Mahaveeryar, Nivin Pauly and Abrid Shine’s third collaboration, is a fantasy film with elements of time travel and courtroom drama. The film establishes a precedent by being the first in Mollywood to experiment with these genres.
Based on a novel by M. Mukundan, writer-director Abrid Shine’s Mahaveeryar mixes myth, humour, and fantasy with time travel to produce a unique political satire indicating flexible judiciaries and autocrats. The star-studded picture fumbles in various areas, but when it clicks, it is both amusing and shocking.
The plot starts in the 18th century. A monarch, portrayed by Lal, is suffering from an unusual sickness. He suffers from regular hiccups. No amount of water or alcohol can help him. Even the top doctors of the period are unable to find a cure for his ailment.
The king tells his commander to bring him the most attractive lady in the country. According to legend, he already has over 2,000 ladies in his harem. However, the king is not content. He’s yearning for something that hundreds of his wives cannot provide. He is the embodiment of gluttony. Veerabhadran (Asif Ali), the king’s devoted commander, goes out to carry out the crown’s wishes.
And he travels hundreds of kilometres before arriving at a little desert settlement inhabited by the most gorgeous girl in the land.
The scenario then jumps forward to the current day, where Apoornnananthan (Nivin Pauly), a guru, is accused of stealing the primary deity’s idol from a temple. Apoornnananthan possesses superhuman abilities. His understanding appears to be as wide as the cosmos itself.
He appears to know everything that has ever transpired in human history. He’s also an expert on ancient Indian knowledge from the Vedas and Puranas. He is also highly familiar with the Indian constitution and all of the IPC parts.
Apoornnananthan is transferred to a modern court, where the two threads of this extraordinary story eventually intersect.
The Apoornnananthan strand is pure comedy, with an understated Nivin Pauly on his own and Mallika Sukumaran as a village elder who knocks the house down with her superb comic timing.
