Achayans is a loud movie - both literally and figuratively with a
multi-star cast headed by Jayaram. To keep things interesting beyond the
antics of the four Achayans (informal usage to reference a group of
Malayali Christian men) made up of Jayaram, Unni Mukundan,
Adil Ibrahim and Sanju Sivaram, the movie also tries its hand at being a
crime thriller.
The 'crime' excuse is used to bring in Prakash Raj as the newest avatar
of astute South Indian detective. Brainiac cops in South Indian movies
usually make their entries, exits and other perambulatory exercises to
the background roar of Vedic chants while fingering
their sacred thread (worn diagonally across the torso.) The
thread-fingering is to reinforce the notion of the intelligent "Brahmin",
the most intelligent and venerated of all castes - therefore excellent
detective material, in case the audience were tone-deaf
and missed out on the suggestive accompaniment of decibel shattering
Sanskrit howling.
Another issue I have with Kannan Thamarakkulam (director of this 'epic')
is the extreme distortion of his lead female characters. The world of
women in Thamarakkulam's head is a house of mirrors. Every time he needs
inspiration for a female lead, he peers
into this carnival attraction in his head and comes out with gruesome
caricatures of women reflected on its mirrored walls. Achayan's has
Amala Paul's Reetha Fernandez - a closet lesbian(?) caricatured to
literal perfection with an askew wig, ill fitting jeans
and operating in a perpetual pissed-off mode as dictated by the script
and director's understanding of the said category of women.
Now that I think about it, the entire movie is a burlesque platitude, a
rehash of rehashes. There are not many moderate characters nor is there
anything new, but there is a pleasant surprise - Jayaram. In this melee
of over-acting and contrived ruckus, this
improved version of Jayaram comfortably sporting his natural grey hair
and exuding confidence without overdoing it, offer tiny breaks when we
audience can ease off on our hyperventilation.
0 comments:
Post a Comment