BETHLEHEM KUDUMBA UNIT Review - Very good first half of this feel-good flick makes it a decent outing!

Ashwin Ram

Premise: Nivin Pauly in mid 30s is uninterested in marriage due to the passing away of his ex-girlfriend a decade back. Finally after all these years, he moves on as his next-door girl Mamitha Baiju who is studying in college falls for him.

Writing/ Direction:  Nivin Pauly is living his routine life of owning a catering service, Mamitha Baiju moves in to his next-door and they both eventually fall in love. The fact that she feels lonely for leaving her hometown and has come to a new livelihood gets registered strongly. She gradually mingles with the set of people here and is presented well through neat filmmaking and a fine performance from her. The scenes in the first half are lively with ample space for fun, Sangeeth Prathap’s world provides the entertainment. The pre-interval segment is the best, mutual admiration grows between the lead pair through the initial hour, and they both confessing their feelings for each other is such a beautiful situation. While the screenplay is engaging till the halfway mark and we have a valuable age-gap plot too. But just like Vishwanath And Sons, a film with similar core conflict which we saw last week, here too the focus is missing on the main issue in the later half. There are plenty of subplots and an episode at Goa, these portions don’t come together naturally within the script, also the fun drastically gets reduced. It wasn't so boring, but nothing special took place. The unnecessary stage drama sequence that carried a lot of exaggeration further deteriorated the overall output. Thankfully the final act is worthy, somehow the chemistry between Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju sticks tightly and makes us root for them, which keeps the momentum alive till the end.

Performances:  Time and again, Mamitha Baiju proves that she is a superstar, she has all the qualities to be called so. Her realistic presence and lively expressions carry the film exceptionally well. Nivin Pauly is cute too, plays his age and is natural on-screen. Sangeeth Prathap’s hilarious body language clicks along with some well-directed comedy moments.

Technicalities: Songs are decent, but a light-hearted flick as such deserved more. The background score is pleasant, goes well with the situations and enhances them. Neat and colourful camera work, perfectly suits the feel-good tone of the subject. Seamless scene transitions in many places, sharp first half with so many lags post that.

Verdict: Simple and an accessible romantic subject that has such a sweet first hour where the presence and chemistry of the lead artists so well. The latter loses focus that could have been so much better, has a nice finale, but is nowhere near being a fulfilling one.

BETHLEHEM KUDUMBA UNIT - Very good first half of this feel-good flick makes it a decent outing!

Rating - 2.75/ 5.