It's no surprise that the 1990's are considered the golden age of Malayalam cinema. During this decade movies with comparatively smaller stars competed directly with movies with superstars and often the better movie became successful. This is very much in contrary to the 2000's where pretty much only superstar movies see success at the box office.
'Arjunan Pillayum Anchu Makkalum' is one of the 'average' movies from 1990's. One of those who you want to watch again and again. Yes, the 'average' movies of the 90's are much better than the best Malayalam movies in the present age. It does not have great storylines of family movies like 'Valsalyam' nor is it a comedy movie just made for dumb jokes. It manages to blend social issues and humour pretty.
The plot is simple. Arjunan(Innocent) is father to 4 daughters and one son. He care a bit too much for his son Ajayan(Baiju). He marries off his elder three daughters to loving but low paid men.
Simple enough,right? Well they have very well managed to turn this simple yet interesting plot to a fun filled movie with a good message at the end. You will laugh your heads off at most of the jokes. And unlike the jokes of movies nowadays, the jokes are very much in sync with the storyline.
The performances are amazing. Innocent is great as the son-biased Arjunan. Jagadeesh,the de facto hero of the movie, is flawless as Uthaman. Baiju is impeccable as the spoilt Ajayan. Charmila is pretty as Jayashree, the third daughter of Arjunan and wife of Uthaman. Jagathy Sreekumar and Harisree Ashokan star are the other in-laws of Arjunan. They are the source of the majority of the film's humour and they never fail to make you laugh. Kalpana and Bindu Panicker enact their roles with perfection although they could have been used better considering their comic capability. KPAC Lalitha is very much convincing as the loving yet helpless Sharada, Arjunan's wife. We find a unique villain in C.I Paul who is funny and hateful all at the same time.
So if you want to have a good time watching a movie ,then this is the movie for you. It has flaws but it is just too much fun for anyone to notice those.
