Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi Malayalam Movie Review

Anil Radhakrishna Menon is one director whose films have a novelty and curiosity associated with the title. Both North 24 Kadam and Sapthamashree Thaskaraha had catchy and unusual titles with it. But at the same time, they didn't end up merely as a title grabbing movie with no substance in their contents. Both these films had something different and interesting to say.
Now the director is back with his third film that also has an unusual title to it. Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi, thats the name of his new film. The billion dollar question is whether the content of the film also has something in it and whether the director is successful a third time too with his new project matching the success of his previous two flicks.
LL7K is not the regular entertainer we expect nor does it suit every kind of moviegoers. I won't say its an offbeat movie but within a limited framework and budget, they have tried to present it as a travel film. The intentions and the message that have been conveyed are too good and have very high relevance in the present life style of this generation. But LL7K more than a feature film portray itself as a documentary trying to pass the message that we should preserve our forest, wildlife and nature.
Philipose John Varkey is the pivotal character in the film who love nature, forest and its inhabitants. Certain threats from corporate and business houses to the very existence of Lord Livingstone forest and its inhabitants makes him a worried man. He plans and assemble some people who are poles apart in terms of location and personality to be part of the mission to ensure the safety of the forest and its people.
Technically I would say its a brilliant make with excellent visuals especially the aerial shots of the deep forest captured very well and supported by nice sound design perfectly suited for the backdrop. The greenish colouring pattern used throughout the film matches the forest backdrop through which the story runs.
So where does the film falter or in which area is the factor that pull down the film is the next question? Well its the screenplay that doesn't have the fire in it to keep the focus intact till the very end.
As I said, what the director wanted to convey is definitely passed on and to be honest the attempt and the message is to accepted with both hands. The thing is this is a feature film and to convey this sort of subject, though the boldness and sincerity is to be appreciated, its a herculean task to make sure it is accepted by all class of audience. So I am not sure of the box office success of this movie.
On the acting side, none of the actors have got a meaty role. But still from a review perspective, each of the actors be it Kunchacko Boban, Nedumudi Venu, Sudheer Karamana and Sunny Wayne have acted their respective roles doing justice to the faith reposed by their director. Bharath has a very limited role out of the the eight while Reenu Mathews was good but had some issue with the dubbing and if I am correct, she himself has done that part.
Chemban Vinod and Gregory had bulk of the screen presence along with Kunchacko who appear towards the end of the first part. Both Chemban and Gregory had enough dialogues and humour scenes which are their strong zones and did it to create some good laughs.
Whoever has done the camera work has done a brilliant job in capturing the frames giving thr true feel of the forest. Art department has done a commendable work while the music department has also done their part to make LL7K a technically sound film. VFX is done pretty well while the costume department too has put in good effort.
Unlike a N24K and Sapthamashree, in LL7K Anil Radhakrishna Menon takes a totally different approach to films and has explored an unknown area to Mollywood. and trying to pass a good message to the society. He has succeeded in each and every aspect of it. But as a movie, there are drawbacks with the subject chosen this time. Still I am going with three out of five for Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi, mainly attributing an extra half for the making and also the social relevance of the film.
Rating - 3 / 5