There’s a lot the makers of Mukundan Unni Associates have done to underline the extremely dark tone of their pitch black comedy. Not only have they maintained an edgy, thriller-like mood for the promos, but they have also created social media accounts for its protagonist Mukundan Unni to give you an idea of how his mind operates. Even the film begins with a declaration: “human beings are mostly grey. But in some cases they are just black”. You understand this need to market the film with care because a) this is NOT a feel-good Vineeth Sreenivasan film and b) a film written around a grey character seldom inhabits a universe so bleak and hopeless. Empathy, for instance, is so far removed from the film’s Wayanad setting that it makes the Black Hole feel like a cheery honeymoon destination.
The hyperbole is intentional because Mukundan Unni refuses to follow patterns of films that are written around a twisted protagonist. In most cases, when we’re introduced to a character with a broken moral compass, you almost always get people around them upholding higher values to contrast the protagonist’s mindset. But in this film, even the nicest person is opportunistic and self aware, with the only difference being that they have been painted with a lighter shade of grey. If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, it’s easy to think of the film as an indulgent exercise, made to reinforce the notion that this world is an inhumane, hopeless place. But if you picture yourself as a cynic, chances are you’ll find Mukundan Unni Associates both highly enjoyable and oddly comforting.