A nod that placed Kannur on the map of Kerala movie-dom. For me, that is the redeeming factor of Malayalam movies directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. The slang, the accent/dialect, the people and the stories of Kannur (the director's birth-city and mine) were never given much prominence in Malayalam films or literature before Vineeth Sreenivasan appeared on the horizon with his youthful, sentimental films set in the region.
Vineeth's Hallmark-card-designed-for-Kerala type of movies is not exactly my cuppa, nor is this latest one from him, Varshangalkku Sesham. But the opening scene set in the director's familiar north Malabari environs with the perfect casting of his own brother Dhyan Sreenivasan, Malayalam's favorite slacker-hero, delivering his brother's lines with an innate comedic flair is a performance so pitch-perfect that it almost absolves the film's overindulgence in nostalgia.
Interestingly, the director's father, the iconic Sreenivasan , has long been a cinematic ambassador for the Kannur dialect, employing it in most of his roles regardless of his character's origin. However, his own directorial works—the cult classics Vadakkunokki Yantram and Chinthavishtaya Shyamala,—while both commercial and critical hits, could have been set anywhere in Kerala.
The signature dialect in Malayalam movies of the eighties and nineties, when I was growing up, was the mid-Kerala Valluvandandan dialect which was supposedly the proper Malayalam for literature and films and therefore considered classy at the time. Kudos, Vineeth Sreenivasan for making Kannur and Kannur accent and dialect mainstream. Chennai (formerly Madras) and its people are next in line to thank Vineeth S. for making their city and culture the other geographical cornerstone of his directorial ventures.
Varshangalkku Sesham is meta movie, a nested node of nods.
A nod to the night breeze of north Kerala, a meteorological discovery made by the director in early 2010s. A nod to north Malabar. A nod to Madras/ Chennai . A nod to Kodambakkam. A nod to Tamil, Tamilnadu and sambhar sadam.
A nod to yesteryear's directors. A nod to Priyadarshan and his production design style. The village scenes in the beginning almost feels like ghost-directed or designed by Priyadarshan's production designer. A nod to Mohanlal, a very weak nod at that, aided just by genes. A nod and a new life-line for Nivin Pauly. A nod to the nameless side-kicks. A nod to music, musicians especially violinists. A nod to polka dots, reaffirming their eternal status as retro, no matter which decade.
A nod to old style Indian melodrama, the millennial version. A nod to Mohanlal style mund-flick. A nod to the new-generation version of the iconic Malayalam duo Dasan & Vijayan, immortalized by the actor dads of this movie's lead actors. A nod to friends and family, who have contributed to Vineeth's success through the years. A meta nod to characters, dialog and music from Malayalam movies of the past.
Varshangalkku Sesham (transl. Years Later) is a nod to all things Malayalam cinema in an ensemble entertainer package, neatly packed and tied with a bow of gooey-Vineeth Sreenivasan-goodness. It might also be a personal reciprocation effort from Vineeth Sreenivasan, paying respect to the stalwarts of Malayalam cinema like Mohanlal and Priyadarshan by creating central characters in this film to fit the progeny of these stalwarts. Although Pranav Mohanlal and Kalyani Priyadarshan are the weakest links in this movie. Dhyan Sreenivasan, shows he can act and has the range to play complex characters.
Nivin Pauly's career is thrown a life-line and an opportunity to hit back at his critics with dialog penned by his bestie - Vineeth S. Director turned actor - Basil Joseph, Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav, music-director turned actor Shaan Rahman, Neeta Pillai, Deepak Parambol and Sreeram Ramachandran bring up the rear supporting the talented bro-team in this syrupy nod to Malayalam film world.
Posts
