Bethlehem Kudumba Unit Review

After delivering a huge box-office success with Sarvam Maya in December last year, Malayalam hero Nivin Pauly released two not-so-successful movies, Baby Girl & Prathichaya, during the first half of the year. He then teamed up with the latest sensation, Mamitha Baiju, for a romantic comedy film in the direction of Girish A. D., the director of the blockbuster, Premalu. Popular Malayalam star hero, Fahadh Faasil, produced the film along with two more producers, Dileesh Pothan & Syam Pushkaran. After grabbing the attention of the audience with a good trailer, the film was released in theatres today. Did Nivin Pauly, get back onto the success track? Did Mamitha Baiju, continue her success streak? Did the film live up to the expectations raised around the film after the trailer release? Did the director of ‘Premalu’, deliver yet another blockbuster romantic comedy film? Did Fahadh Faasil, deliver yet another blockbuster as a producer? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Ashley(Mamitha Baiju), a girl in her early 20s, moves to a new town with her family. In the new neighbourhood, she gets to meet, Justin Davis(Nivin Pauly), a single man in his mid 30s. What happens when Justin and Ashley, fall in love with each other? How did Justin react when Ashley proposed to him first? Why did Justin remain single? What circumstances forced him not to marry even in his mid 30s? How did Justin and Ashley’s families react, when they found out the couple were in love with each other? Did Justin and Ashley, eventually get to marry or decide against marrying each other? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Nivin Pauly is the apt choice for the role of Justin Davis. As a single person in his mid 30s, he came up with a very restrained and mature performance. His comedy timing and dialogue deliver was first rate and helped to generate a lot of laughs throughout the film. Mamitha Baiju came up with yet another cute and lovable role. The way she communicates with Nivin Pauly’s character, through her eyes, was a treat to watch. Just like in Vishwanath & Sons, she made her presence felt and commanded the audience’s attention whenever she appeared on screen.

Roshan Shanavas as Glixon, Sangeeth Prathap as Joel Davis and Suresh Krishna as Baiju, with their comedy timing, generated a lot of fun moments. All three actors came up with very good performances. Especially, the ‘Mysore Paak’ sequence with Roshan Shanavas, was hilarious. Most of the other actors as well did their parts well.

Technicalities:

Vishnu Vijay came up with good music yet again for a film directed by Girish A. D. His peppy background score enhanced the funny quotient to the next level and the songs scored by him blended well without distracting the narration. There were quite a few songs in the film but none of them appeared as speed breakers. Ajmal Sabu’s cinematography was pleasant. His visuals look beautiful throughout the film.

Editing by Akash Joseph Varghese, is excellent in the first half. However, his work should have been better in the second half. Especially, at least ten minutes of chopping during the final act, would have made the film more engaging. Girish A. D. and Kiran Josey, shared the credits for writing and both of them should be appreciated for coming up with clean, organic and hilarious humour. Let’s discuss the director, Girish A. D’s, work in detail in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠Organic Comedy At Most Parts
3.⁠ ⁠Nivin & Mamitha’s Chemistry
4.⁠ ⁠Good Music

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Dragged-Out Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Predictable Narration
3.⁠ ⁠Lack of Emotional Depth

Analysis:

For a long time, we have been accustomed to Indian filmmakers using the significant age difference between a man and a woman either to create slapstick and somewhat crude humour or to give the film a sense of sleaziness. However, in a gap of just a week, we now have two films, Vishwanath & Sons(Tamil & Telugu) and Bethlehem Kudumba Unit(Malayalam), which defied the stereotypes associated with the backdrop of the age gap between an elderly man and a young girl. There are a lot of similarities between the two films. Both Venky Atluri and Girish A. D., executed the films as sensibly as possible. Both films have excellent first halves. Both films have Mamitha Baiju in the female lead role. The only difference is that while Venky Atluri, chose to include family drama and heart-touching emotions in the second half, Girish A. D, used multiple comedy blocks to narrate the second half. And yes, in the second halves, both the films struggled to an extent to live up to the very promising first halves.

In Vishwanath & Sons, the age gap between the lead characters was about twenty years. So, the director chose to give the film an open ending instead of giving a justification and giving the film a happy ending. However, in Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, the age gap between the lead pair is twelve to thirteen years. We are so used to seeing couples with an age gap of around ten years. So, the age gap factor in Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, does not look or sound odd as it did in Vishwanath & Sons and it is why the director chose to give, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, a happy ending. The good thing about the film is that it offers genuine and laugh-out-loud moments at regular intervals. The director and his writing team, generated clean humour using situations and dialogue delivery skills of the actors. Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, is one of those rare films which comes up with a genuine laugh-out-loud moment every five minutes. While many moments let the audience laugh throughout the film, the episode that clicked the most is the pre-interval ‘proposal’ sequence. This entire sequence was written and executed very well and it indeed brought the roof down. The chemistry between the lead pair, Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju, is one of the best things that happened to the film. Both the actors through their expressive eyes, made the cute nothing moments, very lovable. The director deserves special mention for coming up with a very mature romantic track.

On the flip side, after a hilarious first half, the director, decided to narrate the second half also using comedy without stepping into the zone of heart-touching emotions. Yes, the second half also has genuine fun moments but after a point, it gets tedious to watch one comedy block after the other without the story moving anywhere. With the pre-interval sequence, we very much get to know how the director is going to end the film. Because of this predictability, the proceedings in the second half feel monotonous at times. Especially, the last twenty minutes before the climax, appeared a bit overstretched. The director’s intention not to go overboard with the romantic track between the lead pair is appreciable but the oversimplified romance between the lead pair, failed to give the film the required emotional depth. Even the ending in the climax, was executed in a very predictable way manner.

Overall, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, is definitely a worthy watch for the genuine fun it offers and an excellent first half. You can happily watch it and laugh out loud with your friends and family. It may not be as wholesome as ‘Premalu’, but it certainly is a breezy entertainer which let you have a smile on your face at most parts. However, a bit more care in giving emotional depth, would have made the film even better.

Bottom Line – Fun Worked

Rating – 2.75/5