Neelavelicham the movie, Bhargavi Nilayam & a question for Aashiq Abu

Neelavelicham (literal translation: 'blue light', poetically liberal translation adopted by the filmmaker, 'blue radiance') is a famous short story by Malayalam literary giant and a renaissance man of simple tastes, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. It has been made into a movie half a century ago, at the time the director A. Vincent had titled it "Bhargavi Nilayam", the name of the fictional abode of the ghost lady in the short story. Bhargavi Nilayam has long since become synonymous in the Malayalam culture and lexicon as any building that has been taken over by ghostly presence(s) overstaying their visa status on the earth. About a decade ago I wrote a one paragraph review of the movie in this blog, when what I really wanted to talk about was that movie's hero - Madhu.

Not sure what Aashiq Abu, the director of this new take on the short story wanted to talk about by taking on the enormous risk of remaking an old blockbuster movie and a much-read short story of a beloved author. Everyone is going to have opinions and any fault is going to be magnified manifold and scrutinized to death. Maybe the man just loves taking risks in pursuit of honing his craft. This is what I like to conclude because I have always looked forward to Aashiq Abu's directorial outings and love to watch the technical improvement happening with each new release. Neelavelicham is no different in the technical department - production design, cinematography, casting, script are all excellent.

Tovino Thomas as Vaikom Muhammad Basheer has been styled and executed better than the suave Madhu who when you think about it reflected none of the life experience as a hotel manager, shepherd, sports goods agent, activist, watchman, fruit seller (to name a few) multi-faceted background of the real author. Roshan Matthews and Rima Kallingal's characters as the lead romantic pair is on par with Prem Nazir and Vijaya Nirmala's characters from the 1964 film and have been scripted to be digested by a contemporary audience. 

The production design recreating the era of the newly independent India where the story is set is probably one of the best I have seen recently in any Indian movie and is a welcome relief compared to the staged sets of the 1964 version. Not to blame any of these on the 1964 movie which was made at an age and a time when actors lived and emoted in a different plane than ordinary people and that sort of disconnect and staging was the norm. It is most evident nowhere else than the villain character Nanukuttan essayed in the 1964 movie by the stalwart actor P.J. Antony in blackface makeup. In the 2023 version it is Shine Tom Chacko, without any black paint on his face, but with the essential villainy captured through his acting and the script. The director has taken the same care to make necessary changes to make it a suitable for a contemporary audience, trimming down the length and dialogs.

The only question I have for Aashiq Abu is, if this was your take of Basheer's story Neelavelicham why did you take on the role of an editor or a quality analyst instead of being the ingenious director I have credited you to be? Neelavelicham (2023) is a scene by scene, quality improved copy of the 1964 Bhargavi Nilayam. You, Aashiq Abu, who has always given a relatable perspective on life through movies (especially to Millennial and Gen Z audience) whether it be Salt n Pepper or 22 F Kottayam or Da Thadiya or Idukki Gold or Mayanadhi, what stopped you doing from giving us a fresh take on Neelavelicham, instead of making a low-effort photocopy, albeit technically brilliant?

 

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Kilometers and Kilometers

The title of this 2020 movie comes from Mohanlal's famous dialog in the 1980s film Mazha Peyyunnu Madhalam Kottunnu. It is his answer to the general knowledge test question posed by the U.S returnee character played by Sreenivasan, "how many kilometers from Washington DC to Miami beach?" Ans: "Kilometers and Kilometers"

The concept of Kilometers and Kilometers, I suspect, comes from an idea originally propagated by the former chief minister (of Kerala) E.K.Nayanar that rape is as common in the U.S of A as drinking a cup of tea. ROFL. Indians' general perception of the West is, it is a society with loose morals, non-existent familial relationships and wayward lifestyle. Indians consider themselves the polar opposite, the ultimate moral righteous and the defenders of family relationships. 

In the U.S we see a different flavor of this cultural superiority complex in God Bless USA and other populist takes on American exceptionalism. Either way if you have not traveled and been to other countries or exposed to their cultures, you end up thinking your culture is the gold standard.  Kms & Kms was created faithfully adhering to that standard.

The overwhelming theme of this road movie, where the lead pair (Josemon played by Tovino Thomas and the U.S tourist Cathy played by India Jarvis) travel on a motor-bike from Kerala in the south to Rajasthan in the north western part of India, is cultural chauvinism. 

The development of characters was easy-peasy for the story/script writers - Deepu Pradeep and Jeo Baby(who is also the director.) They just dipped into the brimming vat of stereotypes and pulled out a few - there's the unemployed do-gooder and the older son who carries the burden of his entire family Josemon (aka new-age Vatsalayam Mammootty), the clueless American tourist Cathy, the Malayali with a heart of gold who has been banished to a harsh northern territory, Veer bhai (aka Sunny Joseph) ready to help any Malayali with some Malayalam and a shoulder to lean on. And then there is Basil Joseph as Kuttan. Basil is a relief (to me, love his self-deprecating, comedic presence) although he is barely there after the first quarter of the movie.

Tovino and India are believable. While this is not a film that calls for hard hitting performances, it is easy to believe Tovino as Josemon, as someone with broken English trying to turn a quick dime chauffeuring the gullible tourist. It is a light watch, long as you have the remote in your hands, I would say, go for it - you can always fast forward the bits you don't like.

 

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Theevandi

Theevandi has an old-timey charm. It brings to mind the un-pretentious story lines about the common man that was symbolic of mid to late eighties Malayalam cinema. In an age of omnipresent cellphones, missed calls, Whatsapp groups and Facebook posts it is quite an achievement for the story and the script writer to create a realistic blend of digital and analog worlds we seamlessly inhabit.

Tovino Thomas is Bineesh Damodaran, a chain smoking, unemployed young man who dabbles in politics as a hobby in a North Kerala village, somewhere near Kozhikode, would be my guess. The movie tracks his progress from his induction to smoking as a high school-er to the event that leads him to quit it years later, with several comedy gold instances that keep the audience entertained.

Vini Viswalal’s story and script directed by T.P Fellini has in addition to Tovino, Suraj Venjaramoottil, Surabhi Lakshmi, Saiju Kurup, Samyukta Menon, Sudheesh and a bunch of other talented actors. The music by debutante music director Kailas Menon is a perfect fit for the simple yet meaningful lyrics penned by B.K.Harinarayan.

Mayanadhi, Maradona, Theevandi – 2018 has been a rewarding year for Tovino, his smart choice of scripts and directors is paying off pretty well.

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Basil Joseph's Godha

Basil Joseph deserves a special pat on the back for reining in the irresistible urge to recruit Mallu Singhs to play Sardarjis in Godha. Half of the movie is set in Punjab, a place teeming with Sardars, a generous world full of possibilities for Malayalis to release their inner Santa-Banta by wearing turbans and beard-nets. The temptation could have been enormous. But Basil didn’t budge, authenticity being one of the admirable qualities of this movie. So much so that he even recruited a real Punjabi kudi, not from Gurgaon or Goregaon but from the Punjabi metropolis designed by a French man (read classy), Chandigarh (balle~ balle~)

Godha is a light-hearted tale of wrestling families – one from Kerala and the other from Punjab. In 2010s wrestling or contact martial arts theme have been the new favorite of Indian movie makers for sports inspired movies. Dangal, being the most well-known of the lot. Sultan, Mary Kom, Irudhi Suttru (Tamil) / Saala Khadoos in Hindi are some others in this category. Most of them also had stories focused on female athletes.

In Godha, we have the Wamiqa Gabi playing the Punjabi wrestler Aditi Singh counter balanced by Tovino Thomas’s reluctant wrestler/aspiring cricketer as the beautiful idiot, Anjaneya Das, B.Tech. The casting is superb, from Aditi’s Punjabi clansmen to Anjaneya’s Tamilian classmate – Pandi and beyond.

Renji Panicker is an indispensable element for all Malayalam sports movies these days. It could be because we really have a dearth of modern day fayalwans (pehalwan – Hindi, body builder -English) in Malayalam movie industry. Panicker’s seniority means his role will be that of a coach or a mentor, while appearing more buff than the main character who plays the hero/sports star. We can’t blame Renji Panicker if the younger heroes have no respect for six packs. Parvathy as the mother of the hero is another example of great casting.

Godha is like the perfect beef curry (this recipe is described in the movie – a meme-worthy scene, one that will be often quoted and re-quoted in the years to come), simple with few essential ingredients in  right quantities, blended in, to create the final product. It recognizes cricket – a game synonymous with sports (of any kind) in India and creates humor contrasting it with the not-so glamorous wrestling. Then it injects wrestling talk into communist party-office sermons, another common entertainment activity prevalent in central and North Kerala. There is also the guy meets girl track, their quests for glory and all of these playing out to the uplifting tunes by Shan Rahman. Light, natural and entertaining.

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Oru Mexican Aparatha

Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, Argentina  - thunders the rousing line in the song Kalipp, katta kalipp, as it tries to capture the pulse of young revolutionary Kerala in the movie, 'Oru Mexican Aparatha' (A Mexican Eternity/Infinity/Continuity anything but Enormity.) For a red-blooded Malayali who has not traveled much outside this tiny sliver of a state in southern India called Kerala, these Latin American countries are closer to his/her heart than say the capital of India, New Delhi. So was Russia at the some point, before glasnost and perestroika and finally Putin signed off on Russia's fall from grace in Malayalis' eye - but that's another story for another time.


2017 is painting the screens red for Malayalam cinema. The confluence of progressive young film makers and a communist-Marxist leadership back in power at the state has created a fertile time and space for left of the center films and all that amor for Latin America. In addition to Mexican Aparatha, there is CIA (Comrade in America) and Sakhavu, each showcasing a leading young actor in a left-leaning role and their posters literally painting Kerala red.


It's after a long time I have seen a movie with campus politics as its central theme. The election fever in a college campus and the political rivalry of Kerala's two main political parties - the so called right (Congress party's youth wing - KSU) and the Communist Marxist party's youth wing - SFI, is palpable in the film. The characters are real, make-up minimal, flags plentiful and songs rebellious and upbeat in this movie which is a tribute to the most politically conscientious audience in all of India.



The script is not the strongest, but I think the lack of knock-out dialogs make it more real and accessible. The first-time director Tom Ematty is probably exploring a scene and a place he is familiar with. Maharaja's College - a premier educational institution in central Kerala (Ernakulam / Cochin) has produced a lot of notable people - from Mammootty, Dileep and Aashiq Abu to Balachandran Chullikkad and Changampuzha. Maharaja's College and the men's hostel where they keep it real with charcoal graffiti and body building competitions in underwear form the backdrop for the story of a band of friends with SFY (~ SFI) affinity- portrayed by Tovino Thomas, Neeraj Madhav, Manu, Vishnu Govind and others. Their rival camp of KSQ (~KSU) has director-turned- actor Roopesh Pithambaran and Kalabhavan Shajon leading the pack.


The film takes place in two distinct time periods in Kerala's political history. The flashback part of it is played out in the watershed era of the seventies with the Emergency and its baggage of persecutions, rendered in the movie by a few bad wigs and a couple of songs. This was the era which gave rise to the biggest political warriors in Kerala's campuses like Simon Britto and Suresh Kurup. In the movie we have the martyr Kunjaniyan, representing this fire brand youth brigade. Most of the rest of the story supposedly takes place in the present time which confuses me a bit because, where are the cell phones? In the light of this glaring absence I can only assume that the movie takes place in the late nineties or early 2000s?


A minor episode of campus crush featuring Tovino and Gayathri Suresh is thrown in to add some color and songs. The story is an accurate sketch of the reality in Kerala's co-ed colleges where female political representation is usually confined to a sidelined Vice Chairman or an Arts Club secretary position. In the grand scheme of the things, this film belongs squarely to its male characters - Tovino and Neeraj Madhav, the heroes, who are counter-balanced by the amazingly astute anti-hero, Roopesh.  Tovino's might be the face that will sell the movie but the director has made believable actors out of Roopesh Pithambaran, Neeraj Madhav, Vishnu Govind and Manu.

I started to watch Oru Mexican Aparatha to while away a mindless hour or two. But the film captured my attention thrusting two handsome and charismatic heroes right-at-ya, right in the opening scenes,  Tovino Thomas and Che Guvera. Together they attained enlightenment in Mexico, fled the weapons-wielding bourgeoisie  and embraced the red becoming martyrs for the cause of downtrodden. Ask anyone who has roots in the land of chekavars (reference to a Neeraj Madhav dialog in this movie), this is a sure-fire way to gain our support. You placed your bets on the right story and the right people, Anoop Kannan.

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