Janapriyan - small-town-boy in the large-town.

There isn’t much that you expect from the film of a new director who has Jayasurya as lead. He’s not your typical superstar who could command a high initial collection or a solo hit. The film Janapriyan doesn’t urge you to watch it and surely makes you think twice before you plan to watch the movie in theatre. It is with this apprehension and low expectations that I too went to watch the film on a Sunday evening when I had nothing much to do. The only hope that I had was that the script has been by Krishna Poojappura whose earlier films include ‘Ivar Vivahitharayal’, ‘Happy Husbands’, ‘Sakudumbam Syamala’.

The film wasn’t a disappointment for me. Well, it was certainly not a classic or a very good film but it still help you spend two and half hours without feeling very bored or angry over the decision you made of watching the movie. The film start with the story of Vaisakhan (Manoj K Jayan) who is a govt. employee smitten by the wish to become a film director. Not something that he shouldn’t wish for, considering he was a gold medalist from the Pune Film Institute. What he lacks is the creativity and knowledge about the harsher truths of life to pen a script and definitely an understanding of his shortcomings. He is turned off by the producer played by Jagathi who is waiting for a good script for his net film.  He neglects his duties in office and it is for his superior officer, colleagues and general public to suffer. Thus he’s wasting the heard earned money that his late father has accumulated and whose job he has got. Owing to public pressure, he is forced to take 5 years leave to pursue his career as a film director.

In comes the chatterbox Priyadarshan (Jayasurya) who is a hardworking individual who does almost all jobs – from rubber tapping to driving the school jeep to selling rubber sheets to taking tuition. He gets appointed as the temporary staff in Taluk office when Vysakhan goes on a long leave. He is a simple man coming from simpler surroundings who is a hard worker, ready to do any job sans any ego. Life has taught him the value of word as his father was a spendthrift who wasted all his ancestral property and committed suicide when the loans had to be paid off. He holds a wish of marrying and giving a beautiful life to a poor girl who hasn’t experienced any happiness in life.

His innocence and the prank played by Meera makes him believe that the simple dressed Meera (Bhama) is the servant of the house next to the lodge where he lives. He falls in love with her while she’s is attracted to his innocence and caring nature. The return of a dejected Vaisakhan, unable to get a producer, to cancel his leave throws Priyadarshan at a whole lot of problems as he expects to marry off his sister and save Bhama from the servant life. He promises to Vaisakhan that he’ll get a producer for the latter so that he can keep his job.

The efforts of Priyadarshan to convince a producer, with a good storyline forms the rest of the story. He is successful when he uses his creativity and experiences in life, which Vaisakhan lacked, to convert his own hear wrenching story to a films script. His genuineness and attachment makes him even reject the offer to direct the film for Vaisakhan. Meanwhile, he learns that Bhama is actually the daughter of a millionaire. With a broken heart, he returns to his home town. How his love is fulfilled becomes the climax.

In this story of a small town innocent boy coming to a large town and capturing hearts wherever he goes, the film never ventures to the darker areas of the city. Jayasurya as a small-town-boy surpasses his earlier performances. It is with so much ease that he has carried of the role without any glitch. The film can be rightly called his. Bhama looks innocent, demure and beautiful in simple dresses and without the heavy make up and colourful dresses. Manoj K Jayan is his usual self with a role which doesn’t demand much. Sarayu is wasted with not much screenspace or dialogues. Salimkumar and Lalu Alex comes in small supporting roles. The songs from the new music director Gautham is not a disappointment.

As Priyadarshan says in this movie, it is the stories that the audience feel is close to their heart that they love. People should be able to relate to the characters. And the story should make them feel good. This is precisely what good scripts lack now-a-days. Krishna Poojappura scores with yet another good script which has been developed into a watchable movie by the new director Boban Samuel. Altogether, this is a movie which you could watch on a day when you want to relax without giving much thought into the nuances of the screenplay.

Manikyakallu - Feel good

Vannanmala High School has the record of the only school in Kerala in which all the students who wrote the SSLC exam failed. This came as quite a surprise to me, because the Kerala SSLC exam is one which is really really tough one to fail!!! The students are given marks for copying the question from the question paper or even attempting to answer (read putting down the question number). The embarrassment is doubled as it is the school from which the education minister himself passed out of. The teachers are not interested in teaching at all and almost everyone has a side business in which they are so involved in..

It is to this school that Vinayachandran (Prithviraj) comes as a new appointment with his ideology that the failure of students is the failure of teachers. The story progresses through the measures that he takes to bring back students to school, cleanup the school compound and minds of his colleagues, overcoming the resistance of both his fellow teachers and students.  .

The story draws some pretty good caricatures. The principal who sells pesticides use the empty classrooms as warehouses and students for loading and unloading the sacks of pesticides. The teacher who is a land broker and also sells underwear (!) which cures diseases (!!). A Muslim teacher who has married thrice (and I thought polygamy is illegal and govt. employees are liable to lose their jobs). A Physical Education teacher who is a yoga practitioner and sells eggs. A music teacher who coaches people participating in a reality show. A teacher who resists the system for its inefficiency but never attempts to teach the students. A father who want his daughter to be married off even before she completes school. The beauty of the screenplay is that all these characters are well merged into the story which doesn’t make the viewers frown.

Although the films does makes you feel good, there is a lack of freshness which would have made the movie a hit just like the director M.Mohanan's previous film, Kadha Parayumbol. the story is pretty predictable and clichéd. We know that the students are going to pass with high marks in the end. The hero’s father was the principal of the same school and it was during his time the pass percentage of students touched zero. He died of a heart attack on hearing this. It happened 22 years ago. The hero who was a child then, now he wants all the students to pass so that his father’s soul can rest in peace. The Physical Education teacher Chandni (Samvrutha Sunil) is his childhood friend who fights with him in the beginning and realizes his true identity when he calls her pet name that he used to call her when they were children (Are the films makers too self centric to realize that this has been used in too many number of films??) She falls in love with him and from then on, support him in all his endeavors.

Regarding acting, each actor has done justice to his/her role. Be it Nedumudi Venu, Jagdheesh, KPAC Lalitha or Prithviraj. Salim Kumar is maturing as an actor with his roles becoming less comic and more character. The students have performed well even while acting with the maestros. Music director M Jayachandran & lyricist Anil Panachooran has done cameos which seems to be roles just for the sake of it.

The story does raise some good points on the lack of commitment of government teachers, the government policies that impair the education system, the poverty which prevents the parents from sending their earning member to school which doesn’t earn anything, the attitude of teachers towards the students, the necessity of dedicated teachers sans any ego and personal agendas who can nurture the good qualities in a student and motivate them. What our education system need are the teachers who are not working for a job but really want to change the life of students. Such schools where the teachers will confidently enroll their own children.

Melvilasam – the search for truth

It’s not always that Malayalam films venture outside the stereotypic storylines. But the film ‘Melvilasam’ (Address) boldly does that. And the result is a brilliantly scripted, exceptionally executed, wonderfully acted film which will stay in my mind for precisely the above mentioned reasons.

The story of a court martial set inside an army court (naturally) which never ventures outside it – except through dialogues. No female actresses, no flashy dresses, no scenic locations, no songs and no flashback scenes which usually comes with such a story line. The camera stays inside the courtroom for the whole one and half hours of the film during which the story takes place. My mind stayed in too.

There is an inherent risk with such a story line. The film has to depend on its screenplay, direction and acting of the protagonists to capture the attention of the audience and keep it till the end of the film. ‘Melvilasam’ does that with ease. The script by Soorya Krishnamoorthy, which is the adaptation of his own play of the same name, is the real star of this film.

Sawar Ramachandran (Parthipan) shot two of his superior officers – killing one, and injuring another while on guard duty one night. The films follows his court martial proceedings, with Colonal Puri (Nizhalgal Ravi) as the government counsel and Capt. Vikas Roy (Suresh Gopi) as the Defense counsel. While Colonel Suraj Singh (Thalaivasal Vijay) is the strict and upright presiding officer, Dr. Gupta (Asokan) and Captain B D Kapoor (Krishnakumar) are the witnesses to the event. The story moves along the attempts of Capt. Vikas Roy to find out the events that prompted the simple, disciplined, down-to-earth, caring and law abiding individual Ramachandran to commit such a crime. And the truth unfolds slowly, from the stories of different witnesses and finally, from Ramachandran.

The story moves without glitches, at the right speed, slowly unfolding the various facets of Sawar Ramachandran who is the criminal, and those who accuse him, those who have already judged him, those who are sympathetic towards him, those who wants him to be hanged, those who are indifferent towards him and finally those who love him.The performances by Suresh Gopi and Thlaivasal Vijay are superb while Parthiban steals the heart with subtle yet strong performance. Asokan and Krishnakumar do justice to their roles. And together, it becomes one of the few good Malayalam movies which I've seen in a couple of years.

The first time director can be excused for the minor shortcomings. A couple of scenes could have been avoided which gives away the feeling that it has been adapted from a play. The story, based on the life in Army, may not be a commercial success in terms of viewership. And the limited release with subdued marketing doesn’t really help. At least 4 of the people whom I talked about watching the movie have not even heard about such a movie being released.

The story doesn’t raise any questions to the society. It doesn’t make any bold statements. It shows the life in army, what it does to those in power and those under them. It laments how life is not always fair to everyone. And it tells how Law, doesn’t always mean Justice.