If you are someone who believes that films should not go into too much practical life and expose the genuine immorality among us, you can have an excuse to skip this wonderfully crafted simple movie. I am someone who believes that stories should be told in a raw format with characters having a nature that we can relate to. Trivandrum Lodge scores in that area. It is a bold cinema that conveys the emotions of almost all kinds of human beings in its pure format.
Basically the story revolves around the people in and is connected to Trivandrum Lodge, a lodge in Cochin owned by a business tycoon Ravi. Similar to Beautiful, this film also doesn’t have any exact story structure. It’s actually a journey through people of various dimensions of life in a way that is commercially feasible and not too melodramatic or silly. It has an Abdhu who is innocent inside and the kind of people with him he is living generates a kind of lust in him. It has a Dhwani who wants to be free and live a life of her own. There is a Ravi who loves his wife madly even after her death. So the story has almost all the shades of present day adult life.
Through the character of Dhwani, Anoop Menon really teases our society which gives the freedom for men to immoral and shuts the windows for women in the name of morality. Through Abdhu he conveys the innocence in a human being even if they have lust for sexual pleasure. Through Ravi he establishes that there can be true love in this generation also, if we remain as innocent as children and he uses the childish romance of Ravi’s son to justify it. Through the various characters in the lodge he conveys the emotions of other colors of life.
On screen, Jayasurya is superb as the Geeky Abdhu and everyone will love him for sure. Honey Rose strikes the silver screen again with a character that will be remembered for its uniqueness. Anoop Menon once again makes a super smooth performance as Ravi. Saiju Kurup, Arun, Thesni, Sukumari, Janardhanan, child artists and others have done their part neatly and impressively. Singers Jayachandran and Nikhil get a chance to display their acting skills. Memorable cameos by Babu Namboothiri and Bhavana.
In the making, one more simple and superbly directed movie by VK Prakash. Many portions of the screenplay are silent and highly rely on the execution and VKP have done full justice to those scenes. The two hour long movie has a simple and clear script of Anoop Menon that discusses the complex mind games. The screenplay is nicely paced and the dialogs are really super cool. By that I meant the level of practical feel in it. It never goes to a sooth saying level or to masala slap stick level. Nicely lighted cinematography and impressively cut by Mahesh Narayanan. A different kind of Music from M Jayachandran and engaging BGMs from Bijibal.
Overall, TL is a movie that will rightly fit into the description, Simply Superb. There will be debates about the morality of the film in the coming days. But as someone who loves to see real life in silver screen I am in support of this movie and I happily gives this one a 4/5. If a vulgar Mayamohini can attract audience, a sincere Trivandrum Lodge deserves to get more.