Philips and the Monkey Pen


Philips and the Monkey Pen is a 2013 Indian Malayalam children's film written by Rojin Thomas and directed by Rojin Thomas and Shanil Muhammed. The film stars Sanoop Santhosh, Jayasurya, Remya Nambeesan, Vijay Babu and Joy Mathew.
The film revolves around a ten-year-old called Ryan Philip and his adventures with a magical pen called the Monkey Pen. The film was co-produced by actress Sandra Thomas under Friday Film House banner. Neil D’Cunha is the cinematographer and the music has been scored by Remya Nambeesan's brother, Rahul Subrahmaniam.
The film released on 7 November 2013 in Kerala. The film completed 111 days in theaters and was a commercial success at the box-office. The film won Kerala State Film Award for Best Children's Film and Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist.

Plot

The movie is the story of Ryan Philip, and his family includes his Christian father, his Muslim mother, who marries against the wish of their parents. His grandfather is Capt. Richard Philip. In this story, Ryan is one of the most mischievous boys in his class. He hates math. He is always scolded by his math teacher because he doesn't finish his homework. His bad behaviour and his failing math had become a problem for him at school. One fine day, he develops a crush on his classmate, Joan. He writes a letter to her telling her his feelings which she rejects. When he meets his antique collector grandfather, he comes into possession of the monkey pen. The monkey pen changed his life. The monkey pen does all his homework for him in return for a few tasks given to him by the pen which he must do. The tasks include wishing your teachers properly, clean your classroom etc. The school radio programmer was impressed by his ideas and he spreads his 'Ryan's tips' to the entire school. He turns into a loved character in his school. In one of his pranks, Ryan ended up putting his math sir into police custody. Maths sir decided to be sweet to them in his last few days in his school. Ryan was chosen as the leader of an inter-school math exhibition. He asks the monkey pen for a topic. Monkey pen promised to give him the topic in a week, but he has to do some work. Joan said yes to Ryan's proposal. On the same day, Joan's bus meets with an accident and she dies, depressing Ryan. According to the suggestion of the monkey pen, Ryan talks to his mom which makes him better. The monkey pen gave him a topic after a week 'mathematics in everyday life'. The math exhibition turns out to be a success but their school doesn't win. This depresses Ryan and he confesses to his professor that he was the reason for him to end up in jail. The professor forgives him and asks him to cheer up. Ryan is still thinking about Joan when he sees the note left by the monkey pen, asking him to do something for her. He puts up posters in his college informing about the overly packed school buses resulting in accidents. School decided to take strict measures against that. After all this, Ryan talks to his father and his father advises him to always tell the truth, and work hard without relying on shortcuts. Ryan then asks his father whether he was the one doing homework for Ryan, for which he denies. His father then walks away with a smile, making the audience realize that Ryan's father did all the monkey pen's activities. Ryan, after listening to his father throws the monkey pen into the sea resolving to work hard and not relying on monkey pen.

Cast

Philips and the Monkey Pen got very much positive reviews from critics and other audiences.
Deccan Chronicle gave 3.5/5 rating and said, "This, to date, must surely rate as the year's top contender of the prestigious Swarna Kamal for the Best Children's Film. It lights up the righteous path without being preachy. When a son says to his father, "I thought the truth would pain you", the wise one smiles, inspiringly, "The truth isn't bitter; it is the lies that are excessively sweet"."

Awards

The film's soundtrack contains 6 songs, all composed by Rahul Subrahmanian. Lyrics by Anu Elizabeth Jose, Sibi Padiyara, and Mamtha Seemanth.