Arabikatha

‘Cuba’ Mukundan (Sreenivasan) is a leading member of the communist party in a village in Kerala. His whole life revolves around the party so much so that he is not married. To me the movie was almost like a cheap imitation of a work of V.S. Naipaul. The writer has made a caricature out of the main character. Mukundan has learnt his communism from ‘Marx’s book with red cover’ and from his dad and some songs. He is a simpleton with no real understanding of the world. But he is an honest man; you don’t even for a minute doubt his intentions. He is opposing the pollution caused due to a factory whose owner is a rich industrialist from Dubai. One of the party leaders, Karunan try to make him compromise but to no result. In the end the leader along with the industrialist falsely implicate Mukundan’s father and blame him for stealing 20 Lacs from the bank in the name of party funds. Meanwhile Mukundan’s father passes away.

To clear his debt Mukundan decides to go to Dubai. At every instant he is cheated. Finally back at home his close friend realizes that Mukundan was implicated falsely and he travels o dubai to find him. But for two years no one has heard of Mukundan. Finally they are able o trace him and also catch the party leader who is now a minister taking bribe and record it on camera. Mukundan settles score and returns home to serve his party and his people.

The film has its moments where the director tries to bring in the irony. Sreenivasan is passable as a simpleton. Nedumudi Venu is wasted in the role of Mukundan’s father.  But the biggest flaw for me is that the movie was pointless.

Useless script, mediocre performances.

Do skip.

Thanmathra (Molecule)

Finally a Blessy movie which makes some sense...

After having watched Bhramaran and Calcutta news, I had lost faith in his direction but Thanmathra proves that it’s not a lose cause yet. The movie begins with the life of a simple man Ramesan Nair (Mohanlal). He lives with his wife Lekha (Meera Vaasudevan), son Manu (Arjun Lal) and daughter. He works at the secretariat. His aim is to make sure that his son becomes an IAS officer. He is absolutely involved in bringing up his kids, teaching them and is himself has a very gifted memory and even lectures at his son’s school on memory techniques.

His is a small and perfect family.

The first anomaly we see is when at his hometown he forgets the nickname of a childhood friend. Not much later he forgets the lyrics of one of his favorite songs. This really frustrates him and he rushes out of a bath without drying himself when he remembers the lyrics. Slowly after that his life starts unraveling and he forgets an important file in the freezer. He even goes to the doctor who initially attributes his forgetfulness to the stress caused due to his son being in class XII.

But then he turns up at office one day with vegetables and behaves as if he is at home. Soon the situation gets out of hand and his good friend Joseph takes him to the hospital. His father (Nedumudi Venu) also comes from the village. The doctor informs the family that Ramesh is suffering from Alzheimer’s and the family needs to be prepared for it. Throughout this the son Manu behaves very maturely and handles the entire crisis.

Ramesh’s father decides to move the family back to the ancestral home so that they can take care of Ramesh. Thereon we see slowly the degeneration of Ramesh while his family watches.

The movie is well directed especially because it tackles an issue like Alzheimer’s very sensitively. While watching the movie, initially I felt that the director is rambling aimlessly but after he starts showing the effects of memory loss on Ramesh you realize the importance of the initial background the director gave. In my personal opinion the technique of moving between past and present that Blessy later used in Bhramaran could have made this film a little crisp. Nevertheless he successfully tells the story of Ramesh in a very poignant manner.

What disappointed me in this movie are the performances. The fundamental reason for that could be that the actors and the director might not have done their background research in actually studying a patient of Alzheimer’s. To understand the nuances of their behavior, to see how the disease reduces a person to a vegetable, you actually have to spend some time with a person suffering from it and with the family taking care of the patient. But our Indian actors are above all this. They can just wake up and play any character. As a result Mohanlal’s performance is melodramatic and all Meera Vasudevan does on the screen is cry. Arjun Lal, looks extremely unnatural as the dutiful son.

The film has its moments but falls short of expectations.

(Can Skip)

Devasuram

There is something very unique about the directors and script writers from Kerala. They have uniquely engaging style and a continuity in the movie they make\write.

Devasuram is one such film. Mangalassery Neelakantan (Mohanlal) is the son of a famous personality but does nothing except wasting away his father’s wealth. The only actual passion he has is for music and appreciates ad patronizes local artists.

He himself is a gifted musician but lacks the self discipline. He is also at loggerheads with another feudal family in the village and there are frequent fights between the two camps. Neela has a trusted advisor Warrier (Innocent) who takes care of his daily affairs.

The rival gang corners Warrier and beat him up one day. To retaliate Neela’s friends decide to hire a thug to rough up the rival leader but instead the thug ends up killing him. He then goes into hiding.

Meanwhile Appu master (Nedumudi Venu) is a drunkard with two daughters. He has sold all his land and has taken multiple loans for the dance education of his elder daughter Bhanumathi (Revathi) who is very gifted and is all set to go to Delhi to further her career as a dancer.

Neela restores an old concert hall near the temple and the villagers want to plan a grand opening. They decide to invite Bhanu to dance at the temple. When Neela’s men go to invite her, she rebukes them and sends them away for their rowdy behavior. Later Neela apologizes to Appu master and pays him the token amount to have Bhanu perform at the temple. At the last minute after the artists are ready Neel forces Bhanu to perform in front of him and his friends in his courtyard for insinuating them earlier. Bhanu though forced to dance is furious and vows never to dance again till Neela’s death. Warrier believes, she has cursed the family.

Shortly after that Neela’s life starts to disintegrate one thread at a time. The killer who had gone into hiding is caught and demands a huge sum to keep quiet. As a result Neela has to sell his ancestral land for peanuts to a buyer he had refused earlier.

Hard times also fall on Bhanu and her family as they have to give up their house to the debt collector. They start living at a relative’s house who misbehaves with Bhanu. Hearing their plight Neela sends Warrier to bring the family to live with them and Bhanu has to relent under pressure from her father. Meanwhile, Neela’s mother is not keeping well and stays with her brothers. When Neela goes to visit her he learns a terrible secret about his birth which completely shatters him. His mother dies soon after.

Neela decides to change for the better. Meanwhile Bhanu’s relative comes and offers them a place to stay. Soon after in a fight Shekharan from the rival family runs down Neela and he is paralyzed.

The rest of the movie is about how Bhanu supports him in this difficult time and how they rediscover each other.

No doubt the movie is engaging and fast paced and has the kind of attraction Godfather has. I still feel the characters needed to be etched out more. They don’t get to show individuality and seem to be always giving in to circumstances.

Mohanlal again delivers a superb performance. Revathi is not too impressive.

Fast paced, engaging.

(Can Watch)

Bharatham

A story which will resonate in bits and pieces with every family, Bharatham is a movie par excellence. A story of two brothers, both exceptional singers and what can be called a version of sibling rivalry; or a story about rise and fall in life; or story of finding the escape from the burden of your own fears; or more importantly a story depicting the circle of life.


Nedumudi Venu is a well known Carnatic singer who with age takes to drinking. Soon it interferes with his singing to the extent he collapses on stage mid-performance. Mohanlal, the younger brother and apprentice takes the stage and soon wins over the audience for his powerful, soulful and creative singing. Nedumudi Venu unable to accept the backseat falls apart. What follows is a poignant tale of how he reconciles with his destiny. But that’s not all; there is a twist in the tale that tells you that while you may be mortal, life is eternal and times it’s not about choosing one over the other but simply that you must pass on what you got.

The movie is not just a story of two brothers but a moving tribute to art. The elder brother must pass on his art and blessing to the younger brother for the tradition to continue, but there is always personal ambition to account for and the film delicately delves on the dichotomy between the two. On the part of the prodigy, he must carry forward what he learnt but in the process he owes it to the teacher a debt which can never be repaid.



Mohanlal and Nedumudi Venu have given stellar performances and it will be easily one of the best roles of their lives. Very down to earth, no frills performance. It actually reminded me of a few Ingmar Bergman movies I have seen, similar to Vaanaprastham in its treatment. I will simply not have the right words to justify Mohanlal's performance. His dedication, his talent, his burden, his anguish and dilemmas stay with you. It’s as if he is a musician.

I definitely cannot end the review without mentioning the music. Though I do not really understand classical Carnatic music but I can tell you that the music stays with you.

Beautiful script, superb direction, stellar performances, brilliant music.

(Must Watch)