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.