2 Harihar Nagar - 2 thumbs up :-D

"Ee kalyanam kudumbam ennokke parayunnathu oru sambhavan thannee aanu alleda? Avaleyum kuttikaleyum kaanaathe ithrayum divsam ..........................
............................................................................hoo enthoru ashwasam"

:-D Well, that's Appukuttan's take on the few days he got away from his family. And so on goes the other gems in this well written second take on the 4 rascals of Harihar Nagar. In the season of remakes in malayalam, the latest one to hit the bandstand is '2 Harihar Nagar'. The original was a total out and out riot and even now 19 years later our stomachs continue to pain from laughing out loud watching or even remembering those scenes.

The movie starts with a small backstory of when the friends first ganged up as school kids, following with small snatches from the original as we go thru the opening credits. Then starts the roller-coaster of the new take of things at Harihar Nagar, 15 years from where they left it. The main characters are just like how we would have imagined them being middle aged. All older and settled into lives with jobs, wives and kids but still the basic dimwit-cassanova streak doesn't dissapear. They have reunited now to celebrate the betrothal and marriage of Thomaskutty and they run into another Maya and so goes the ride.

The director doesnt resort to any flashiness, superhuman or techno stuff and just keeps alive the charm of the original by being believeable with some great twists; which something many directors have failed to do with sequels. The only thing that could have improved is the music. They have just remixed the old songs.

Have to say the movie is a perfect successor and will easily run for a 100 days and be the first smash hit of 2009. Lal proves a point or two with his first directorial outing after the split from Siddique. For those who missed the trailer :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFg4OhM0moU