"Njan Samvidhanam Cheyum", labelled as the comeback of Malayalam director Balachandra Menon after seven years, has been tagged as a film filled with cliches and a bit preachy at times.
The film, released on Saturday 19 September, after the dispute between Film Exhibitors' Federation and Distribution Association in Kerala was solved, opened to average responses.
The 2 hour 40 minute film deals with the story of a middle-aged man named Krishna Das, played by Balachandra Menon. He resigns from the National Film Development Corporation to become a director and his efforts to direct a film forms the crux of "Njan Samvidhanam Cheyum".
The film has Gayathri and Dakshina in the female lead roles along with yesteryear stars Shankar, Menaka Suresh and Raveendran in key roles.
Check out the review roundup of "Njan Samvidhanam Cheyum" below:
"Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum's tagline 'a typical Balachandra Menon film' doesn't quite do justice to the film. Films with familiar themes had tasted success in recent times thanks to the way they were presented and that's where Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum falls short. The frames are lifeless and sometimes repetitive. The movie could been a bit crisper and less tedious with some tight editing."
"To say honestly the film was really a torture for the viewers as it had nothing in it to entertain. Whatever it has some undercooked social satire type scenes (they intended like that may be) specially related to cinema and all. The performances from actors was terrible as well except from that of Renji Panicker who as usual made his role looks convincing.
"Songs are also below average and one song was fairly good. Some scenes where intended to bring out the underplays in state award judging but that too was presented carelessly and without any conviction.
"On the whole Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum is a mediocre effort from Balachandra Menon whose name was once the word of trust among family audience.
"A making style that competes with mediocre short films and a script that has unbearable amount of clichés; this movie won't give you a chance to think that it has significance. If you want to test someone's patience, go and watch the film Njan Samvidhaanam Cheyyum with them. The movie is 160 minutes long and it will seem like you were inside the cinema hall for the entire day."
"Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum is a confident statement, and nothing more. It is a very personal movie from a director who had gone through diverse stages in his life. Even though the director drops the souls of the script somewhere in the middle of the movie, Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum has a heart still beating at the end. The movie lacks old Menon magic, but, it announces that Menon is still here, vigorously."
