani and Katha Nandi as Jamanthi – come with sensual sparks. It’s easy to believe that men will fight over these characters or fall in love with them at once. Jamanthi and Chinnappayyan’s (Manoj Moses) romance turns out to be too pure for this violent world. Hence, it meets a tragic conclusion. Danish Sait is a comedian, but as Chamathakan, he gives you no reason to laugh. His monster-like gleeful cackle fills you with hatred towards this villain. 

I saw some posts in a Facebook group, and they were all along the lines of, “This film has stunning images and nothing else.” Someone even commented that he didn’t understand what was happening in the film. Have we lost patience with films that try to deviate from the conventional patterns? Have bad movies destroyed our appetite for watching something, um, non-traditional? Many shots in Malaikottai Vaaliban are held for an extended period. The director doesn’t overly rely on short multiple cuts to show one scene from various angles. So when people observe one (beautiful) frame for a long duration and come out thinking that the movie is merely about one man going from one place to another to fight other men (and a woman), we get to hear banal criticisms like, “Eh, it’s all style over substance.” 

Sure, Malaikottai Vaaliban is about a warrior who defeats many opponents, and yes, it has beautiful frames. But Pellissery embellishes his story with grand, magnificent touches that reignite our enthusiasm for folktales. Thunderstorms appear in the sky when a character utters Vaaliban’s name. At one point, the sun is confined between the fingers of Vaaliban. Of course, the movie is not perfect. The fight sequences initially only give you “cool motions.” There is no energy in them. But I completely surrendered to this film when I saw a queen firing a circle of canons (I told you, the movie is filled with circular images). It’s a wild symphony of violence. 

Vaaliban is a powerful man sans arrogance. He doesn’t tell anyone to wash his feet. Instead, when he drinks arrack, the liquid flows down his body and cleans his legs. Here is a warrior who doesn’t need to be put on a pedestal. He is already standing there.