Janamaithri Review: a really enjoyable film for Aadu lovers

The new Friday Film House production, Janamaithri is one film that would remind you of the franchise that sort of worked for the same production house, Aadu. In totality, this new movie from debutante John Manthrickal is a beta version of Aadu directed by Midhun Manuel Thomas. It is as clumsy and as funny as the Shaji Pappan movie and anyone who has liked that style of comedy would find this movie interesting.

A police station is the backdrop of our story. The CI of that area wanted to do something really fresh and interesting for the celebration of Janamaithri Din. And eventually, one idea was approved. The idea was to give tea to those people who are driving late at night. But the police had to face some unexpected obstacles in the execution of this program and the movie Janamaithri shows us what all happened in that.

A voice-over is played during the opening credits of the movie showing us how Midhun Manuel Thomas introduced John Manthrickal to Vijay Babu by saying that the subject somewhat like Aadu. That admission of the similarity was a must as we all will get the vibe of Aadu when we see Janamaithri. The same style of eccentric texture is there for this movie as well. The first half of Janamaithri is very rigid. That part of the movie is exploring comedy in a very desperate way. But in the second half of the movie, things are flowing very smoothly and we are given a lot of laugh-out-loud moments there.

Indrans was a variety and interesting choice to be SI KT Shibu. The best one in the lot was Big Boss fame Sabumon who rocked with solid timing in comedy. Saiju Kurup as Samyukthan had some initial hiccups but later understood the rhythm of the comedy. Similarly in the case of Vijay Babu, also there was a mismatch in the beginning which got sorted later. The other members in the cast include names like Manikandan Pattambi, Kalabhavan Prajod, Aneesh G Gopal, Unni Dev, Sruthy Jayan, Irshad, etc.

John Manthrickal who has previously worked with Midhun Manuel Thomas as a co-writer is doing his first directorial through Janamaithri. But he lacks a signature style and his making pattern would definitely remind you of the style of Midhun Manuel Thomas. Even the scripting pattern is similar and one can see character-oriented background scores similar to Aadu in this movie. The interconnected situational comedy concept takes its own sweet time to place itself. The movie has areas where it has overdone the comedy. But still the way it bounces back in the second half and the smaller runtime makes it a comfortable comedy.

If you are someone who has enjoyed Aadu for its absurdity, then this movie is a guaranteed fun film for you. Janamaithri is like a passable comedy with nothing grand or unique about it.