The Hindu : Kerala News : ‘Captain’ runs the show

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Thursday, Feb 14, 2008
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Kerala

‘Captain’ runs the show

College Kumaran

The storyline of this Thulasidas film revolves around the hero who goes by the name ‘Canteen Kumaran,’ a livewire, played with gusto by Mohanlal.

This character sets the pace of the film to a certain extent. Do not expect surprises in this film. It just treads the usual path — hero, villain and conflict. Kumaran runs the canteen at Mahatma College, a private college.

He is a favourite of the students, who lovingly call him Captain. Sivaraman (Nedumudi Venu) is the manager of the college. Education Minister Sethunathan (Siddique) wants to gain control of the college.

Using his clout, he creates problems for the college, in order to force Sivaraman to hand over the administration to him. Kumaran leads the students in a protest march against the Minister. By threatening the Minister with exposure of his misdeeds, he prevents him from interfering in the affairs of the college. The Minister vows to get even with Kumaran. It turns out that Kumaran was also an old student of the college.

He was a brilliant student and sportsman. Later, he joined the Army as Captain. A personal tragedy prompted him to manage the college canteen.

At the height of his popularity in college, disaster strikes Kumaran. On an excursion, the college bus driven by Kumaran meets wit an accident in which seven students are killed. Everyone blames Kumaran for the mishap and he is arrested on charges of manslaughter. The rest of the story is on predictable lines.

Suraj Venjaramood as Bhargavan and Harisree Asokan as Valsan, the sidekicks of Kumaran provide a few laughs.

Vimala Raman, as the English lecturer Madhavi Menon, is refreshing. Cameraman Venugopalan captures some beautiful scenery in the song sequence Thazhika kudame.

G. Jayakumar

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