T D Dasan Std VI B

I finally got to watch T D Dasan Std VI B and needless to say I was amazed at this refreshing movie from a first-time director Mohan Raghavan. The story is simple - Dasan, a schoolboy from a village in Palakkad, Kerala chances up on the address of his father who had walked out on his mother and writes a letter to him.  The letter lands up in the hands of a girl Ammu who lives with her father in Bangalore, and presumably she writes back disguising herself as Dasan's father. The rest of the movie is about the incidents that follow. There are also references to the anti-Cola struggle of Dasan's village for their right to drinking water and the good thing is that these scenes never look contrived. Myth, longing for affection, social cause - everything seem to flow seamlessly in this film. Add to that brilliant performances from the entire cast including the two children  - thankfully there are no mushy dialogues for them to mouth artificially. I must say Swetha Menon is completely appealing even in a totally deglamorized role as Dasan's mother struggling to make the ends meet. The background score and music by Sreevalsan J. Menon is simply beautiful and he gets it right again after My Mother's Laptop (do listen to the songs in case you've missed it, especially Jalashayyayil by Kalyani Menon). It's a pity that such a gem of a movie went unnoticed by the audience for it's lack of superstars and loud publicity gimmicks. Give it a watch, and you won't be disappointed. Two words - must watch.

Elsamma Enna Aankutty

If there were a mediocrity principle in cinema, it would without any doubt apply to Lal Jose's films (except for Puramkazhchakal). There is nothing special about his movies. Yet I must admit he comes up winning because of appealingly packaging the subject. This time, he's picked up the tried and tested formula of a young girl suffering hardships for the sake of her family of siblings and a single mother. Have we not seen it already - think Manju Warrier in Ee puzhayum Kadannu, Kanmadam, and Meera Jasmine in Kasthuriman, Vinodayathra, Swapnakoodu? But, Lal Jose has handled the subject minus over the top emotions that we would associate with such a film. And he has a new face for the overburdened sacrificing elder sister in Ann Augustine. Ann essays the role of Elsamma - the local newspaper girl of BP City who doesn't mind taking on the local liquor baron (Vijayaraghavan) or the corrupt Panchayat member (Jagathy Sreekumar) - quite convincingly. Elsamma has a friend in milk vendor Unni (Kunchako Boban) who is in love with her. There are some genuinely funny moments in the first half where the director spends time establishing the lead characters. Things change for Elsamma with the arrival of city bred Aby (Indrajith) and friends. Aby is the grandson of Paappan (Nedumudi Venu) the neighbor and father-like figure for Elsamma.  The narrative lags a little in the second half but for some comic relief by Jagathy. However, Lal Jose has ensured that the audience wouldn't go teary-eyed after watching this one.
Ann is unrefined in her mannerisms as Elsamma and that works well here. Kunchako Boban comes up with a good performance and let's hope he continues to grow beyond the chocolate-boy lover image that he's been stuck with forever. But the pick of the lot would be Jagathy Sreekumar who excels in every shot he's on screen. The rest of the cast too go about their job effortlessly.
The two songs are definitely hummable. But the art direction for the second one left a lot to wish for. And the portrayal of city born young people as rebellious and spoilt is a tad clichéd and overdone. However flawed it may be, this Lal Jose film is definitely worth watching once.

Weekend Reading

These are random articles I found across the web and each one makes for a good reading.

• In Guardian, Jason Burke writes about the survival of dynasties in south Asia being another thing handed down from the British. He does mention our own Gandhi family and it's latest poster boy.
• Who'll play at No.7 for India? The World Cup barely seven months away, Harsha Bhogle examines the dilemma before Indian team on picking the right No.7 without being harsh on Ravindra Jadeja. Well, there is no dilemma - pick anyone but Jadeja.
• The Hindu, in it's editorial Mamata's Dangerous Game, questions the irresponsible politics of Mamata Banerjee. Aha, a cabinet Minister rooting for what the Government says is the gravest internal threat.
• And finally, for the mathematically inclined, here's Vinay Deolalikar's long proof of P != NP. Take your time. :)

Inception and Beyond

Thank you Mr Christopher Nolan for the wonderful movie that Inception is. Rarely does a movie get released that defies conventional thinking yet appeal to masses. Nolan doesn't underestimate the intelligence of the audience unlike his Bollywood counterparts; rather he places his movie a notch above our thoughts, challenging us to think. And that is the true victory of Inception - it keeps us on the edge of our seats and makes us audience think during the entire one hundred and forty eight minutes, and after as well. Leonardo Dicaprio is becoming that Tom Hanks kind of actor whose name itself is reason enough to go and watch a movie. He has not disappointed a bit in the last four movies of his that I have watched - The Departed, Blood Diamond, Revolutionary Road, and Shutter Island. 

There is this weird thing with me and landmark brilliant movies - I don't get to watch them when the whole world can't stop raving about. I watched Jurassic Park years later after it was released, that too on television. I haven't watched The Matrix yet. I got to see Avatar much later after the initial hype died down, and almost everyone I knew had watched it. Fortunately, Inception has defied this trend and I couldn't be gladder. Inception has also prompted me to look for other movies that explored mind, mystery, and dreams. I hit upon this wonderful list of cerebral sci-fi movies that look worth watching over and over again . Another find, though not on that list is Mullholland Drive. Hope I would get to watch at least few among these one day.

Do Aam Kahaniyaan

The summer rain fell pitter-patter across the front yard and the fields and over the canal. The trees swayed caught in the gusty winds, making a whooshing sound. Small streams of brown muddy water drained down to join the big stream flowing outside. Now and then, we heard the rumbling of thunder. And sometime later the rain stopped as abruptly as it had started. We barged out of the front door, running to the thodi to pick mangoes that had fallen off the old moovandan maavu in the rain. It sometimes reminded me of gold rush. After collecting the mangoes, we looked up at the tree - it was indeed sweet victory for us over the high and mighty branches of the mango tree. The celebrations then culminated with an indulgent mango-eating ritual that truly reinforced theories of evolution, for all of us resembled our tailed ancestors in the wild way in which we ate mangoes, licking the juice dribbling down our palms sometimes beyond the wrists. 

* * *

The yellow fruit almost looked plastic neatly arranged on the fruit stand in the store. A clear handwriting in black ink below it said - Rs 40 per kg. It took me a lot of time to decide on two from the lot. I quickly paid for those, and rushed to my room. I washed one, peeled its skin, and diced it into small pieces, on to a plate, and gulped them down like I had been deprived of mangoes for long. 

Gosh, when did I forget how to eat mangoes? Like they say in that ad - why grow up?

PS: For the Malayalam challenged, thodi is typically the yard adjoining the house, abounding with trees and plants of all kind. Moovandan is a mango variety, and maavu means mango tree.