Chandupottu is a simple tale. It's about a boy who grows up in a small fishing village in the company of girls. He's more at ease with girls than boys. After an incident involving him and another kid, his dad (played by Lal) ends up jail for murder. Radha (krishnan) is brought up by his mother and grand mother and grows up as a joke in the society. He teaches folk dance for living and keeps the company of girls all the time.
He's particularly close with Malu (played by Gopika). Kumaran, a local loan shark too has an eye on her. Incidentally Kumaran is the son of the person whom Radha's father had murdered. After the jail sentence Radha's father returns and is horrified seeing his son's state.
Radha and Malu get closer and with help from rain god, take their friendship to next level. Kumaran itching for revenge of his father death plots with Malu's father (Rajan P Dev as astrologer) and blame the genderless Radha for the disappearance of fish from the sea. They beat up Radha and dump his body in the sea. Freddie (Biju Menon) rescues him and takes him to Goa, where he and his sister Rosie (Bhavana) help Radha. We don't want to reveal more.
We have to commend actor Dileep, director Lal Jose and writer Benny P Nayarambalam for making this movie with such a unique theme. For an actor who is trying to establish himself in macho roles (Runway, Lion etc), Dileep's audacity has to be appreciated for agreeing to do this role. He was able to maintain his feminine mannerisms till the last shot as well as portray this character convincingly.
Gopika did her part very well and Dileep and Gopika make a very good pair. Indrajeet, Lal, Rajan P Dev etc tried their best but their characters do not have much scope. There were a host of other characters, but none leaves an impression.
Dileep and Lal Jose have done many movies together and have an excellent rapport. In a movie where so many things could go wrong Lal Jose has managed to maintain tight control throughout. He ensures that his is not yet another mimicry movie. Benny P Nayarambalam has done a commendable job in his characterisation of Radha and he provides a engaging and witty narration. But in the second half when the scene changes to Goa the movie momentarily loses tempo.
Vidyasagar has provided excellent music to all Lal Jose films (Meesha Madhavan, Pattalam, Chandranudikkunna Dikkil) and this one is no different. We especially liked S Janaki singing Azhakkadalinte and Vineeth Srinivasan's Omanapuzha.
This is a decent movie, novel for it's theme and treatment
