Film:Munroethuruthu
Director: P.S. Manu
Cast: Indrans, Jason Chacko , Abhija Sivakala, Anil Nedumangadu, Alencier Ley
There could be times wewished for a dictionary that we could open, refer, understand life’s events and go on with our days.
In a world of paradoxes and conspiracy theories, such a possibility becomes even more appealing but all one can do is wait and witness life unveiling itself in its own myriad shades. Munroethuruthu, the debut feature by P.S. Manu that won acclaim in the International Film Festival of Kerala last year and several other festivals, explores such a quandary. Set in a sunny island called Munroethuruthu where an old man excitedly receives his seemingly eccentric grandson, the film evokes curiosity as not many directors in our language have ventured into the uncharted territory of the human mind.
Presenting Indrans — an actor who has almost always been given clownish roles — as a modern, educated man who seems to grasp his grandson’s peculiarities with equanimity, Munroethuruthu tries to break some set notions of our filmdom.
Dexterous camera by Pratap P. Nair and engaging dialogues is a sharp departure from the ‘award movie’ concept.
Keshu, who is in his late teenage years, arrives at his ancestral home to spend a few days with his grandfather. His visibly upset father wants to take him to NIMHANS for psychiatric treatment but the grandfather insists that the boy is not abnormal, only different.
They walk down the memory lanes, with the domestic help, Kathu, for company, and share some warm moments before things go out of hand.
While the grandfather desperately tries to stay above his convictions of normalcy, Keshu challenges it all. More than a war between the old and the new or seeking answers for the generation gap, what the movie does is exploring the grey area — the eternal puzzle of what is true and what is false.
But while at it, the narrative seems too cautious about itself and falls short of fleshing out certain events.
Among our blockbusters still telling the tales of good winning over evil and championing macho men as saviours, movies like Munroethuruthu projects the potential of the alternative.
Rasmi Binoy
