Mollywood Times Movie Review: Mollywood's warts are an interesting theme, but in a tiresome narrative

Story: Vineeth Madhavan is confident that he can be the youngest and one of the most brilliant directors the Malayalam industry has ever seen, but when he starts his projects, there are several hurdles that Mollywood puts in his wayReview: Abhinav Sunder Nayak's Mukundan Unni Associates in 2022 was such a fresh, new idea for Malayalam cinema, that the debut director was recognised as a talent to watch out for. He shows that he’s not afraid to keep doing something different much like the lead character of his new film, Mollywood Times, who aspires to gain glory by making horror movies such as the Malayalam industry has never seen before. Naslen plays Vineeth Madhavan, who, from childhood, has had the single-minded aim to be the youngest and greatest film director that the Malayalam industry has seen. He wants to do this through brilliant storytelling and excellent technical skills in the horror genre. And while he has the ambition, talent, dedication, discipline and the support of family and friends, which, according to popular wisdom, would be a sureshot route to success, Vineeth is faced with unexpected hurdles. So Vineeth, right in front of our eyes, grows from an overconfident teen to a struggling cynic to a fighter determined to make his dream film that will wow audiences, while combating plagiarism, fickle industry friendships and rivalries, and other Mollywood warts. Naslen morphs amazingly from a schoolboy to a young man in the narrative and carries the film with his trademark charming energy. Sangeeth Pratap and Sharafudeen, who play industry rivals, also match the vibe of the film perfectly.Abhinav, who co-wrote it with Ramu Sunil, gives a refreshingly real take on the struggles in life. Refreshing because, while it could have easily slipped into bleakness, the writers keep the narrative upbeat and the hero never considers giving up on his dreams or really compromising on his principles.So the ideas are compelling, but the storytelling begins to feel muddled, particularly in the second half. The several hurdles that come in the way of Vineeth’s dreams are solely from Mollywood’s peculiar manner of functioning and it gets tiresome. The bits on SC/ST privilege feel surprisingly tone deaf and needless.Also, the film strangely seems never-ending; you almost wonder if it might be as long as Dhurandhar! But while it could do with some major cutting at the writing stage, and sometimes the flow seems slow, the film travels along unpredictable paths and keeps the audience engaged and amused.