On April Fool's Day in 1996, the Kerala government led by A K Antony took a bold initiative to prohibit arrack, which landed many alcoholics in awkward situations. French Viplavam directed by debutant Maju, takes us back to the post-ban period when their much-loved drink was taken away all of a sudden.
The film takes us into the fictional village of Kochukadavu to offer a glance into the collective hangover of a bunch of tipplers.
Susheelan (Lal) is an arrack dealer. Meera, (Arya Salim) his daughter, is the love interest of Sathyan (Sunny Wayne), a chef.
As in every love story, the heroine’s father is the villain here too.
Sathyan tries his level best to impress Susheelan and this forms the crux of the film.
The movie reminds us of Kunjiramayanam, which talked about a set of villagers who fell in love with Salsa, a popular alcohol brand. But Sunny Wayne and team comes up with a different interpretation in French Viplavam.
All the characters in the film, be it Chemban Vinod, Sasi Kalinga, Aristo Suresh or Noby, have done justice to their roles and the comic scenes are perfectly timed.
Maju, who had just a single short film to his credit, has handled a commercial movie very well. The camera cranked by Pappinu has captured the scenic beauty and long takes excellently. Art director Arun Venjaramoodu deserves a big round of applause for taking us into the vintage 90s era superbly.
French Viplavam is a complete entertainer which makes our funny bones move non-stop for over two hours, and towards the end the audience will know the significance of the title.
