“And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee! “

– Ezekiel 25:17

The old testament quote quipped by Samuel L. Jackson’s Winnfield in Pulp Fiction has re-emerged after 25 years through Stephen Nedumpally – such is the class of Murali Gopi’s script that it makes up more than enough for the old wine in new bottle vendetta tale / political game. The man who has inspired 3 generations to twirl their moustaches and carry off to perfection their mundu swag is back again as the anti-hero akin to his all-time classics like Irupatham Noottandu or Rajavinte Makan – even the celebrated Sagar Alias Jacky Dialogue of narcotics rehashed in panache amidst the proceedings. Prithviraj Sukumaran is sensational and downright poised for a newbie director – fittingly supported by Sujith Vasudev‘s brilliant camera and Deepak Dev’s BGM. A seamless poise is struck in not overcooking the mass scenes with beaten to death slow motion shots and at the same time retaining the Lucifer swag all along. New gen movies which squeeze in a Lalettan reference at the slightest pretext to exploit the nostalgia dynamic can take a cue or two from Lucifer where the makers have underplayed Lal’s charisma to suit the antagonistic protagonist effectively. While a rather thin storyline and predictable plot elements maybe the only hitch to this ambitious political drama with large crowds (reminiscent of 80s I.V.Sasi Classics), crisp but effective portions by the supporting actors (Tovino, Indrajith & Oberoi making the most of their part intensely) and the greyish undertones of the lead guy helps in driving the movie home as this year’s summer blockbuster! Opening off with the death of CM Ramdas and trying to figure who is going to take over the party headship amidst the political-drug mafia-underworld-media nexus, Lucifer maintains its political drama / slow thriller premise wisely to the end with the director throwing himself in with an extended cameo and some good plot twists towards the end. Small but well thought directors’ touches would be the kid playing Stephen’s childhood maintaining that epic shoulder angle of the superstar perfectly or the end credits scene with conspiracy theories.

Lucifer is to Mohanlal what Petta is to Rajnikanth – the vintage bad boy returning to allure the fan boys !