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Release
date:
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Kerala: December 21, 2018.
Delhi: December 28, 2018.
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Director:
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Jose Sebastian
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Cast:
Language:
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Urvashi, Tovino
Thomas, Mammukoya, Hareesh Kanaran, Dileesh Pothan, Siddique
Malayalam with
some Hindi
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Tovino Thomas as
the leading man, Urvashi playing a woman who may be his mother, pretty shots of
the Kerala countryside, and glimpses of parts of Lucknow that even Hindi cinema
rarely visits – what’s not to like? Answer: the lack of substance.
Jose Sebastian’s Ente Ummante Peru is interesting only to
the extent that here, unlike in most Indian films where kids go in search of a
parent, this kid is not looking for his Dad from whose existence he hopes to
gain respectability or from whom he intends to demand to know why the man
abandoned his wife/girlfriend and child, nor is he longing for maternal love
(like, say, Vineeth Sreenivasan’s character in Aravindante Athidhikal). Here, instead, he hopes to re-acquire
respectability by adding a mother figure to his life. That’s a change for the
better...I guess?
But wait, let me
not get ahead of myself. This is the story of Hameed who discovers, upon his
father’s death, that Papa was married to two women, one of whom, he assumes, is
his Mum. He sets off to find her, because his worth as a potential groom has
fallen, it seems, since he is now an orphan. It feels odd to have that word
applied persistently to a full-grown adult played by the strapping, muscular
Tovino Thomas, but the writers (Sebastian himself and Sarath R. Nath) must have
had something in mind when they sent Hameed off on his Mommy quest.
Whatever that
something was, it is still within the confines of their minds. There is an atom
of an idea somewhere in there that could perhaps be expanded into a good screenplay
someday, but that day has not yet arrived.
Senior women film
artistes struggle to find substantial roles and strong scripts, so I can kinda
understand why an actor of Urvashi’s superstar stature signed up for this
project, but men of all ages, especially of Thomas’ age, face no such drought,
so I wonder what this sought-after youngster – with films like Oru Mexican Aparatha and Mayaanadhi under his belt – saw in this
directionless writing.
Ente Ummante Peru does have some things
going for it though. There is, for instance, some humour in the banter between
Hameed and his close buddy played by Hareesh Kanaran a.k.a. Hareesh Perumanna.
And Mammukoya as Hameed’s other arch ally is a dear because, well, he is
Mammukoya.
I also enjoyed the
sights and sounds of Lucknow, especially the imposing mansion and the decaying
old-style haveli Hameed visits. For a part of this stretch, Sebastian also
manages to conjure up an air of mystery around Urvashi’s character Aishu, another woman who is introduced late into the
plot and an intriguing youth we see only from a distance.
Somewhere around
this time Hameed asks Aishu, “Who are you?” The answer never comes, and we
never quite get to figure out why Hameed or Aishu do any of what they do, or
why Hameed becomes so desperate to find his mother (even his desperation to be
married not being a believable explanation). The screenplay also offers little
reason to feel invested in their relationship, or the story of Hameed’s late
father, the son’s relationship with the old man, or even his equation with the
young woman who is the reason why he goes off looking for his mother in the
first place.
The narrative is
lifted up by several notches with the entry of Urvashi who has more charisma
per fingernail than most people can summon up with their entire personality. It
is particularly commendable that she makes Aishu so
striking considering that the woman is curt and unappealing.
Thomas is always
easy on the eye and a pleasant presence, but the lack of chemistry between him
and Urvashi is a reminder of how dependent good acting is on good writing.
There is, after
all, only so much that even the great Urvashi and sweet Tovino Thomas can
achieve with a clueless script.
Rating
(out of five stars): *1/2
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CBFC Rating (India):
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U
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Running time:
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131 minutes
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This review has also been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ente_Ummante_Peru
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