PremiumArchana 31 Not Out movie review: Aishwarya Lekshmi, interesting climax elevate this simple but sluggish tale
The actress sheds every bit of her urban personality that was used in her previous movies, and thoroughly convinces the audience as a person from a rural village – through her body language
Last Updated: 05.05 PM, Feb 11, 2022
Story: Archana is a 28-year-old school teacher, whose family, friends, colleagues and neighbours frequently ask her about her wedding. She has already met 30 prospective grooms, and seems to have found her match with the 31st proposal that comes her way, when she’s out of luck and a job. As her family gears up for the wedding day, an unexpected incident shakes her up. How she navigates through this and achieves her target form the tale of this movie set in Palakkad.
Review: Weddings seem to be the most favoured theme these days in Malayalam. Senna Hedge’s Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, Arun Vaiga’s upcoming film Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan and Akhil Anilkumar’s Archana 31 Not Out revolves around weddings and the director weave these film’s setting – Kasaragod, Cherthala and Palakkad, respectively – and their cultures to unfold the plot.
Unlike Hegde’s Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, debutant Akhil has told the story of Archana 31 Not Out mostly through its protagonist – a 28-year-old who shoulders all the needs of her family with her salary as a school teacher. Like most women her age, she too is pressured by those around her to get married, but she just can’t seem to find the right match. It isn’t until the day that she loses her job, that a proposal works out. Using all the money she has saved up, she organizes her own wedding, but on the eve of the D-day, an unexpected event derails her plans, serving up even more challenges.
Akhil, who has helmed a few short films and the segment Geethu Unchained from the anthology Freedom Fight, has worked with content with woman protagonists and that shows more or less in how the lead character as well as those around her are handled. The filmmaker, who has co-written the script with Ajay Vijayan and Vivek Chandran, packs a lot of instances – from how Archana won a cricket match for her team from a bleak situation to her first thought every time a proposal is called off. These, however, do seem rushed and don't quite stick.
In fact, the film’s core is what happens on the wedding eve and how Archana handles it, and everything else is just paraphernalia leading up to that. Even the latter aspect, which is shown through some hilarious, fantastical elements, would have worked better in a short film as it is far from the initial mood of the film. This also slows down the film as the movie keeps hovering around the same scenario without any impact. The interesting ending though elevates the movie, and credit must be given to the makers who avoid the particular trap of a man swooping in to make the save, despite them teasing the same multiple times.
Aishwarya is the heart and soul of the movie as Archana. The actress sheds every bit of her urban personality that was used in her previous movies, and thoroughly convinces the audience as a person from a rural village – through her body language. Her emotional outpour in a sequence with Indrans, where she is down and broken, is one of the highlights in the movie. Her speech at the end too leads the movie to an emphatic finish.
The rest of the cast – featuring mostly newcomers – too are endearing and lends the film a fresh appeal, despite the wedding setting. Hakkim Shahjahan, Rajesh Madhavan, Lukman and the actor who played Archana’s relative, do their parts well. The film also has scenes that feel like sketches featuring other actors such as Sruthy Suresh, Vineeth Vasudevan and Renjit Shekhar Nair. These work in parts but don't quite organically fit into the overall arc. Even Ramesh Pisharody’s cameo feels like it was an afterthought used to increase the movie’s appeal.
Verdict: Aishwarya Lekshmi shoulders this simple wedding tale set in Palakkad. While the movie, which is less than two hours long, does feel sluggish at certain junctures, an interesting ending and a bunch of relatable incidents make it a decent watch in theatres.