A drought of creativity seems to have spelt the end to Sibi Malayil's career which was hitherto shone with some finely crafted films.

After a string of spectacular flops including Devadoodan, the Mohanlal starrer, he has become far more cautious and the fear of failure weighs more heavily than the prospect of a grand success. Now he is working on some sure fire success formula to make his presence felt by churning out usual run-of-the-mill movies.

In a flop-ridden industry, playing it safe is the name of the game.If creativity then was about breaking rules(Sibi,assisted by Lohithadas had boken some age-old beliefs and pre-conceived notions regarding the mainstream cinema in the recent past)today, it is about taking the straight road to mundane safety. The film literate Malayali has finally lost one more master craftsman who has made some memorable movies that include Thaniyavarthanam, EZhuthappurangal, Kireedam, Sadayam, Bharatham, and Dasaradham.

Sibi Malayil's latest offering 'Ishtam' is devoid of all the enchanting elements of his earlier films. A film about lovers in their autumn years, Ishtam propagates an acceptable idea-live life to its fullest while you can. Fourty years after a tender, melodious love affair, two middle-aged sweet hearts are reunited and find their hearts rekindled.A spring of love come to their life in the autumn years thanks to the concerted efforts of two young lovers played by Dileep and Navya Nair. After discovering that they have been living for the last 40 years for each other, rich widower Kuttikrishna Menon(Nedumudi Venu) and his first love Sreedevi(Jayasudha) are reunited at a time when they face mid-life crisis.

Sibi Malayil does not add emotional depth and breadth with visions of love.The only saving grace of the film is rib tickling comedy by Dileep, the new mantra for success in an industry plagued by spiralling cost of star-studded films and their subsequent battering at the box office.
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Despite the lack of Sibi touch 'Ishtam' worked at the box office ciefly because of the high voltage play off between Nedumudi Venu and Dileep. The basic story is interesting but the director fails to make it a completely binding film. The screenplay is loose with songs popping up every now and then and being real interruptions in the movie.The major drawback is that it lacks sensitiveness which could have been the biggest plus point in this type of a story.

Navya Nair has screen presence and is charming also but the role does not demand any histrionics.She definitely needs to work hard on emotions, dialogue delivery and expressions.

Direction : Sibi Malayil Script : Kalavoor Ravikumar Cast : Dileep, Nedumudi Venu, Jayasudha, Navya Nair,Srinivasan,Innocent etc