When I read and translated the synopsis of Manjummel Boys last year I never thought it would turn out to be such a brilliant film in making. Manjummel Boys is crossing borders with boundless appreciation from all audiences and marked its entry as the highest worldwide grosser from the Malayalam industry. It beat the technically brilliant film 2018 portrayed the worst floods in the state. Another Malayalam movie Premalu deals with GenZ romance is also raving at the box office apart from Mamootty’s monochrome horror thriller Bramayaugam which is on SonyLiv now. Seems a good year for Mollywood.
Manjummel Boys is a true story from Manjummel, a small town in Ernakulam district. A group of friends goes on a trip to Kodaikanal and Subash (played by Sreenath Bhasi) slips into a crevice in Guna Cave. Though a tragic shot, I would love to watch it again. Brilliant take. An unimaginably deep hole of darkness is what they see from above while screaming for Subash’s response. Suddenly their youthful pleasures disappear and fear creeps in. Whatever follows in Manjummel Boys brings the chill and thrill of a survivor thriller. The set designer Ajay Chalissery earns big credit for ManjummelBoy’s success. The Guna Cave he recreated feels so real and the nerve-racking rescue mission intricately shot by Shyju Khalid involves the audience every moment. Director Chidambaram has this unusual skill of creating extraordinary from the ordinary. If you watch Manjummel Boys, you will not see a close-knit relationship established among these friends when they start a trip. Some hasty shots, witty dialogues, and leisure moments in Kodaikanal- Chidambaram don’t focus on anybody at this phase but their hero and deep-rooted bond come alive when one among them faces a life-and-death situation. I liked this unique style of Chidambaram.

Manjummel Boys is a film that resonates it’s all in the making. Its theme is about a group of ordinary guys who grew up in the same locality and made a bond for life. A universal genre. People from any part of the world can relate to it. All actors in Manjummel Boys were beads strung on the same thread.