Directed by Lal Jose, Nalpathiyonnu (41) stars Biju Menon and Nimisha Sajayan in lead roles. The film is produced by Signature Studios while the screenplay is penned by G.R Prageesh.
Set in the politically charged outskirts of Kannur, 41 tells the story of C.S Ullaskumar (Biju Menon), a staunch rationalist belonging to a leftist party, whose rigidity of his beliefs often leads to his own befall, like his canceled marriage with Bhagyasuyam (Nimisha Sajayan). What happens when he arrives at a situation where he must disobey his principles for the sake of the rehabilitation of 'Vavachi' Kannan (Saranjith), an alcoholic goon who happens to be his comrade.
The first half feels like a disjointed bunch of sequences that tries to be a satire and a political drama about warring party groups. Though the romantic track is a bit draggy, the subplot revolving Kannan, and his family (which reminds you of a subplot from Ajithkumar's Eeda) compensates for that. The screenplay's predictability becomes apparent, as we can gauge the conflicts beforehand.
Still, the narrative keeps you invested in what happens next. The second half gives an enjoyable conceit where Ullaskumar had to accompany Kanna to Sabarimala. The film plays out like a satire on the rationalist debate, and the conflict is also brought in an interesting way.
But the interesting parts are overpowered by a tonally inconsistent sequences in the screenplay. Krishna gets chased by goons from the opposition, which feels insignificant to the narrative. The climactic stretch is well-staged, but misses to create the necessary impact as the film wastes a lot of time on needless sequences.
Biju Menon underplays the role well (basically Biju Menon does Biju Menon stuff). Nimisha Sajayan performs a brief role that has lesser scope to perform. But its Saranjith as Kanna who wins the top honours. Overall, Nalpathiyonnu has an interesting idea at a surface level, but the lackluster, tonally inconsistent screenplay fails to translate interestingly on the screen.