Outsider (Malayalam)
Director: Prem Lal
Cast: Sreenivasan, Indrajit, Pashupati, Ganga Babu
The posters cautioned against an intruder. So, it was hoped that a new ploy would be employed against the unwanted guest. Hopes were dashed... Outsider is the usual clash between the muscular and the not so muscular. The weakling flees. The strong man dogs him till a more muscular man, shows the bully his place. Salvation, thy name is brawn. Novelty is nowhere in the picture. Director Premlal's film is poorer for it.
Sivankutty (Sreenivasan), a tailor, is forced to commit a crime, then shift base, and sew up his life anew after a brutality leaves his family in tatters. The long, sharp thorn in his flesh is a deranged fugitive Lawrence (Pashupati), the uninvited Outsider. Twelve years later they meet, cunningly egged on by the retired Dy. SP (Saikumar), who finds himself in a soup, paddling furiously for survival. Revenge is in the air. Enter Mukundan (Indrajit), the goon-turned-do-gooder, as the welcome Outsider.
Sivankutty's life takes some sharp turns, but at every bend he finds helping hands. His pain is searing, but is eased by appropriately placed cushions in the script. The suffering, thus blunted, fails to etch an impact. Sreenivasan does a thorough job as a broken man, though his expression seldom changes (there is nothing much to emote).
But Pashupati compensates for that, goes overboard. Red eyes, contorted face, exaggerated gestures, he flaunts them all. Indrajit has pretty little to offer, which is a pity, especially after his stellar performance in Ee adutha kaalathu . His character reforms quite early in Outsider and is shorn of all shades of grey. He says only good things, smiles, and plays bodyguard to his lover and her father (Sreenivasan). The lover, Ganga Babu, has even less screen space, but shows some spark given a chance.
Outsider doesn't throw up any surprises, but is soaked in melodrama. The plot labours through Thekkady and Peerumedu and finally hits a brick kiln in a scorched land. Many hefty punches and lots of red dust later — which Sameer Haq's camera captures to a nicety — the film struggles to a tame, predictable end. One bright spot is the opening and closing shots, which are in sync. The viewer is given the liberty to interpret.
