Madhura Manohara Moham review: Breaks the stereotypes around women and relationships

As its name suggests, Madhura Manohara Moham (Happiest Desire) is a happy movie. Helmed by Stephy Zaviour, who has proven as a costume designer in the Malayalam industry, the film narrates the story of a marriage in a family in Pathanamthitta in Kerala.

The highlight of the plot is that the makers have taken the liberty to highlight various issues of Kerala in a very satirical way.

Madhura Manohara Moham takes a U-turn from the usual way of portrayal of women at a time when woman-oriented films are getting importance in the modern world.

Satirical plot

Madhura Manohara Moham is a satire in many ways. Till the interval, the movie dedicates its time to showcasing how Nair, an upward caste in Kerala boasts among themselves.

The Sabarimala episode gets a mention here as the central character Manu Mohan (Sharafudeen) is at the forefront of supporting the core values of Hinduism.

The Nair Service Society (NSS) activities are also portrayed in a satirical way by the writers.

Set in Kumbazha in Pathanamthitta, Madhura Manohara Moham has many scenes that take a dig at the casteism practised in Kerala. The upward community is even taking decisions to not allow inter-caste marriage.

Marriages that happen in a Nair community are portrayed well with the customs, and other sequences shown correctly.

The songs of the movie by young music director Hesham Abdul Wahab gave a pace to the movie at regular intervals.

Madhura Manohara Mohanam has everything as usual from the start itself.

The comedy and the combination of Sharafudeen (Manu) and Althaf (Ambady) is the highlight.

Manu, an overseer at the public works department, lives with his mother and two younger sisters. At a crucial point, he takes up the role of a secretary of NSS. This is to impress her lover’s father who is the president of NSS.

Their mother Usha (Bindhu Panicker) is a superstitious lady who has a caste spirit in her mind.

Manu’s sister Meera is well-mannered and studious. She takes care of the family by taking tuition classes after her postgraduation classes at a nearby college. Manu is also earning, but he is not as responsible as Meera.

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Conflict begins

Manu and his colleague Jose (Biju Sopanam) find that Meera has a boyfriend from a different community. Manu accepts this and convinces his mother Usha.

Later, it is revealed that Meera has relationships with multiple men. Disturbed by this situation, they decide to hold Meera’s marriage.

The movie is about her marriage. The most important thing about her marriage is that all her admirers attend the wedding.

Unusual concept

The story by Mahesh Gopal and Vishnu is totally different.

Usually, we have seen men having different relationships.

However, though the female lead is shown as a person having multiple relationships here, the film doesn’t depict her in a negative light.

But in other ways, when women-oriented films are getting importance, Madhura Manohara Moham comes up with a different plot.

Madhura Manohara Moham isn’t anti-women. But in a scene where one of the characters in the film refers to patriarchy, Manu reacts: “It’s become a trend to use ‘Patriarchy’. People often use this term even when there is no need to mention it.”

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Performances

Rajisha Vijayan is the star of Madhura Manohara Moham. The choice of her films these days is quite interesting; the actress played roles with negative shades in Pakalum Pathiravum (2023) and Kolla (2023).

Rajisha made the right choice by picking Madhura Manohara Moham as her role is crucial in the movie. There’s a twist post-interval as the story shifts to her love stories.

Sharafudeen as Manu is convincing. He has proved to be good in his comic timings earlier, too.

Althaf Salim as Ambadi is good.

Saiju Kurup as groom Jeevaraj is impressive. It’s good to see the young actor get good roles.

Sunil Sugadha, who is drawing applause in the Tamil movie Por Thozhil (2023), is good as Manu’s relative.

Vijayaraghavan as Indrasena Kurup is safe in the hands of the veteran actor.

Arsha Baiju as Manu’s lover Shalabha delivers good expressions and is apt for a girlfriend. Her scenes with Sharafudeen have come out well.

Bidhu Panicker is noteworthy as the witty mother. She was last seen as a cruel mother in Rorschach (2022).

Final take

In all, Madhura Manohara Moham is a story that breaks the stereotypes around women and relationships. It is also vocal about the caste system prevalent in Kerala.

(Views expressed are personal.)