Fireman — The rise of Mammookkanth!

As I headed out of the cinema hall after watching Mammooty’s latest flick Fireman, I heard two fellow moviegoers christen the film’s hero as ‘Mammookkanth’.

I laughed out loud as it was a clever play of words with Mammooty’s pet name ‘Mammookka’ and ‘Rajni Kanth,’ South Indian cinema’s very own Chuck Norris.

And there is a ring of truth to it. In the movie, he plays the role of a firefighter named Vijay, who is a master strategist and troubleshooter with ice running through his veins.

He singlehandedly operates a fire hose that takes at least three people to lift. And a jab on the villain’s jaw makes him fly five metres through the air.

The tale starts with the disappearance of a little girl, whose father (played by national award winner Salim Kumar) goes into mental shock. While driving around the city in mad grief, he causes a liquefied petroleum gas tanker to overturn. Scores of people and firefighters are killed in the resultant explosion.

Enter Vijay, who soon takes control of the situation.

The film moves along swiftly, with plenty of twists and turns. But there’re an equal number of loopholes in the plot as well.

Director Deepu Karunakaran, who gave several duds in the past, has tried to speak about a subject that has not been tackled before — the life of firemen.

But the hero’s over-glorification ends up being quite jarring. There is very little character development and none of them stay in your mind once the lights come back on.

Yesteryear actor Ratheesh’s son Padmaraj makes a cameo appearance in the movie and he stuns. He has got his father’s rugged good looks and can go far.

Nyla Usha plays the role of the City Police Commissioner Sherin Thomas IPS and she does it well.

With a gripping narrative style (logic be damned), Fireman is definitely one of the better-looking movies to have come out in recent times. But it is by no means the best.

VERDICT: Mamooty has given us some power performances in the past. Fireman proves the fire still burns somewhere within him. Six out of 10 stars.