braving a migraine, i went to the theater to see katha prayumbol, 'cos my friend Bhawani insisted that it is a must- see movie.
i think it is Srinivasan's master peice. and i am glad i went to the theater to see the film, instead of seeing it on the small screen. it was a great experience. being surrounded, yes, physically surrounded by feelings- cos that is what the movie is all about. about feelings. the feelings of a do gooder, the type you occasionally come across in life but never go ga ga about 'cos she/he keeps a very low profile, is shy about the world coming to know about his instinctive goodness and genorosity. you know, one of those uncomplicated types whose right hand does not know what the left hand does, who believes in minding his own business, in doing an honest job to make an honest living. and one who yearns only for an innocuous existence.
what a well executed film! -dont think i have seen many Indian films like that. cant think of another movie so free of mush which yet got tears streaming down my face out of sheer happiness? or a more complex set of emotions?
when is this genius of a filmaker going to be recognised? i dont think there could be many others who can take you on the journey through the labrynthian complexities of the human mind, laughing all the way but, all the time, making you intensley conscious of dark horrors that lurk in it.
but unlike his usual scripts, katha parayumbol is no dark comedy. oh yes, it has plenty of frames which offer saritical- bordering- on- farcical representations of human vanities - enough to make the film a super entertainer. but then, those are not surface ornamentations but essential weaves in the fabric of the film, showing us how the world appears to a man of the protagonist's nature. Therein lies the beauty of the film.
it's not one of those selfconscious experimental films. it's a plain, simple and honest narrative with a fabular quality. in katha parayumbol, Srinivasan brings down that artificial separation between art/parallel and mainstream movies.
But then we can say that of all his works.
The film even doesn't qualified to be called a mediocre film. Nintey percentage of Sreenivasan's movies are far better than this movie. You serioulsy need to see some of the best movies made in malayalam.
ReplyDeletei also cant agree with you...the script was one of the worst from sreenivasan I beleive...I loved only a single scene in the film which was of real class performance(the speech at the end by mammootty)...most of the characters in the film and their presentation are really dramatic while sreeni used to give realistic satires
ReplyDeletewell i haven't seen the movie yet.. but reading your post, I think I'd definitely go, check it out! :)
ReplyDeletei'm also a clear fan of Srinivasan.
@annon, eccentric
ReplyDeleteguess u have a point.
but it's not realism that i looked for in this movie. true anavalmothiram, v nokki yanthram, C shyamala etc pay more attention to realistic details--but look at his works in a chronological order. you'll find a change-a movement from the realistic to the symbolic. c shyamala is less dependent on realistic techniques than his earlier ones. kathaparayumbol has moved more to the symbolic plane- it's like a fable which goes something like this: 'once upon a time there was a small village in the remote highlands of kerala, where lived a good and honest barber balan'. Then balan's fortunes(misfortunes?) are traced. the social context in which this man lives is represented in typical, not realistic manner.all the usual srinivasan ingredients are thrown in in a deliberately stereotyical exaggerated manner - for the focus of the movie is on
1. the character dileneation of balan -which all of you must admit is done in an excellent manner -with no jaada.
2. the fickless of the herd which is shown through stereotyped representation. perhaps opting for realistic techniques for this aspect would have made this movie an all time classic but i think balans character dileneation and the spectacular performance by srinivasan make this film a real worthwhile experience.
besides, i know a person who is so very much like balan the barber - guess that's one reason i could relate--