Obsession and reality are poles apart. Add a bit of cynicism to your obsession, and you are either in therapy or in constant pursuit of answers.
Naslen Gafoor‘s Vineeth Madhavan in Mollywood Times is obsessive, and his pursuit is to become the greatest horror filmmaker Malayalam cinema has ever produced. Like many dreamers, he manifests it. A salt-of-the-earth individual, he believes everything will work out positively and that the people around him are supportive, until he discovers for himself the ruthlessness of reality.
Mollywood Times, the sophomore feature of Abhinav Sunder Nayak, follows Vineeth Madhavan’s quest for greatness. We first encounter Vineeth as a child who has little interest in studies but possesses a compelling gift for storytelling.
After a life-altering movie experience, Vineeth decides that his destiny is to become a horror filmmaker. He has his role model in M. Night Shyamalan. If a man born in a relatively obscure part of Kerala can make it to Hollywood, why can’t Vineeth do the same?
But as Vineeth’s father puts it, there is no Hollywood here – only Mollywood. To appeal to the hidden centres of power in the industry, Vineeth must fight vested interests, shed his idealism, navigate treacherous waters filled with fair-weather friends, and swallow some hard truths.
With a runtime of nearly three hours, Mollywood Times maintains a chapter-like narrative structure. The story progresses linearly, which helps build anticipation. The tone is one of cynical comedy.
Naslen delivers a decent performance in the first half, with his controlled delivery and natural goofiness contributing to the film’s slow build-up. In the second half, however, the film strays away from what made it engaging. What follows is a barrage of subplots, excessive exposition, unnecessary swear words, flashbacks, lazy animations, voice-overs, and ordinary performances. Some comedic moments fail to land due to poor placement or a lack of emotional weight.
The weak screenplay is largely to blame for the film’s poor second half. Most of the plot developments become clunky and cumbersome, often flying over the audience’s head. Perhaps because the story feels too personal – almost as though it happened to the filmmaker himself – it struggles to translate effectively into visual storytelling.
Naslen manages to keep his performance on track for most of the film, though there are moments where he feels surprisingly ordinary. There are a few notable cameos, but none justify the time and significance the script assigns to them. Beyond that, there are few truly memorable characters in the film.
The editing is serviceable and occasionally engaging in the first half. In the latter half, however, it becomes more of a showcase of technique than a storytelling tool, doing the film no favours. The music, too, is at times overwhelmingly loud.
Dubbed a “hate letter” to Malayalam cinema, Mollywood Times had all the ingredients to become a serious challenge to the industry’s entrenched systems. However, through its own undoing, the film crumbles midway, leaving the audience with a lingering question: what exactly is Vineeth Madhavan obsessed with? Is it really cinema?
