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.