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Vietnam Colony

1992 154’ col/scope Malayalam d/s Siddique-Lal pc President Movies p Appachan-Joy lyr Bichu Thirumala c Venu m S. Balakrishnan lp Mohanlal, Innocent, Kanaka, KPAC Lalitha, Nedumudi Venu, Philomina, Kaviyoor Ponnamma

In this unlikely subject for a comedy, Krishnamurthy (Mohanlal), a poor but brainy Brahmin, is sent with an assistant (Innocent) to work as a site officer for the Calcutta Construction Company in a particularly grim place known as Vietnam Colony. This place, set in Kerala, is under the control of gangs and slumlords who protect a small bunch of illegal squatters on the company’s land. The task of the two employees is to persuade the squatters to vacate the land so that the company can build on it. However, Krishnamurthy switches sides and helps the poor people assert their rights in the face of both the company and the gangs. The use of innovative dialogue (a Siddique-Lal trademark) and bizarre situations, the displacement of stereotypes (eg. the Muslim gangster and the dispossessed Muslim Seth) and the performances of Mohanlal, Innocent and Kanaka helped the film to achieve its popularity.

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