I was set to watch Lockup (2020) with my wife, as she was getting delayed, I started watching what was reported to be a romantic comedy in Zee5 – Mamakiki (2020). And it was a bad choice.
The story is an oft-repeated one remade with little to no originality. Four college friends Madhu (Preetha Anandan), Mani (Ramesh Thilak), and Kiranthi & Kishore (arriving at the title Mamakiki) meet up after five years and each narrates their life after leaving college. The film had its moments like the story narration scene, where Ramesh Thilak tests the patience of Director Nalan Kumarasamy (appearing as himself) – seeing Nalan’s expression of frustration was relatable & enjoyable.
Three of the four stories were about failed searches for a life partner and the fourth was about a childhood fear, none of them invoked any emotions in the audience. Madhu’s character was shown to be a Brahmin, with her lover also a Brahmin Boy, all in the name of humour – I do enjoy the occasional jokes about Brahmins in films if they are harmless, but here they were stereotypical and fail to bring any laughter. Most of the punch scenes were predictable, so they fall flat. Directed by five people the screenplay lacked homogeneity.
I grew up watching stage plays of Crazy Mohan and enjoying the humorous acts of Madhu-Cheenu, so seeing the late Cheenu Mohan in the role of father of one of the four friends, I felt sad.
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