Right from his first film, Jibu Jacob seemed to be on the lookout for that perfect balance between a family drama and a political commentary. Vellimoonga , his debut work, managed to hit the right spot many a time, in what was an enjoyable political satire, although the making style was still somewhat old school.
Take the light-heartedness, humour, and engaging script out of that film, and you would be left with Ellam Sheriyakum , Jibu’s latest offering.
Raising hopes of a political potboiler, the opening sequence is set on the night before the counting of votes of an important Assembly election. The party workers are all milling about at the house of K.C. Chacko (Siddique), who is projected to be the Chief Minister.
That night, his daughter Ancy (Rajeesha Vijayan) elopes with Vineeth (Asif Ali), youth leader of the opposing Left party. Much of the film is set around three years after this event, when an intense wish swells up in Ancy as well as her mother to set things right within the family, although Chacko remains obstinate.
Lack of creativity
Weaved around this is the political drama, which draws a lot from political events in recent years in Kerala. But, much of the political part of the story shows the lack of creativity on the part of the writers, who have chosen to retain many of the real world happenings as it is with slight changes, rather than using these sparingly.
Not much effort has been taken in fleshing out the characters or the story. For that matter, there is not even a major conflict worth resolving in the film, or something which would keep the audience hooked with anticipation. The flashback part, as if in compensation for Vineeth’s subdued behaviour at present, also does not evoke much of an interest. A reference to a much-discussed case of honour killing in the State is also thrown in, but it fails to create any impact, for the characters involved here appear on the screen a few minutes before the scene, leaving not even enough time for the viewers to register their presence.
Towards the middle, the script gives Vineeth something to worry about, in Ancy’s supposedly indifferent behaviour after getting closer to her family, but even this turns out to be more a figment of his imagination, rather than that of the scriptwriters.
This time around, despite the huge doses of hope in the title, Jibu Jacob gets hardly anything right.
