REVIEW 727: BROTHER’S DAY

Release date:	September 6, 2019
Director:	Kalabhavan Shajohn
Cast: Language:	Prithviraj Sukumaran, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Madonna Sebastian, Prasanna, Vijayaraghavan, Prayaga Martin, Miya  Malayalam

A song called Thalolam Thumbippennale with the catchphrase Zing zig a zig zig plays at a birthday party right before the interval of the Malayalam film Brother’s Day. With no particular relevance to either the setting (Kerala) or the characters in the story (not one of them a Hindi bhaashi), the number begins with some Hindi lines. A few minutes earlier, a group of turbaned men had appeared but not said a word in a room where the hero was meeting a friend. A large group of similarly turbaned men turn up to back an ensemble of Malayali characters as they dance wildly to Thalolam Thumbippennale with moves that mimic the Bhangra. Those background figures are presumably Sikh, although the shape of their turbans shows very poor research on the part of the director. The movie maybe Malayalam and the actors all well-known Mollywood stars, but the song resembles one of those trite, large and loud Hindi/Punjabi wedding song ‘n’ dance numbers that Bollywood would once routinely and mindlessly chuck into films, numbers that are gradually – thankfully – now getting outmoded in Hindi cinema.

That scene exemplifies everything that is wrong with Brother’s Day: it is a poorly scripted film that does not bother with detailing, it is imitative, it is packed with clichés, it is not faithful to its roots, it aspires to be something that it is not but does not do enough homework to accurately be whatever that other thing is, and it lacks finesse. Such casualness is particularly galling because actor-turned-writer-director Kalabhavan Shajohn has assembled a fantastic cast for this project.

Brother’s Day stars Prithviraj Sukumaran as Ronnie whose work in the hospitality industry brings him in touch with a wealthy and happy-go-lucky elderly gentleman called Chandy (Vijayaraghavan) and his daughter Santa (Aishwarya Lekshmi). Ronnie is devoted to his sister (Prayaga Martin). Early on he bumps into a woman who has obviously been marked out by the script as a potential ‘love interest’ (Madonna Sebastian).

A character played by Prasanna runs a blackmailing racket with several accomplices, and is a constant mysterious presence in the background.

Multiple twists are forced into this thriller. Multiple sub-plots are thrown in to fill it out. Scenes are written and shot without much thought.

Sample this. A minor supporting character is introduced as a “Bangali” and is meant to be one of the numerous Bengali immigrants who can now be found working in Kerala – the actor playing this part, however, does nothing to camouflage his very pronounced Malayalam accent. 

Or sample this. Ronnie is shown standing on a pier confiding in a friend about his tragic past. He is so heart-broken that he sobs as he speaks. She seems like a considerate woman. Yet as he finishes his story and turns to her, the camera pulls out to show her turning her back on him and walking away in slow motion in an aerial shot that is visually grand but makes absolutely no sense. 

Or this. We learn at one point that Chandy’s daughter Santa is named after another character who was dear to him. Yet the film also features a scene from her childhood in which she is shown gazing at a group of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes accompanied by a couple of nuns, all of them gazing back at her one Christmas Day. Perhaps that was meant to be artistic and profound imagery, but in truth it is kind of laughable.

This is a film about extreme violence that fails to evoke any empathy for the survivors because they are so sketchily written. In fact, it does not seem to care much about them. They are just by-the-ways as Kalabhavan Shajohn obsesses over his primary preoccupations: making his villain intimidating and hero all-powerful. Among the instruments at his disposal is what seems like a sizeable budget for cinematography, but how does it help that Kerala looks picturesque through Jithu Damodar’s camera if the storytelling is so cold? And oh god, what is one to say about that over-emphatic background score?

 

The bad guy is a blackmailer, rapist and serial killer. He employs various means to ravage his victims. He is also assigned an ominous signature whistling tune and a vicious dog. Like him, Ronnie is filled with ideas for how to bash up and twist human bodies. Despite this, the action scenes come off looking limp.

Any entertainment to be drawn out of Brother’s Day comes entirely in the first half in the banter between Ronnie and his friend Munna played by Dharmajan Bolgatty. Of course it is all silly slapstick stuff but silly slapstick stuff never hurt anyone if it is inoffensive and you are in the mood for relaxation that does not exercise your brain too much. What does hurt is to see the gifted Prithviraj Sukumaran squander his talent on the generic thriller material that follows. When that happens in a film that also under-utilises the lovely Aishwarya Lekshmi and Madonna Sebastian, it is completely off-putting. After delivering excellent performances in substantial roles so early in her career with Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela, Mayaanadhi and Vijay Superum Pournamiyum, Ms Lekshmi’s decision to be a part of Brother’s Day either shows poor instincts or is a measure of the limited options available to women in Mollywood.

Towards the beginning of Brother’s Day, Ronnie references the Archangel Lucifer in what is clearly a bow to Prithviraj's directorial debut earlier this year. Lucifer starring Mohanlal, another recent film with a mythological title, the Nivin Pauly-starrer Mikhael, and last month’s Tovino Thomas-starrer Kalki that took its name from Hindu tradition, belong to a genre of men-centric Malayalam cinema characterised by intellectual pretentions that unwittingly underline their vacuousness, high-decibel music, assembly-line scripting and stereotypical camerawork designed to build up the leading men as larger-than-life creatures. The basic storylines may change but they fit a fixed template, the degree of over-statement may vary but the cinematic vision remains exactly the same. For instance, Brother’s Day does not get as raucous as Mikhael and Kalki, and – despite its inexplicable disinterest in the impact of violence on the human beings on its canvas – it is not as nauseating as those two films either.

Prithviraj Sukumaran is a powerful male star with a multitude of choices available to him, living in an era in which a quieter, gentler Malayalam cinema is winning hearts nationwide. He has done films like Koode that have showcased his acting brilliance. And then he settles for this pointless film?

Rating (out of five stars): *1/2

CBFC Rating (India):	UA
Running time:	165 minutes

This review has also been published on Firstpost:

https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/brothers-day-movie-review-prithviraj-sukumaran-does-a-less-noisy-version-of-mikhael-7302221.html

Visuals courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/BrothersDayMovie/

REVIEW 672: VIJAY SUPERUM POURNAMIYUM

Release date:	Kerala: January 11, 2019 Delhi: February 8, 2019
Director:	Jis Joy
Cast: Language:	Aishwarya Lekshmi, Asif Ali, Shanthi Krishna, Renji Panicker, Siddique, K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Anish Kuruvilla, Darshana Rajendran Malayalam

Two films with the same story yet worlds apart in quality – you might assume that the difference lies in the contrasting skills of their respective directors, but you would be assuming wrong. Malayalam cinema’s Vijay Superum Pournamiyum is a remake of the Telugu hit Pelli Choopulu. I have not seen the Telugu original, but last year it was my misfortune to watch its Hindi remake Mitron which, despite its alluringly realistic writing by Sharib Hashmi combined with Nitin Kakkar’s assured direction, could not overcome its one glaring handicap: the casting of Jackky Bhagnani as the leading man.

Like Mitron’s Kritika Kamra, Vijay Superum Pournamiyum’s female lead Aishwarya Lekshmi is fire and ice, sugar and spice, and everything you could hope for in a heroine. Playing the hero in the Malayalam film is Asif Ali who may not have the most earth-shattering screen presence on the planet, but by God is head and shoulders and stratospheric levels above Mr Bhagnani!

Truth be told, I can imagine Nivin Pauly or Fahadh Faasil might have elevated this film further than what it is. If stars of their stature were not available, and if Tovino Thomas was considered too much of a repetition after his team-up with Lekshmi in the spectacular Mayaanadhi, how about Neeraj Madhav who proved with 2017’s Paipin Chuvattile Pranayam that he hundred per cent is solo hero material?

Still, Ali’s natural Everyman-ness is a fit for this role and pairs well with Lekshmi’s dynamism in writer-director Jis Joy’s Vijay Superum Pournamiyum, the story of a young couple who meet by accident when he lands up at the wrong house while out to meet a prospective bride. Pournami’s father was disappointed at her birth, since he was hoping for a son. Now she is fiercely committed to making something of herself professionally, but is subjected to meetings with potential grooms she has no intention of marrying. Vijay, who needs to yell the words “Vijay super aanu” into a mirror to build self-belief (hence the title), loves cooking but does not have the guts or the drive to convince his conservative father that cheffing is a suitable profession for boys. So, he forces himself through engineering college, and is currently stuck in a job for which he has zero passion.

Unlike Pournami, Vijay is anxious to be married because he measures his worth only in terms of the dowry he could get that would help his family overcome their financial constraints.

Vijay Superum Pournamiyum establishes its unconventional sensibilities early on. The gender role reversal, for one – in the matter of marriage and career – is striking yet not rubbed in our faces with sermons. This is its defining characteristic.

Pournami is hardworking and level headed. Vijay is a no-hoper who is extremely irresponsible except with the one thing he loves. Though she rejects him as a groom, they bond over their frustrations and she ultimately asks him to partner her in a project that would meet her entrepreneurial goals and tap his talent in the kitchen.

The storyline is not burdened with any of the clichés recycled ad nauseam in so many so-called youth films, and neither of the two central characters is a stereotype. The impossibly bubbly young woman, the man whose stalkerish ways she falls for – none of that crap is to be found here. It is particularly a relief to see that ambition is not treated as a dirty word for a woman.

Vijay Superum Pournamiyum is a believable tale about what could happen if families accept their children as they are and allow them to be who they want to be. The film’s sense of humour, like its running commentary on life, is underplayed. It is narrated in such an undramatised style that much of it does not feel like cinema. Its most endearing quality is that it almost feels like two people called Pournami and Vijay transcribed lines they spoke in real life, and handed them to Lekshmi and Ali to say before the camera.

Except for an energetic song titled Pournami Superalle played out to a choreographed group dance, the soundtrack too merges entirely with the rest of the proceedings.

Jis Joy’s previous collaboration with Asif Ali, 2017’s Sunday Holiday, was similar in directorial tone but ended up being somewhat bland without the benefit of equally powerful writing. Vijay Superum Pournamiyum has more flesh and character. Ali is nice enough here. The leads are surrounded by beloved veterans Renji Panicker, Siddique and K.P.A.C. Lalitha who fill out their well-written parts well. It is sad though to see Shanthi Krishna delivering yet another generic performance as a generic mother – she has already done too many of these since her return to films in 2017 with Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela in which, coincidentally, Aishwarya Lekshmi made her debut.

In just her fourth screen venture, Ms Lekshmi proves that she has the acting chops and the presence to pull off a film in which she plays a/the central character. She is so good that she almost makes you want to ask the producer to rename this one Superlative Pournamiyum Vijay Superum.

Rating (out of five stars): ***1/4

CBFC Rating (India):	U
Running time:	135 minutes

This review has also been published on Firstpost:

https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/vijay-superum-pournamiyum-movie-review-aishwarya-lekshmis-dynamism-pairs-well-with-asif-alis-everyman-persona-6055881.html

Poster courtesy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijay_Superum_Pournamiyum