Release
date:
|
November 8, 2019
|
Director:
|
Lal
Jose
|
Cast:
Language:
|
Biju Menon, Nimisha Sajayan, Dhanya Ananya, Saran Jith, Indrans, Suresh
Krishna
Malayalam
|
Kicking
off a religion-versus-rationalism debate is a risky business at any given time,
more so now when skins in India have gotten thinner than they have ever been
since Partition and temperatures are on the rise. Fear of causing offence does
not stop veteran director Lal Jose from selecting this theme
although it does seem to hold him back from offering a full-blown critique of
religion in Nalpathiyonnu (41), as he tests the atheism of a senior Communist in
Kerala by sending him on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala.
Biju
Menon plays that party member, Ullaaskumar, a teacher from rural Kerala where
locals debate whether their place of residence, Chekkunnu, got its name from Che Guevara or Lord
Shiva.
Ullaas
is committed to his atheism, but it is twice tested during the course of this
narrative: once through his romance with his student Bhagyam whose family are
devout Hindus, and later when his organisation virtually coerces him to join
his party colleague Kannan on a trip to Sabarimala. That a Communist set-up
would show any commitment to religion may seem unconvincing, but this one has
its reasons. Getting Ullaas to accompany Kannan to the Ayyappa shrine is the
party’s desperate solution to the latter’s alcoholism: they are hoping that
Ullaas’ monitoring will force Kannan to stick to the gruelling 41-day vratham – no meats, no alcohol or other
intoxicants, no sex and so on – demanded of those hoping to have a darshan of the deity.
Lal
Jose and writer P.G. Prageesh roll out their story in slice-of-life form,
weaving in everyday insights about small-town life and party politics as they
go along. Some of it is humourous and endearing, some of it contrived and clichéd. Like the scene in which Ullaas is caught in a bind
that can be seen coming from a mile and then becomes tongue-tied.
The treatment of the relationship between Ullaas and Bhagyam (Nimisha Sajayan) too feels dated. A young woman
chasing a reluctant hero played by a much older star is a ruse many filmmakers
have used to establish the attractiveness of that male star. The seemingly
liberal Jose’s decision to not pair Menon with a female actor his own age is a measure of the low value attached to romantic
overtures by an older woman and of the ageism in casting that women face in
cinema, more so in Mollywood a.k.a. the Malayalam film industry where the
average age difference between older male stars and their female romantic
partners on screen is 20-30 years, as if to suggest that this is routine in
real life. The Nimisha Sajayan-Suraj Venjaramoodu pairing in Dileesh Pothan’s Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum just about passed
muster on this front, but Menon, loveable as he is, looks like Sajayan’s
Daddy.
That
said, through Ullaas’ dilemmas, Nalpathiyonnu does make some
interesting observations about the challenge of being opposed to religion when
your loved ones are culturally and socially rooted in it. It also features a
far better written, far more convincing man-woman relationship: the one Kannan
shares with his wife Suma.
Menon plays Ullaas with the natural ease that is his defining
characteristic as an artiste. Sajayan is wasted in a marginal role that seems
unworthy of an actor who already has Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum and Eeda to her
credit. The supporting cast playing their relatives and associates are
competent. But the scene stealers in this film are Dhanya Ananya as Suma
and Saran Jith as Kannan, the former managing to impress although she gets much
less screen time than the latter.
Unlike the recent Sathyam Paranja Vishwasikkuvo?, one does not end the film wondering why on earth
this woman likes this no-hoper. By the end of Nalpathiyonnu, we know.
Dhanya
Ananya and Saran Jith along with S. Kumar’s cinematography – aimed not so much
at showcasing Kerala’s beauty as at capturing the ruminative mood of the
narrative – are the USPs of this film.
If Nalpathiyonnu does not have the fire and grit
that would be expected from an exploration of such a potentially powerful
theme, it is largely because of what comes across as a hesitation to truly
critique the irrationality of faith. If Jose and
Prageesh were afraid they would be accused of lacking objectivity, they could
have additionally examined the insensitivity that some atheists
direct at religionists, but both groups are spared an unsparing microscope.
This
reluctance combined with loose editing results in a film that works only in
parts, is thoughtful but just not enough, lacks punch and ends up
being ambivalent. It makes you wonder why a
filmmaker would pick such a subject in the first place if the intention was not
to go the whole hog.
Rating (out
of five stars): **1/2
CBFC Rating (India):
|
U
|
Running time:
|
134 minutes )
|
This review has also been published on Firstpost:
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