Thursday, December 01, 2016

Munnariyippu: Warning not to romance with evil!

It is not very often that Indian cinema romances with out-of-the box themes. The typical Bollywood-type films have a set formula: either they are pure song and drama, or stories with quintessential superhero donning every frame. Even the regional cinema has not veered away too much from such masala ingredients. However, we do find an exception or two here and there. In fact, recent films in Marathi and Malayalam have been experimenting a lot on unusual themes and scripts to great success.








Director: Venu

Film Clip
The 2014 Malayalam film Munnariyippu (warning) is a case in point. It is a film which does not shy away from shocking the audience at the end. If the director was keen on making it a pure commercial success perhaps he would not have taken such a risk. Many times the handling of the script has much to do with commercial considerations. And yet director Venu (a famed cinematographer) to his credit has also tasted commercial success with this directorial venture. This is because the narration is convincing.
The film deals with a convicted murderer CK Raghavan, played brilliantly by veteran Mammootty, and a journalist Anjali Arackal (Aparna Gopinath) who, having chanced upon his rare writing skills, strikes a deal with a publisher to bring out his autobiography. However, what unfolds is a strange development wherein Raghavan finds it hard to take off his writing project. When the deadline is nearing journalist Anjali, who has to eventually translate the autobiography into English, gets nervous and impatient, only to come face to face with something she would never have imagined.
The film has a rather sluggish pace, raising many a question in the process. However, the final moment is shocking and can linger on for sometime. One cannot but appreciate the ambience in which the director has built up the characters. The film is also a visual reminder that human beings are so very unpredictable!
- Melwyn Pinto SJ

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