While we have lost many a film personality this year, the
loss of Sachi the movie maker seems to weigh heavily on my mind today
especially since I recently got smitten by his latest and (greatest?) –
Ayappanum Koshi…
A movie par excellence, a movie without faults and a movie
that has a balanced head and heart – a rare feat that movies can boast of. And
the intelligence of this movie maker is so evident in the fine balance he
strikes between the blacks, whites and greys that there is never a decisive moment
when we the audience can decide who is the ‘good man’ amongst them all?
Ultimately it is a simple movie of conflict between two men;
but talks so much more and extends to such boundaries that only a smart movie
maker can do without preaching or moralizing the characters. A lesson on how entertainment
and humanity can be packaged together into crispy dialogues and stellar
performances, a lesson that comedy doesn’t really need to be mindless and a
lesson that simple stories with a good heart can touch the audience far deeper
than computer graphics and ‘super stars’.
And I can’t but touch upon the generosity with which the filmmaker
has finally lent a ‘voice’ and ‘character’ to its lady actors – finally a movie
where the woman has a mind of her own and can stand there in sunshine and not
under the shade of the male characters (which is the norm?). During trying
times of inequality, here is a movie that breathes justice – whether it is the
equal weightage for all characters, the strength given to the ‘lesser mortals’
on screen and the vulnerability that is portrayed by the ‘lead’ characters – truly
a democratic movie that shines light on the greys of the people, the power of
the powerful and the flaws in the upbringing of men..
It is a loss for movie lovers, a loss for humanity and
perhaps a cue for film makers to shirk that need for ‘super star-struck’ characters,
the need for ‘macho tones’ for men and take to earthy characters, sincere portrayals
and movies that simply have a ‘good heart’.
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