Of the 2 superhero movies I watched this weekend, the Marvel one, in an established universe, isn't my favorite. That's how good Minnal Murali is. Kudos to Basil Joseph for making a fantastic superhero origin story. I'm just happy that we finally have a proper superhero movie of our own (though, to be fair, 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota' was a decent attempt). Sushin Shyam's background score complements the movie perfectly, so do his and Shaan Rahman's songs. Tovino Thomas as Jaison/Minnal Murali is charming, funny, and 'superheroic', yet grounded. He captures the cockiness and vulnerability of Jaison in equal measure. The rest of the supporting cast is great as well.

As with most great superhero movies, it's the villain who steals the show. Guru Somasundaram as Shibu is innocent and menacing in equal parts. The writers, Arun Arindhan and Justin Mathew, play a tug of war with us getting us to sympathize and despise him when least expected.

The VFX is a bit below par, but that is to be expected given the budget. The story does lag at times, but the good parts more than make up it.

The small homages to Superman and Batman are nice touches.

I sincerely hope that #MinnalMurali teaches Indian creators that superhero movies are more than just heavy VFX and awesome fights and encourages them to wade into the genre.

You'll feel a sense of wicked delight originating from the cinematic social milieu that Basil Joseph is so known to masterfully create as you sit down in your living room and watch Baiju and Rajesh Madhavan in their policemen characters waiting in a "thattukada" for a man to give him an earful, perhaps a handful. The man is a poovalan who's supposed to come down to a bus stop to meet his girlfriend. That deed may or may not happen but that is not the point of this fantastic sequence that introduces almost everyone in the film that needs an introduction.

It is therefore this world-building that I want to point out that makes Minnal Murali (Lightning Murali, Mister Murali) a fresh wave into the Malayalam cinema. With equal weightage given to the primary and secondary characters (especially the central duo) and a weaving plot that experiences starting trouble but soon takes off, Minnal Murali maintains a steady pace with a mix of dry humour, heavy drama, and scattered social commentary. None of these take centrestage though as the story evolves into a bona fide superhero template that still doesn't feel trite. The background score and surprisingly well-done VFX were the highlights for me as I sat down being enthralled by the sheer magic in the way the story is written.

Minnal Murali has heralded the superhereo genre with the punch that it demanded and I for one am riding the happy wave. More than anything, this is clever cinema, one that makes you marvel at all the tiny and larger bits of writing that make up this jubilant confluence. Something that you can use to forego the cliched shadow that hangs over the plot sore. You can't miss how the story evolves at a meandering pace, narrating the origin of the evil and the good equally well. Something that I don't see usually in this genre. Watch it, you'll like it.

(Reviewed post embargo on 22 Dec. Watched during its world premiere at the MAMI Year Round Programme.)