Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil movie review: This Prithviraj Sukumaran, Basil Joseph-starrer is a total laugh riot

When there is a wedding, there are obviously several families involved, a tense bride and groom, friends who provide emotional support, and relatives and others trying to resolve the numerous issues that crop up as the wedding nears. Director Vipin Das’ Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil involves all that along with copious amounts of humour added to the proceedings. Also read | Aadujeevitham The Goat Life movie review: Prithviraj Sukumaran delivers extraordinary performance in Blessy directorial

The director’s previous film Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey also centred on marriage and was a black comedy but this one is a comedy drama that’s centred around Vinu Ramachandran’s (Basil Joseph) wedding.

The premise

Vinu works in Dubai and after suffering from a heart break-up for five years, he finally decides to get hitched. It is all thanks to his future brother-in-law Anandan, (Prithviraj Sukumaran) who constantly advises him to forget his ex-girlfriend Parvathy and marry his sister Anjali (Anaswara Rajan), that Vinu agrees to get hitched. As Vinu grows closer to Anjali, he develops a very strong bond with Anandan whom he considers an elder brother and confidante.

He soon learns that Anandan has had some issue in his marriage and as a return favour, convinces him to get back with his wife so they can all be one big happy family. However, fate seems to have others plans for both Vinu and Anandan and Vinu’s past life and wrongdoings come back to haunt him right before marriage. A shocking revelation throws their friendship and Vinu’s marriage in jeopardy and everything he touches turns to disaster. What is this revelation? And does Vinu finally get married to Anjali?

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil is a Vipin Das-directorial that has been written by Deepu Pradeep. Both the director and writer seem to be in complete sync as the comic caper they have delivered is a laugh riot, despite some of the cliches. Pradeep has written a wedding drama that has humour interwoven beautifully into the situations that arise at every turn. He establishes the comic factor right from the get go and as the film progresses you see various characters being slowly introduced to take the story forward. So if you have Yogi Babu at one point, then you have his office colleague at another.

The performances

While one may say there are too many characters at one point, it luckily doesn’t spoil the narrative of this wholesome family entertainer. As for Vipin Das, he has on board a talented cast who have made this film all the more festive thanks to their strong performances.

Prithviraj Sukumar, who is a co-producer on this project, comes off the back of his serious survival drama Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life) into this comedy drama. The role of Anandan requires perfect comic timing and expressions to suit the funny situations, and the talented Malayalam star has shown that he can deliver in such a role too. Prithviraj has tried to break out of stereotypes time and again and this film shows that he can not just essay roles with emotional depth but light-hearted ones as well. In fact, he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed playing Anandan in this film.

Final thoughts

In Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, Das has once again teamed up with Basil Joseph with whom he worked in his 2022 blockbuster, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey. Basil is known for his restrained performances where the humour comes off his expressions and dialogue delivery. And he is a delight as Vinu, someone who lacks confidence and believes he’s a lion though he’s just a cat. Nikhila Vimal and Anaswara Rajan have smaller but impactful roles while the rest of the large cast deliver what is required.

Music director Ankit Menon, who has worked with Vipin Das earlier, has scored the music for this film. He has combined some new age beats along with traditional music, like the wedding song. If we saw Ilaiyaraaja’s Tamil song from Guna (1991) being the highlight of the recent Manjummel Boys, in this film it is the Tamil song Azhagiya Laila from director Sundar C’s Ullathai Allitha (1996) that is the highlight.

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil is a complete laugh riot, coupled with splendid performances, that families will thoroughly enjoy. Prithviraj Sukumaran has another winner on his hands.