How old are you?

Malayalam movie - review

In short:

It was a string of Vijay's movies (Tamil) that first gave me this impression: the last one was infinitely better than the current. It went from bad to worse to worst and at one point of time I just gave up trying to watch his movies until he redeemed himself in Thuppakki. After Vijay, it seems to be the women empowerment themed movies: first was English Vinglish - I felt it was a movie that should have been taken about a decade back and had issues with the caricatured characterization of the protagonist's family. And then comes this one. What do I say? It is not that this is a bad movie, far from it. It has its heart in the right place and some things are just beautiful, and then some things come out of nowhere that one gets boggled with the narration. It is a simple story with a wonderful protagonist - Manju Warrier, is in a word, awesome. She just looks apt, acts apt and just IS apt. It is only when she gives her soul for the movie, you feel that it could have been better for her sake. And this movie ought to be watched, if for nothing else, at least to know what female actors, who can actually do their jobs, when given roles with meat can actually do.

In long:

This is full of spoilers...

It starts out really good. Unlike EV (please forgive the comparison, it is impossible not to) Nirupama, the protagonist, is actually flawed. She is lazy and eensy weensy mean, which is actually nice. I sat up thinking, "here...here is a lady with shades in her character" and also assumed that the transcending arc of the story would be in her losing those negatives and finding her strengths. How wrong I was! It is yet again a story of a woman who is pulled down by her family, in particular her husband. It is so trite and cliched, it makes you wince. The place where Rajeev shouts at Nirupama for her expired license is so unbelievable. He knows that she is not tech savvy or even latest news savvy. How on earth did he presume will she know about her license thingy? But even when he was shouting at her for her lack of interest in the world around her, I was still hopeful. After all, this man wants her to learn or show interest in things that interest him. But no, right in the middle of the story, he switches to become this cruel hearted person who would snatch away her daughter from her to Ireland. Really? The worst of it is, the daughter character is actually beautifully fleshed out. She loves her mother, she is not ashamed of her, she just wants her mother to dream of things that can be done and get going there. She even nudges her to think with her "I-wont-tell-what-the-question-is" routine she puts up. The mother-daughter argument post Nirupama failing her Visa interview is actually beautiful and very real. When Lakshmi (the daughter) tells her mother that her mother shouldn't be blaming Lakshmi for her lack of dreams, it is so true. The question - so, no woman, after becoming a mother has chased her dream? Don't blame me for your laziness - is probably the most defining moment of the movie. Why wasn't this extrapolated much further? After all, it is she who stopped doing it and the movie actually tries to say that you shouldn't stop dreaming and work on it. But, it takes this stupid turn - the husband becomes the villain! He decides to take Lakshmi with him to Ireland - good move, after all the girl wants to go there. So, why couldn't he simply discuss it with Nirupama (like she herself says towards the end of the movie)? Instead, he hoodwinks her into a dinner and pours it on her head like a tonne of bricks - such a queasy thing to do. And Manju Warrier is just beautiful in this portion - when she says that for her, taking care of Rajeev and Lakshmi is the only thing to do, you actually empathize with her. She might be educated quite well, she might have been a bold girl in her college days, she might be a working woman today, but for her, the life revolves around her husband and daughter. She doesn't know anything else - she has barricaded the world away from her. This just shows in her expressions, an excellent piece of acting. And the scenes post this - in airport, the mother-daughter talk, her talk with her friend are all beautiful. Now, she all by herself could have analysed her life and come up with why she is the way she is. Instead, we get a silly what-for sentimental scene between her and a bus-mate, organic farming and lectures on chemical-infused agriculture and her becoming so successful that she gets to meet the President of India. Sigh!

In EV, the success was of a smaller scale, it was a personal victory. One of the most beautiful dialogues of EV - I don't need love right now, I need respect - it is the cry of women post their mid-thirties. She doesn't want the world's acceptance, just the family's. Why is it that this discovery of oneself, needs to be so widely acknowledged is my issue. Self-discovery doesn't mean you become the headlines but that you discover your potential to be more than what you are right now and to be at peace with oneself. Why is it that when it is women empowerment, the husband is always the one who has pulled down the woman from her dreams? Yes, circumstances and family are always a major influencing deal for any person. But, it could have been simple things - like him expecting her to slough through her work and home. Then, through the course of movie, the people in the house could have realized that their participation is critical for her success (whatever that might be). Instead it's a project that is so outside the realm of whatever we have seen till then.

The problem that I see in this movie is that it tries to mix in self-discovery and success and treats them as the same thing. And another problem is that "success", it tries to tell us is always large-scale, which involves the whole world. That isn't true either. It takes up too many premises: One, dreams are to be chased; Two, self-discovery; Three, women in general have more issues when it comes to attaining more. And because it bites more than it can chew, it becomes a hap-hazard business in the end,

Manju Warrier's performance and some scenes which have been carved so beautifully are the two things that kept me rooting for Nirupama till the end.