Sunday is for long reads, for sharing stories, and for general lazing around, except of course for those who are forced to work on that day. And so, Unni Mukundan (Sreenivasan), a college lecturer who has been aspiring to make a film, chooses that day to narrate his script to filmmaker David Paul (Lal Jose). Only problem being, David Paul is not having a relaxed day, rather he is admitted to a hospital where the lecturer has come in as an uninvited guest.
But then, Sunday Holiday is not about them. The story that Unni narrates, the story that he wants to make into a film, becomes the film, a familiar cinematic device being made use of here, not quite badly.
That story is about Amal (Asif Ali), who comes to the city to get over a heartbreak. He takes up a job as a salesman. The movie is literally about how he gradually gets over his heartbreak, but it is thankfully interspersed with some funny and not-so-funny side stories.
Sunday Holiday is the second outing of Jis Joy, who debuted with Bicycle Thieves (not the Italian classic). The woes of those who dream of making it big in cinema and those who settle for something else, also comes through in this story that Unni narrates.
Like the character played by Siddique, who is a sought-after translator of dialogues and lyrics for Telegu films dubbed in Malayalam. Another character played by Dharmajan aspires to be an actor, but is forced to act in ads that sell spurious telemarketing products. But then, much of that is treated with humour.
The one issue with the film, though, is that it repeats the now-common thread in Malayalam cinema of women who are out to deceive the men they are in love with. This film has not just one, but two such characters.
It sticks out as particularly ugly in a context where the ingrained patriarchy of the industry is out there for all to see.
Sunday Holiday is the kind of film that never hits the highs or the lows, rather it stays put at the middle.
S.R. Praveen
