‘Enkilum Chandrike’ movie review: The humour falls flat in this old-fashioned tale

Despite having a cast full of proven performers such as Suraj Venjaramoodu and Basil Joseph, the lack of material to support their effort is evident

The film’s title might have the name of a woman, but Enkilum Chandrike is about men; some, eager to get married, and others, trying hard to foil the marriage plans of one of their friends. It’s quite evident that debutant director Adithyan Chandrasekhar isn’t a creator with lofty aims, but someone who had set out to make an average, light-hearted entertainer. But, when you aim for average, you are bound to end up somewhere below par, and that happens to be the case with Enkilum Chandrike.

Abhi (Saiju Kurup), Kiran (Basil Joseph) and Amal (Aswin Vijayan) are in a state of shock after hearing about the marriage of their fellow club member Bibeesh (Abhiram Radhakrishnan). All of them are perplexed by the secrecy that their friend is maintaining around the marriage, prompting them to dig deeper. They decide to do everything in their power to stop the marriage, when they learn about the identity of the bride, Chandrika (Niranjana Anoop). Much confusion ensues as the senior-most club member Pavithran (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is also working towards the same goal, with the intention of marrying Chandrika’s sister Sujina (Tanvi Ram).

Adithyan Chandrasekhar is known for conceiving multiple web series with fresh themes, especially the successful Average Ambili. However, in Enkilum Chandrik, which he has scripted along with Arjun Narayanan, he sticks to telling an old-fashioned story in an old-fashioned manner. The typical tropes one would find in such a film are also present; everything from an imaginary village to an arts club where the protagonists congregate, and not to mention, the friendly and kind-hearted villagers. It is a throwback to the milieu which was the staple in Malayalam films from the 1990s.

The makers have toyed with a wafer-thin storyline, milking all the possible jokes out of this scenario. But unfortunately for them, only some of them work. Despite having such a star-studded cast full of proven performers, the lack of material to support their effort is evident. Even Basil Joseph, who has hardly had a below-par performance, struggles with the attempted humour here. His character of an aspiring filmmaker — who draws inspiration from all around and messes up when he tries it out on his own — could have been so much more if those jokes had actually worked.

Though it was a breath of fresh air to see Suraj Venjaramoodu in a mildly humourous role after a slew of serious characters, he doesn’t really have much to do. Newcomer Aswin Vijayan, on the other hand, makes an impression with some of his gags. But, both the female characters get sidelined in what (in the end) becomes a tale of male bonding and envy.

Enkilum Chandrike is currently running in theatres