With its virtuous intentions and inherent honesty Ividam Swargamanu is a gutsy and good attempt by Rosshan Andrews and script writer James Albert to bring about a change.
The film talks about a crisis situation that happens in the life of a farmer who loves his land and is committed to thwart evil designs of the land mafia.
Rosshan and James has dealt with a topical subject about fly by night real estate dealers who are trying to push up land prices and forcing people to convert farmland into real estate and resorts.
Mohanlal has been shown as a green farmer who cultivates organic vegetables and runs his farm using traditional methods and thereby director Rosshan Andrrews has tried to bring in some difference.
But the immediate feeling that one gets while coming out of the theatres after watching the film is that things could have been even better with a tighter script.
The story meanders almost aimlessly especially during the first half but things get more interesting during the second half. The last 20 minutes of the film is what holds it together.
Mathews (Mohanlal) has become a farmer by choice and has set up a rather impressive farm. He is a chronic bachelor, who is a nice human being and very attached to his family especially his father Jeremiah (Thilakan).
A wealthy land grabber Aluva Chandy (Lalu Alex) wants to purchase Mathews land and he convinces the villagers that a big township will be set up there.
Now the story gets some pace and Mathews has to deal almost singlehandedly with the “real estate mafia” and the corrupt system. When the going gets tough, he decides to use some wily tactics to handle Chandy.
It is Prabalan (Sreenivasan), a lawyer who has been appointed as the ‘amicus curiae’ in the case, who helps Mathews in this.
As the common man who is no invincible superhero and with his heart in the right place, its vintage Mohanlal looking refreshingly good as Mathews.
His on-screen chemistry with seasoned actors like Thilakan, Sreenivasan and Jagathy Sreekumar is a treat to watch Lalu Alex has come up with one of the best performances in his career, as the wealthy, scheming but idiotic Aluva Chandy.
There are three heroines in the story, Betsy (Priyanka Nair), a channel reporter, Sunitha (Lakshmi Rai), a lawyer and Maria (Lakshmi Gopalaswany), the manager of the State Financial Corporation, who have done their brief roles pretty well.
The rest of the cast like Thilakan, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Sukumari has nothing much to do, as the whole story is centred on Mathews and his agonies.
The story reminds us of the last year Bollywood hit Khosla ka Ghosla at times, especially during the latter part of the second half. But one gets the feeling that if the whole story was paced like those moments in the climax, then the film would perhaps have been in a better shape. At around two hours and forty five minutes, the film is a bit too lengthy as well.
James Albert, who has earlier written films like Classmates and Cycle, has succeeded this time, in parts. Rosshan Andrrews, who made Udayananu Tharam and Note Book earlier, has tried in bring in some freshness to the theme.
Divakar's camera and Gopi Sundar's background score in this film which has no songs.
For those who are looking for something different, Ividam Swargamanu scores with the sincerity in the subject that is being told.
It's definitely far being called perfect, but there are some moments in it that makes the film a worthy watch. Time to grab a pack of popcorn and to head to the cinemas.
Verdict: Good
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