‘Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil’ movie review: Prithviraj and Basil Joseph’s humorous bromance loses steam halfway through

With ‘Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil,’ director Vipin Das gives us a mindless fun ride with hardly a pause in between, thanks to his two lead actors, but the film finally ends up as average fare

At the heart of Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil lies an unusual relationship not explored to such extents on screen in the past: the bonding between two prospective brother-in-laws. Although all the the over-the-top portrayals gives one the feeling of something cooked up just for the purpose of the rich humour that such a pair can produce, it somehow works in the context of this movie.

The novel flavour of this bromance, to an extent, drives what is packaged as a mindless fun ride with hardly a pause in between. So, it is no wonder that when this bromance loses steam halfway through the proceedings, the film also loses its way a bit. Yet, it is pure fun as long as it lasts. For Vinu (Basil Joseph), still struggling to recover from a breakup which happened five years ago, his prospective brother-in-law Anandan (Prithviraj) becomes a brother, friend and guiding light, all rolled into one, so much so that he spends more time speaking with him over the phone than with his fiancée Anjali (Anaswara Rajan).

Although appearing to be the more level-headed of the two, Anandan is also not at a good place in his life, and not on talking terms with his wife Parvathy (Nikhila Vimal). Vinu’s attempts to set things right for Anandan has some hilarious consequences. Humour remains the most potent weapon yet again for filmmaker Vipin Das, just like it was in his previous outing Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, although here it does not serve any larger message; rather, it is humour for the sake of it. Deepu Pradeep, who scripted Kunjiramayanam and Periloor Premier League has written some laugh-out-loud exchanges as well as lines that draw laughs just due to their outright silliness.

Humour is really not one of Prithviraj’s strong points, but here his combination with Basil, having a natural knack for comedy, works well to an extent. With the bromance in the spotlight, Anaswara and Nikhila get only just enough screen time to register their presence. The sidekicks, played by Siju Sunny and Saafboi, achieve what was expected of them, but Yogi Babu does not have much to do.

The film is replete with references, right from Nandanam to Godfather and Grihapravesham, which incidentally starts off with a wedding mixup at Guruvayoor (involving Jagadeesh and Rekha, who plays Anaswara’s parents here). Not to forget, the context in which they use the popular Azhagiya Laila song from the 1990s.

In what appears to be a gamble, the scriptwriter reveals the central conflict quite early on into the film. It turns out to be hasty as the film struggles to sustain interest beyond the halfway point, despite all the gags that follow one after the other. Later, it attempts to sustain itself on a series of mixups reminiscent of old Priyadarshan films and with the introduction of new characters, some of which does not pay off.

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, which initially rides high on the novelty of the bromance and their humorous exchanges, finally ends up as quite average fare.