Achuvinte Amma

Director: Satyan Anthikkad
Producer: P.V.Gangadharan
Cinematographer: Azhagappan
Cast: Urvashi, Meera Jasmine, KPAC Lalitha, Oduvil unnikrishnan etc.



Satyan Anthikkad, had a casting coup when he was able to pair Urvashi, one of the finest actress of Malayalam who was on hibernation from the scene along with Meera Jasmine the current flavour in Achuvinte Amma. Satyan has succeeded in bringing out the bond between a young mother and her 20-year-old daughter effectively in the first half and laced it with some hilarious moments. But post interval, the story loses its track and the script goes haywire.

Still Achuvinte Amma is entertaining and has a message to say- “A person cannot change the evils within the society. But he/she can bring about a change by helping another person in distress”. The highlight of the film is Urvashi who has a tailor made role which has tapped her comedy timing and acting capabilities to the maximum. Not far behind is Meera who is vulnerable and looks cute.

Vanaja (Urvashi) is a self-made woman living with her only daughter Achu (Meera). Vanaja is a sweet talker and is a ‘Crorepati’ LIC agent. She is also good at a lot of things including tailoring. Her best friend is Achu and they share a special bond and share everything under the sun. But there is only one thing that Achu will not ask her and Vanaja does not like to speak about. This is about Achu’s father and whenever an embarrassing moment comes either of them end up escaping by telling a lie!

Vanaja loves her daughter so much that she is a little possessive about her and does not like even friends giving her gifts. Achu is an Engineering diploma and she gets a job in a construction company. The mother and daughter meet Jijo (Sunil) accidentally a few times and they are impressed by his go-gooder nature and understand that he is a very enterprising young man.

Soon Achu and Jijo become good friends and later lovers. However Vanaja disapproves their marriage as Jijo is an orphan. Achu leaves home when her mother refuses to tell her the name of her father? Achu stays with her friend and refuses to go back till Vanaja tells her about her father which forms the twist in the climax.

The major problem with the climax is that it is neither impressive nor gripping. On the other hand it tests your patience and drags a bit. Too many characters like a huge Muslim family, song and dances, a loud KPAC Lalitha’s character- all this mars the tempo as they have nothing to do with the narrative.

The comedy in first half between the mother and daughter is hilarious especially the scene when an illiterate Vanaja tries to speak in English! The police Sub Inspector Pillai (Sreekumar) with his Trivandrum lingo bring the house down. But the film is too lengthy (2 hrs ad 35 min) and needs trimming to make it more racy. Ilayaraja’s music does not create any impact.

Urvashi as Vanaja is a real treat to watch. She is in top form as a woman torn by dualities of her existence; she has reiterated the fact that she is a wonderful actress. Her comedy timings, in the first half and the poignant expressions in the climax are heartbreaking. Meera Jasmine has done a neat job as Achu and she looks cute and slim. Sunil as Jijo is a revelation and looks promising. Though Achuvinte Amma has some flaws in its story telling method, that mars the tempo, the film is recommended for the sake of the one woman dynamo called Urvashi.