Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Mohan Kumar Fans movie review: Even Kunchacko Boban cannot lift this film out of its extreme ordinariness
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Mohan Kumar Fans movie review: Even Kunchacko Boban cannot lift this film out of its extreme ordinariness

Mohan Kumar Fans movie review: Even Kunchacko Boban cannot lift this film out of its extreme ordinariness

Anna MM Vetticad • May 25, 2021, 14:29:59 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

In its scrutiny of how the glamour world discards artists as soon as their hits dry up, Mohan Kumar Fans does not have a sliver of a fresh thought.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Mohan Kumar Fans movie review: Even Kunchacko Boban cannot lift this film out of its extreme ordinariness

Language: Malayalam Stories set in film industries have attracted cinephiles across the world for decades. Clearly audiences cannot get enough of the personal battles of larger-than-life stars and behind-the-scenes drama in gossamer land.   Any script situated in tinseltown has formidable shoes to fill since so much has been said already and so well. Can you match up to the creativity or grand pathos of The Artist (French/2011), an account of an arrogant superstar’s failed transition from the silent era to talkies and its aftermath? Can you achieve the tricky blend of lightness and  poignance struck by Hollywood in 2016’s global blockbuster La La Land about a young woman’s struggles to get a foot in the door? Do you have the courage of Mahanati (Telugu/2018) that placed the spotlight on flawed real-life legends who betrayed a colleague? Do you have something to say that has not already been said?   At first, the answer appears to be yes for Mohan Kumar Fans. The eponymous protagonist (Siddique) was once a star before he “got washed away in the flood caused by the advent of Mohanlal and Mammootty”, as an elderly gentleman explains to a youngster early on. This description is an instant hook.   The narrative kicks off with Mohan Kumar’s comeback after three decades away from the arclights. His new release is doing well at the box-office when commercial considerations intervene in its fate.   [caption id=“attachment_9654001” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]Siddiqui plays Mohan Kumar. YouTube Siddique plays Mohan Kumar. YouTube[/caption] On another track, Krishnanunni (Kunchacko Boban) works as a driver for a producer called Prakash (Mukesh), with the goal of building connections in the film industry while on the job. He is an aspiring singer.   On a third track is the unscrupulous rising star Krupesh (Vinay Forrt).   Debutant Anarkali Nazar’s name is announced with fanfare in the credits, but she is a faint presence in Mohan Kumar Fans’ male universe. Sreekutty, the character she plays, is defined by her ties to the men: she is Mohan’s daughter, Krishnanunni’s singing partner and (Spoiler alert) an object of Krupesh’s interest. (Spoiler alert ends)   Any promise held out by the film’s premise is soon swept away by a high tide of ordinariness. The story is drab and lacks ideas, which is confounding since it is by Bobby and Sanjay who are among the names credited for kickstarting the New New Wave of Malayalam cinema. Jis Joy, who has written the screenplay and dialogues in addition to directing Mohan Kumar Fans, has a reasonably good track record too. His last film for one, _Vijay Superum Pournamiyum_ was unusual and fun.   In its scrutiny of how the glamour world discards artists as soon as their hits dry up, Mohan Kumar Fans does not have a sliver of a fresh thought. The hero’s thread in the story is maudlin and dull. The reason why his comeback film is prematurely pulled out of theatres tells us something about the functioning of his industry, but twists of fate that follow have nothing to do with his profession – they include Mohan not checking the Internet in time to find out about a crucial event, a courier package being delayed and stuff being misplaced due to someone’s carelessness. Bleh. The project Krishnanunni undertakes to lift Mohan’s spirits is silly and unoriginal. And the emotionally over-wrought finale is as manipulative as a formulaic soap.   [caption id=“attachment_9653931” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]Kunchacko Boban plays Krishnanunni. YouTube Kunchacko Boban plays Krishnanunni. YouTube[/caption] Even a run-of-the-mill venture has to be challenged when it makes light of violence, as Mohan Kumar Fans does albeit in passing. When a man in the film says he brutally beat his wife, the scene is given a comedic tone via the expressions on his listeners’ faces and the intonation of the background music.   Malayalam cinema often normalises domestic violence , including marital rape , but a later scene of physical abuse in Mohan Kumar Fans is not the routine in Mollywood. Prakash slaps a junior in the presence of several people – as disturbing as the fact that the abuser is supposedly a nice guy, is that not an eyebrow is raised at his conduct and the victim himself is not shown to be angry. The portrayal of violence here is so casual that there’s no question of expecting an acknowledgement of the caste and class differentials that would be at play in a similar scenario in real life.   Hope for the film rears its head in the form of the deliciously cold Krupesh, and for a while he is entertaining. The initial gains with him are quickly lost though to  hyperbolic, caricaturish, one-dimensional characterisation. And the Vinay Forrt who was so hilarious in Premam and brilliant in both _Kismath_ and _Thamaasha_ , ends up seeming over-the-top here, a victim of immature writing. Siddique is just okay as the titular lead while Kunchacko, whose pleasant personality usually lifts even bad films, is bland. Krishnanunni’s introductory scene has him, a Hindu, training a church choir, which the script uses as an opportunity to slip in a message on humanity being above religion through the medium of a Christian priest.   The next time Mohan Kumar Fans tries to offer a lesson is when a voiceover says that awards matter little. Jis Joy shows a lack of commitment to this stand though when visuals of actual Malayalam actors accepting awards follow the VO. Ummm. Okay.     For the record, this film is not the worst in recent years to be set in Mollywood. That distinction goes to Balachandra Menon’s cringe-worthily awful Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum. Mohan Kumar Fans is not cringe-worthy. The word for it is ordinary. Rating: 1 (out of 5 stars) After a brief theatrical run during the pandemic, Mohan Kumar Fans is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Tags
BuzzPatrol Movie review Buzz Patrol MovieReview Kunchacko Boban South Indian Movies SouthIndianMovies Mohan Kumar Fans movie review Mohan Kumar Fans
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV