Humour and punch are essential ingredients in Malayalam movie dialogues. ‘Lavan Puliyanu Ketta’ from the Mammootty-starrer 'Rajamanikyam' or ‘I am the sorry aliya, I am the sorry’ from 'Thilakkam' are among the dialogues that have made their way into our daily discourse.
In 2022 too, Mollywood movies reeled out interesting and punchy dialogues without fail. Here’s a look at some of them.
'Chambiko'
Chambiko from Amal Neerad’s megahit ‘Bheeshma Parvam’ is easily the most celebrated dialogue of 2022. The punch dialogue, mouthed by Mammootty’s character Michael, the patron of the Anjootti household, spread like wildfire across social media.
In the movie, the dialogue is used in a dual context. While one is a permission for the photographer to click the family's photo, the other is a command to beat the lights out of the wrongdoers elsewhere. Chambiko is a colloquial term in Malayalam used to persuade someone to engage in an activity.
Soon enough, weddings, family photoshoots, alumni meets and public events became the perfect venue to enact this dialogue, which is followed by Sushin Shyam's earworm of a BGM.
The trend was not limited to family photos. Other film celebrities, politicians and even sportspersons jumped on the 'Chambiko' bandwagon.
'Nenu Chaala Dangerous'
Though this dialogue by Mohanlal's character Neyyattinkara Gopan in B Unnikrishnan’s movie ‘Aaraattu’ didn’t get the mass following ‘Chambiko’ did, it got its 15 minutes of fame. ‘Nenu Chaala Dangerous', which means 'I am very dangerous', when delivered by the complete actor himself, oozed with swag, making it an instant hit among YouTube and Instagram users. Of course, you couldn’t ignore it in the movie either as Neyyattinkara Gopan kept reminding the audience how dangerous he is on several occasions.
Probably, the Telugu dialogue was incorporated into the movie to emphasise Gopan’s larger-than-life stature in the scheme of things. All said, neither the dialogue nor Mohanlal was enough to save this poorly executed movie from being panned by the audience, including the actor's frenetic fans.
'Edappa Palliyil Varshangalayi….'
Nobody can forget Anna Ben’s powerful statement in the Tovino-starrer ‘Naradhan’. Anna, who plays Advocate Shaakira Mohammed, appears for a YouTuber accused of abusing TV anchor Chandraprakash (Tovino Thomas). When senior advocate Govinda Menon (Renji Panicker), who is appearing for Chandraprakash, tries to intimidate Shaakira by citing her lack of experience, the young lawyer, without batting an eyelid, says: 'Edappa Palliyil Varshangalayi Thoongi Kidakkunna Vauvalallalo, Innale Vanna Achan Alle Qurbana Chollunne' (It's not the bat that has been hanging for years at the church in Edappa Parish that says the liturgy, but the priest who arrived recently).
In less than 10 seconds, Shaakira shuts down her superior's even superior complex. The dialogue is so sassy that you would want to keep it handy for a moment like that at your workplace.
'Ee Rajyam Oruthanteyum Thanthayude Vaka Alla'
Dijo Jose’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is replete with hard-hitting and loud dialogues aimed at making you think about the existing sociopolitical situation in the country. However, it is definitely the dialogue ‘Ee Rajyam Oruthanteyum Thanthayude Vaka Alla’, which roughly translates to 'this country is not anybody's personal property', delivered by a Prithviraj in peak form that gets your adrenaline rushing.
Such dialogues are timely and capture the frustration and anger of the minorities (religious, political and caste) who are often repressed by those in power. It also gelled well with the mood of the story as 'Jana Gana Mana', featuring Prithviraj and Suraj Venjaramoodu, revolves around the politics of power and caste identity.
Dijo Jose's earlier work 'Queen' was also peppered with a number of power-packed dialogues by Salim Kumar's lawyer character in the court sequences. Advocate Mukundan (Salim Kumar) appears as the counsel for a deceased girl who was raped. However, during the trial, her image is tarnished by many witnesses citing she was spotted at many places at inappropriate times, casting insinuations on her character.
'Ethanu Asamayam' (when does time become inappropriate?), thunders Mukundan in the climax scene.
