Oru Lockdown Madyanham: A heady appetizer

Haves and have nots – it’s the truth of human history and a story told a zillion times. Oru Lockdown Madyanham tells the same story but in a refreshing manner.

(You can watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSd0oE8hchM )

It explores the great divide exposed by the great lockdown – which the IMF believes could be the biggest economic emergency since the great depression.

Oru Lockdown Madyanham tells the story through the eyes of two drinkers – not drunkards mind you, just drinkers. One in the city and the other in a village, one financially sound, the other not so, one with access to alcohol, the other craving for it.

It’s India’s first short film made on Zoom, an online meeting app.

One shot, no retakes.

Life as it is.

Critics are divided.

“He is super,” global film watcher Aanathala Aravindan is floored by the performance of Vazhikulam Rakesh, who plays the unnamed character.

“Liquor is a great leveler. But in this great lockdown, even alcohol has become the preserve of the rich,” Kinasseri Karunan says, “If this film doesn’t jolt the conscience of society, nothing will.”

“It was great watching the film, but I still don’t the purpose of the film,” says Kallu Vasu.

All agree on one thing,

Oru Lockdown Madyanham is a bold appetizer. It could lead to a new wave of cinema.

Uyare, when dreams take off

We don’t come across acid attack survivors too often. But what do we feel when we do? Sympathy, fear, revulsion, sadness … ? Some would keep staring, others would try to avoid. What Uyare does is, it makes us see acid attack survivors as fellow human beings.

Uyare is the story of survival, determination and willpower.

It is a movie made for and by Parvathy (Pallavi). Barring the initial scenes as a college student performing at the youth festival, where she was a misfit, Parvathy is excellent.

So is Asif Ali (Govind), the obsessive lover. The more we dislike Govind, the more we feel for Pallavi. If Asif Ali had failed in his role, the movie would have too.

Tovino Thomas is good, Siddique as Pallavi’s father is OK and Prem Prakash as Govind’s helpless dad is very good. Anarkali Marikar as Pallavi’s friend is OK. Samyukta Menon is there for all of 10 seconds, for what we don’t know.

The good thing the film does is the acid attack survivor Pallavi doesn’t cover her face. It is empowerment and defiance. And it forces the viewer to play a role too. Unlike in real life, there is no avoiding the harsh reality, the viewer sits through, face to face with the acid attack survivor. Pallavi is looking you in the eye, and you are listening.

Uyare has its flaws. Where in the world would the owner of an airline dictate terms to the ATC? Where in the world would the ATC ask the only person to have some training at flying an aircraft to stay out of cockpit when the plane is crashing?

Uyare is a masala tearjerker with a fairytale ending, but then we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  

Kumbalangi musings

Kumbalangi Nights, where the days are never boring. There is always some action, good or bad.

A family of brothers not on good terms mostly, two of them lazy, one a mute, and the fourth a school student - Kumbalangi Nights is their story.

Along the way you get glimpses of Kerala’s societal issues like moral policing and voluntary unemployment (a word coined by Bibek Debroy), alcoholism, suicides.

It’s a simple story, a simple script, a simple movie.

All the actors do their bit very well, the newcomers included.

To Fahadh Faasil’s credit, he is still not caught in the trappings of superstardom. He is willing to share screen space, even cede space to, capable actors like Shane Nigam, who could well be a superstar in the making, and Soubin Shahir.

Anna Ben as Babymol is cute. The ease with which she plays down an inter-religion marriage saying, “so what, Christ is no stranger to us”, was kola mass.

Kumbalangi Nights ticks all the boxes. It might even appeal to an overseas audience. But that is it. It is a good movie - good but not great.

We expect a lot more from the Dileesh Pothan stable. May I say ‘yeh dil maange more.’ 

Sudani From Nigeria - The Beautiful Film

Malapppuram takes its football seriously, much, much more than how we take our cricket in Delhi. Sudani From Nigeria is about Malappuram’s passion for football. But it is not just about football. It is more about humanity, love, kindness and every other value we find missing in today’s world.

The movie, dare I say, also deals with the rising Islamophobia in the country. The movie is a must-watch for non-Malayalees in Indian cities who rarely mingle with Muslims and harbour scary notions about the community -- like illiteracy, hate for Hindus, soft on terror, Pakistan lovers, etc. In that sense, the movie is as political as they come.

The two grandmothers (Savithri Sreedharan & Sarasa Balussery) on the screen remind us of our grandmothers. The harmless gossip, the unconditional love and affection that comes in the form of savouries, gifts and dua (prayers). How a family tends to an African player who gets injured and pays for the costly treatment, even though he is ruled out for the rest of the season.

Soubin Shahir as Majid, the manager of the team, is brilliant as usual. So is his helpless stepfather, whom Majid despises because he had to serve biryani at his mother’s second wedding.

Samuel Robinson as Sudu is cute .The best scene from the movie for me was when Sudu and Majid exchanged their jerseys, an act that transcends borders, religions, castes, sects, culture…

Sudani From Nigeria is a beautiful movie about the beautiful game and the beautiful people who play it and the beautiful people who love the game.

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum: An eyewitness account

Imagine it’s a lazy May afternoon. You are in the sitout, reading a short story, watching time pass at its own pace. Minute by minute, second by second. No fast edits, no camera jerks. You just sit there and read the story. That is Dileesh Pothan’s Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum.

Pothan, unlike other big names in the industry, is a simple story teller. He might use different techniques in doing so, but they are done smartly and never stand out like a blaring horn on a highway.

Suraj Venjaramoodu gets a good role, zero buffoonery, 100% substance. He gets such roles once in a blue moon, but does justice to it. It’s his onscreen wife who steals the show. Nimisha Sajayan (Sreeja), I googled her name and without mentioning her this review would be incomplete, shines in should I call an understated role. No antics, totally real and smart. When her affair with a lower caste man (Suraj) is discovered at home she promptly says ‘ഒരു ദുർബല നിമിഷത്തിൽ ഞങ്ങൾ ശാരീരിക ബന്ധത്തിലേർപ്പെട്ടു (In a weak moment we had sex)’, a dialogue we often hear in TV soaps and painkili magazines (Malayalam’s Manohar Kahaniyaan).

The star, however, is Fahadh Faasil, who plays a thief who gets caught stealing the gold necklace of Sreeja.  Here on begins the thief’s struggle to get out of the situation he is in. He tries all the tricks, പതിനെട്ട് അടവും so to say, and fails at every stage.

But with every passing second the thief gains the sympathy of the audience, and I suspect his victims, with his charming wit. He is a motivational guru, never giving up hope, even when pushed to the wall. “Try till the very end, that is my ഇത്,” he would say. And the audience, by now eating out of his hand, lapping up every lie he has to say, too doesn’t give up hope till the end.