2.5 / 4 STARS
DIRECTOR: SINGEETHAM SRINIVASA RAO
ACTOR: BENTLEY MITCHUM
ACTRESS: JOTHIKA
MUSIC DIRECTOR: PRAVIN MANI
STORYLINE:
American researcher John (Bentley Mitchum, son of more popular American actor Robert Mitchum) comes to a small town to research a temple called Mukkuthu Amman, which is famous for the Amman's nose-ring. In India, he falls in love with Jothika, one of his friends' sister.
Meanwhile, Kala Bhairavan (Prakash Raj, wearing little but a loincloth) wishes to steal the Mukkuthi for its powers. But a priest at the temple (Anupam Kher) often foils his plans.
Eventually, Bhairavan does steal the mukkuthi, and the blame falls on our more convenient hero. John escapes from the police, rushes to Anupam Kher's protection. Intending to make him invisible, Kher, by mistake, makes him shrink. So now John is Little John.
The rest of the story involves how Little John becomes Big John again and restores the Mukkuthi to its rightful place.
COMMENTS:
Dismissed as a children's film, "Little John" flopped box-office-wise. But surprisingly, it's an oddly endearing film which is well worth watching. The comedy is funny, Bentley Mitchum makes a good hero, and Jothika herself acts adequately. My quibbles with it are that the graphics are poor, and that the story takes too long to get into its main point. But these are excusable errors.
While the film is not engrossing, it's certainly worth a watch.
NOTE ON THE MUSIC:
Pravin Mani's music is pretty good in places. My favorites on the track are "Bailare" and "Paadavaa."
RECOMMENDATION:
Watch it on video.
VIJAY VANNIARAJAN