Cobra: A Remixed Rat-Snake !

What does a master chef do when he is bored and has run out of ideas but still has to serve something for a customary festival feast ? Take out his own old dishes from the fridge, churn them in a mixer, add some spices and create a remix and serve as an instant dish. Director Lal who has given us some unforgettable movies in the past including the "Harihar Nagar series", does exactly the same.

But those who have grown up on his delicious old dishes realize immediately that this is a rehash and feel cheated and might even feel nausea. From "Ramji Rao Speaking" to "God-father" through the Harihar Nagar series, Lal [earlier with Director Siddique] had served up deliciously funny comic capers.

Those were movies with infinite repeat value are still cherished even by subsequent generation of Malayalees. So imagine the kind of expectation one would walk into the hall with, when Lal combines with Mammootty ! After over 150 minutes of the movie, I had one word to explain; Repulsive !

Borrowing generously from "Thenkasi Pattanam", "Annan Thambi", Thommanum Makkalum" and many such movies, Lal conjures up what was meant to be a Vishu bonanza. But for evoking extremely rare guffaws, the movie is a total let down.

Mammootty [the sag showing around the jaws], Lal [trying Sreenivasan brand of self-deprecation with little success], Lalu Alex [louder than his usual loud self] and Babu Antony [hardly looking like a villain and more like a real-estate broker] go through the motions.

Maniyan Pilla Raju and Salim Kumar manage to do what Suraj Venjaramoodu has managed to do over the past 2 years; Get on your nerves ! They do it with aplomb. Padmapriya must be having some financial problems, else it is difficult to imagine her doing this movie. A swollen Kaniha looks sullen and worried as if she has left her hungry child at home.

One who imagined a fitness cum martial arts center inside a hospital building deserves to be punched black and blue and then treated in the same hospital. I doubt if they had a story when they planned the movie. The script is not even quarter-baked. The 'Director' Lal seems to have been really distracted by the 'Actor' Lal and thus both fail to show up. Back ground music is sick and the music can safely be branded as noise. Technically the movie is below average. Long drawn fight sequences manage to give the viewers more headaches.

Two brothers yearning to marry two sisters to retain the sanctity of their relationship and camaraderie could have been a wonderful premise to work on for Lal. "Cobra" a popular acronym for "Co-Brothers" should have been or could have been a fun-fest but turns out to be yawn-fest.

One positive about the movie: Suraj Venjaramoodu, a Mammootty movies regular does a great favor by not being a part of this movie. Small mercies !

My opinion: A Remixed Rat-snake - STAY OFF !