Minnal Murali Movie Review: Tovino Thomas, Guru Somasundaram's superhero film has an Indian heart

Director Basil Joseph's Minnal Murali is a perfect ode to superhero films set in a small village in Kerala. Backed by solid performances and a seamless screenplay, Minnal Murali is a fun watch.

Little Jaison (Tovino Thomas) is thrilled as he watches a play at the village carnival. As his eyes light up, a tragedy strikes. A freak fire claims several lives and Jaison himself is thrown away. But he sees his father being a real-life hero. That's exactly where Jaison gets his idea of superheroes from. As he grows up, he becomes a man-child with eccentric fashion sense. Helping out in his father's tailoring business, Jaison, just like every one of us, wants to go to the US in search of a better living.

One day, Jaison suffers heartbreak and a bolt of lightning strikes him. Not just him, Selvan (Guru Somasundaram), who works at a tea stall, gets struck as well. Both of them get superpowers. While one of them becomes the messiah of the masses, the other chooses a different path. What happens when the two face each other, forms the story.It's 2021, and we have so many superhero stories every year. From Batman to the very latest Spider-Man, we are introduced to several multiverses and franchises. While we always look up to Hollywood, Minnal Murali comes as a surprise. It's no less than these Hollywood superheroes. It is, in fact, a film that has the heart of a superhero flick, but uniquely is set in a village in Kerala.