Malini 22 Palayamkottai

Malini 22 Palayamkottai
Poster
Directed by	Sripriya
Produced by	Rajkumar Sethupathy
Written by	Ashiq and Ramzan
Screenplay by	Ashiq Abu
Story by	Abhilash Kumar Shyam Pushkaran
Starring	Nithya Menen Krish J. Sathaar Naresh
Music by	Aravind-Shankar
Cinematography	Manoj Pillai
Editing by	Bavan Sreekumar
Studio	Rajkumar Theatres Pvt Ltd
Release dates	January 24, 2014 (2014-01-24)
Country	India
Language	Tamil Telugu

Malini 22 Palayamkottai (or Malini 22) is a 2014 Indian film, written and directed by Sripriya. It stars Nithya Menen in the title role while Krish J. Sathaar and Naresh play supporting roles.^[1] A remake of the Malayalam film 22 Female Kottayam (2012) by Aashiq Abu, the film features musical score by Arvind-Shankar.^[2][3] It was released on 24 January 2014.

Plot

Malini (Nithya Menen), a nurse from Palayamkottai, works in Chennai. She dreams of going to Canada to make it big in her life. Varun (Krish J Sathar) works for a consultancy service and helps her complete all the formalities. While Malini awaits for her visa, Varun tries to woo her and she in turn falls in love with him.

Malini stays at Varun's apartment, gets seduced by his charms, and they both get intimate. The next day, when Malini is alone, Varun's boss Prakash (Naresh) comes and rapes her. Varun vows to take revenge and convinces Malini that they relocate to Coimbatore. There she gets arrested for carrying illegal drugs and is lodged in prison. She finds out that Varun and his partner-in-crime Prakash have conspired to get her arrested. The rest of the story is about how she takes revenge against Varun and Prakash.^[4]ILuvCinema too, rated it 2.75 rating out of 5 "Women centric films based on revenge are rarely made in Tamil. Malini 22 Palayamkottai’ is originally made in Malayalam which received many accolades for its plot which revolves around innocence of women and cruel nature of men. Even director shaped film with right note to reach audiences".

Cast

• Nithya Menen as Malini
• Krish J. Sathaar as Varun
• Kovai Sarala as Sarala
• Vidyullekha Raman as Shalini
• Naresh as Prakash
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Santhanam
• Anjali Rao as Jency
• AC Murali
• Janagi
• Gouthami as Jailer

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Aravind-Shankar making it their third Tamil film after Hey Nee Romba Azhaga Irukka and Kaadhal FM.

• Hi My Name Is Malini
• Kanneer Thuliye
• Madharthammai
• Vinmeengal
• Madharthammai Immigrant remix

Critical reception

Malini 22 Palayamkottai received mixed reviews from critics.^[5] Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "There’s not one convincing moment in the movie. The performances are broad, the staging is most basic, and too much time is spent on Malini’s dreary backstory. The minor victory of the film is that we get to hear the F-word, in all its un-beeped-out glory".^[6] Sify wrote, "It’s unfair to compare the original with a remake in another language but a film that had all the ingredients which will make the audiences glued to their seats never come together and ends up as a damp squib".^[7] The Times Of India gave it 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Even if director Sripriya had stuck close to the original, we would have got an engaging thriller, but here, bludgeons even the tiniest bit of subtlety found in the original to give us a clumsy film that attempts to form a social awakening while putting its viewers to sleep".^[8] The New Indian Express called it "a disappointing fare. Comparisons are odious, but inevitable. This version not just falls short of the earlier one, but also fails to be gripping, even when viewed on its own merits".^[9]

Rediff gave it 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Malini 22 Palayamkottai deals with an extremely relevant issue of contemporary society. The subject is well handled by Sripriya, but the film does get a bit dramatic in the end".^[10] Deccan Herald wrote, "That it falls short of a taut, edge-of-the-seat nifty thriller and turns out trite, tiresome affair is a sad letdown given the film seeks to turn the spotlight on rather demeaning and diastaseful attitude towards women looked at more as sex objects than equal, respectful partners".^[11] Behindwoods gave the film 2.75 stars out of 5 and wrote, it was "worth a watch if you haven’t seen the original".^[12] Indiaglitz, too, rated it 2.75 out of 5 and wrote, "A gripper script and convincing portrayal of the turn of events could have done much wonders. Yet this film deserves your time and money for its earnestness to urging the women to not give up at any point".^{[13] [14]}ILuvCinema too, rated it 2.75 rating out of 5 "Women centric films based on revenge are rarely made in Tamil. Malini 22 Palayamkottai’ is originally made in Malayalam which received many accolades for its plot which revolves around innocence of women and cruel nature of men. Even director shaped film with right note to reach audiences".

References