A ll an avid film-goer, mercilessly assaulted by kitsch and crime on-screen, has to do today is seek a Malayalam film showing at the nearest multiplex. It is the kind of cinema that can calm the mind and soothe your senses. I believe you can make such sensible, mature films only when you respect the viewer’s intelligence and not treat him as an intellectual inferior.
Whenever I have discussed this with some of the ‘star’ directors, they insist that they churn out pot-boilers because that is what the audiences demand. Actually it is pure convenience in connivance with a producer who insists on stars and predictable tropes. It is purely a confession of their inability to write something relevant and interesting. Anyway, the success of films like ‘RangiTaranga’, ‘Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu’ and the blockbuster ‘Kirik Party’ to name a few, has nailed the lie at least as far as Kannada cinema is concerned.
Vinay who distributes Malayalam films in Bengaluru is my guide. I take pride in the fact that I kept insisting he suggest to his producer friends that they introduce subtitles in Malayalam films to garner a wider audience even though it added to the cost. Vinay reverted that there was some resistance because Malayalis love their cinema so much that they feel subtitles are a distraction. Anyway better sense prevailed. ‘Jomonte Suviseshangal’ and ‘Munthirivallikallal Thallirkkumbol’ were released on the same day. Only the names are tongue twisters. The plots are ethereal. The former has the charming Dulquer while the latter boasts of the inimitable Mohanlal. Vinay recommended the latter, adding there was nothing great about the former. I agreed to a certain extent only after watching both. ‘JS’ was brushed off by many as being similar to the recently released ‘Jacobinte Swargarajyam’ , but they just share a similar premise. The treatment is entirely different. In that context nobody should make a romance or a thriller. But then with the quality of films they churn out they can afford to grumble. I am slightly shocked when Vinay informs me they dish out a lot of tripe too. “What you get is carefully filtered,” says Vinay. Anyway I liked ‘JS’ too. We are so used to certain situations that we find it strange when the reaction of a character in a Malayalam film is normal. Take the scene where the rich mother of the girl Dulquer loves tells her to leave him because his family has fallen on bad times. You expect the hero to break a blood vessel and swear that he will return a rich man in one month and take the girl. Dulquer hugs the girl, tells her he doesn’t deserve her because what her mother is saying is the truth and walks away never to see her again.
Mohanlal is on a roll. If 2016 belonged to him thanks to the stupendous success of ‘Puli Murugan’, his New Year gift to fans is ‘MT’, a charming film populated with relatable, likable characters and sensible situations set in realistic surroundings. It talks about how drudgery makes a marriage monotonous making the wife seek soppy soaps on TV while the husband downs a few pegs with friends. There is midlife crisis, unrequited love, the attraction to an extra-marital fling and the anxiety of having a pubescent girl at home. The plot keeps you guessing as much as ‘Drishyam’ did especially when the young girl is gifted a mobile by her boyfriend and during a chat asks her to shoot and send pictures when she is in the bathroom but this is not a thriller. In fact, I think it is a ploy used by the director Jibu Jacob on purpose. The protagonist realises the relationship parents share can be an example to kids. Lal’s transformation from the grumpy to the caring is a delight to watch. In an interesting scene he confesses he was nearly enticed into an affair and his wife coolly answers she had guessed that, before telling him that one of his buddies and neighbours were hitting on her. The scenes where the couple sense a change in their daughter’s behaviour and their anxiety when they realise she is infatuated are extremely relatable. The way they handle the situation is a revelation. You like this family so much you start worrying about them and wishing nothing inadvertent happens. You feel like the camera that roams around the rooms of the tiny house peeping into their simple life. Idle curiosity slowly turns into genuine concern. That is the director’s triumph.
Mohanlal does not act. He reacts to situations in the most appropriate manner imaginable. Meena has transformed into a fine character artiste. Malayalam cinema has helped hone her skills. The casting of the supporting characters is pitch perfect. ‘MT’ is a cinematic detox.
S.Shiva Kumar
sshivu@yahoo.com
