Snehaveedu - That lovely feeling of familiarity.

Tweet

Movie - Snehaveedu (Malayalam)
Writer/Director - Sathyan Anthikkad
Producer - Antony Perumbavoor
Cast - Mohanlal, Sheela, Rahul Pillai, Padmapriya, Biju Menon, Innocent, Mamukkoya, KPAC Lalitha, Lena, Chembil Ashokan, Sasi Kalinga, Arundhathi, Appukkutty
Music - Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography - Venu ISC
Editing - K Rajagopal
Art Director - Joseph Nellickal
Release Date - 29th September 2011

One feels a certain kind of familiarity while watching a Sathyan Anthikkad movie. A feeling that you know this village, you know these people, you know their relationships, you know their problems and you even know how they're going to resolve their problems. And that, for me is the best part about Sathyan Anthikkad movies, and something which he has kept intact even after he started writing his own scripts, which are no match to the ones which he had been directing until then, written by other writers. Even though there are constant complaints about him not experimenting and is sticking to his same old formula, same old characters and actors, he knows what he is doing and he does it well. Unlike other brilliant directors from his period who've tried to experiment with new themes & borrowed story ideas and failed miserably. He is the only one who still has a guarantee of success every year when he comes out with his own kind of cinema, which has become a brand of sorts. And when Mohanlal returns in a light-hearted role with Sathyan Anthikkad in such a film, there is nothing more you can ask for. 

The plot is nothing new, and is very simplistic. Ajayan (Mohanlal) has been living with his mother with his daily dose of nostalgia in his village after toiling for years in Madras, Bombay and the Gulf to make money. He doesnt want to get married because he wants to spend the rest of his life looking after his loving mother Ammukkutti Amma (Sheela). But Ajayan's life and repute in the village goes for a toss when Karthik (Rahul Pillai) lands up in his house claiming to be his son. Snehaveedu tracks Ajayan's journey to prove that Karthik is not his son, while Karthik forms a rather strong bond with Ammukkutti Amma. Now that reminds a lot of Priyadarshan's Minnaram, but his friend Sathyan Anthikkad doesnt go there at all, even though the plots are slightly similar. 

The plot unfolds at its own pace with a lot of montages accompanied by Raja Sir's familiar but soothing background score, and has an end which may look unconvincing to many, but is perhaps the only way this story could have ended. You've seen everything in this movie earlier in a Sathyan Anthikkad village - the gorgeous locations full of greenery, achappams, kuzhalappams and different kinds of food, the host of goody good villagers including Innocent, KPAC Lalitha, Mamukkoya and party, cottage industries, Raja Sir's familiar music, a sub plot revolving around a family belonging to a different religion other than the main family, a Tamil connection, the same names in the credits, and most importantly, something which we loved to see in his 80s & 90s movies - a wonderful Lalettan in an unbeatable form, making you love every second of his screen time. All these familiar things made me feel like I was going back home, to my family. Why shouldnt I love this film then? I didnt go in expecting new generation cinema or a high intensity drama. This was exactly what I expected from the movie and I got that completely. In fact, watching Mohanlal alone was the worth the price of my ticket. And of course, the new additions to the Sathyan Anthikkad village - the talented lot of Biju Menon, Lena, Padmapriya, Sasi Kalinga and of course, the young Rahul Pillai made a wonderful impression as well. The dialogues laced with humour are perhaps the best dialogues Sathyan Anthikkad has written since he began writing. And I particularly loved the way how he weaved in references to his own films (along with Mohanlal) into the dialogue. 

And the most important reason to love this film is this man called Mohanlal. In this movie, it is not the Mohanlal of today who had become slightly distant from his audience due to certain choice of movies, it is the Lalettan we all love and we all relate to, the Lalettan who goes 'Uyyo' whenever he's in trouble, the Lalettan with his innocent and embarrassed smiles and expressions. I can go on and on. He plays the chubby, lazy, gulf returnee who lives life with his daily dose of nostalgia and takes the audience on a nostalgic trip reminding us of the wonderful roles and moments he created along with Sathyan Anthikkad. There is this mind blowing scene where Mohanlal explains his escapades with women in Chennai to his group of friends. Me, sitting in an almost empty theatre in Mumbai couldnt resist myself from getting up from my seat and clapping loudly. (How I wish I saw that scene along with the audience in Kerala!). Thanks to Sathyan Anthikkad for bringing the innocence back to him, which is the most relishing thing for a fan after having to endure him doing a bad comic performance in a horrible movie like China Town. It is also the result of the amazing rapport he shares with his friend and director, that he can be at such ease while doing such a simple role and charm us completely. 

Sheela is radiant and lovely as Ammukkutti Amma. After a graceful and memorable performance in Manassinakkare, she is wonderful in this movie and her chemistry with both Mohanlal and the young Rahul Pillai is great. Newcomer Rahul Pillai looks and acts like a young Dhanush, as referred to in the film itself and is a very good find. Padmapriya who has toned down a lot, looked gorgeous and did well as usual in the short role that was given to her. Biju Menon, joining the Sathyan Anthikkad camp for the first time, was a complete natural and it looks like he will be a regular in Anthikkad films from now on. Lena is growing into a very dependable actress with her performances in Traffic and now Snehaveedu. And it goes without saying that Malayalam Cinema's golden couple, Innocent and KPAC Lalitha are brilliant. Chembil Ashokan, Sasi Kalinga and Tamil actor Appukkutty are good in their roles. The girl Arundhathi who played Innocent's daughter looks like a cute younger version of Nithya Menen. Even the dog is quite impressive. 

Venu's camera captures the beauty of Palakkad in every frame, which has now become a regular thing in Sathyan Anthikkad movies. Ilaiyaraaja's music, even while sounding familiar, is wonderful, especially the song 'Amrithamay, Abhayamay'. Contrary to his usual style, he has used a lot of silence in his background score this time around. One never gets to feel the presence of an editor in Sathyan Anthikkad movies as shots, scenes and sequences flow so smoothly and that is K Rajagopal's success.

Yes, the movie has a lot of flaws. But the wonderful humour, warm relationships and great acting cover up for almost 90% of the flaws. The ending might not be acceptable to many people in the audience, but Sathyan Anthikkad movies were never about how good his climax portions were. It is the journey till there which is always good. In this industry where watching 80% of the commercial movies makes you cringe, Sathyan Anthikkad makes sure that you have a good trip back to familiar people and places. He doesnt make any high claims about his movies and he sticks to whatever he knows to do best. Yes, we can still hope he joins hands with good writers to take his films to the next level, but this level aint bad either. I may not remember this movie for a long time, but whenever I watch it, I would have a great time.(As the dialogue goes, 'Then kudikkunnu, parakkunnu, paraaganam!') And three cheers to the director for making the general public go back to addressing Mohanlal as their Lalettan all over again. :) 

Bottomline - Watch it for Mohanlal in superb form, and that lovely feeling of the familiarity of it all. 

Kutty Srank

Movie – Kutty Srank (Malayalam)

Director – Shaji N Karun

Producer – Reliance Big Pictures

Cast – Mammootty, Padmapriya, Siddique, Suresh Krishna, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Meena Kumari, Sayikumar and others.

Music – Issac Thomas Kottukappally

Cinematography – Anjali Shukla

Editing – Sreekar Prasad

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Harikrishnan, PF Mathews

Release Date – 23rd July 2010

The National Award winner for best feature film - Kutty Srank, was re-released this weekend for viewers who had missed out on the film in its very short theatrical run earlier. The movie which was completely ignored at the Kerala State Film Awards, won more than 5 awards in the National Film Awards announced last week including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and special jury mentions for the editor Sreekar Prasad and actress Padmapriya. Set in post-independence Kerala, the movie tells the story of the character of Kutty Srank, through the three ladies in his life.

A dead body which is assumed to be that of Kutty Srank (Mammootty) is found off the Cochin shores. Kutty Srank was an aimless, nomadic person who wanders from shore to shore . He did not have a family, a caste or a religion. Revamma (Padmapriya) is summoned to identify the body and to be questioned about her relationship with the boat driver. Revamma narrates her story, of her turbulent relationship with her evil father, the murder of her lover, and how Kutty Srank helped her in her life. Next is the turn of Pemmena (Kamalinee Mukherjee) who was the second woman in his life. Kutty Srank had joined a ballet troupe specializing in the art form ‘Chavittunaadakam’, led by Loni Aashan (Suresh Krishna). Pemmana was his sister and she was in love with Kutty Srank even though he did not reciprocate the feelings. The vicar of the village chruch goes up in arms against Kutty Srank since Srank does not have a religion or a caste. Pemmena narrates the incidents that followed. Then the third woman, Kali (Meena Kumari) comes to the station to identify the body. The mute woman claims to be Kutty Srank’s wife and narrates her story of how Kutty Srank saved her from an entire village which considered her as an ill omen and the sole reason for all the misfortunes in their land. Kutty Srank’s character comes across to us through these three stories by three different women.

The episodic format which has been used in this film is a very tried and tested format including the latest release Pranchiyettan & The Saint which connects different incidents that occur during different time periods in its protagonist’s life. But here, the director has opted to use the same episodic format in a slightly different way. Here the protagonist’s story is revealed through the eyes of the three different women in his life, which is a very interesting way to tell a story, as different facets of the character are revealed through the different incidents that the women narrate.

The atmosphere, in which the story is told, is beautiful. The post-independence setting, the characterizations, the music and the locations are all part of creating this great atmosphere in which the story is told. The movie starts on a slow note, with Padmapriya’s story, moves forward and then picks up momentum with Kamalinee’s story which is simply a treat to watch and then again slows down during Meena Kumari’s story. The ending leaves much to the imagination of the viewer making one think about what happened to Srank much after he/she leaves the movie hall. Along with three women, it also tells the tale of the three shores/villages that Kutty Srank goes to - one in Malabar, one in Kochi and one in Travancore. It deals with three religions - Buddhism (Revamma), Christianity (Pemmena) and Hinduism (Kali) also. And also symbolises three different seasons - summer for Revamma's portion, monsoons for Pemmena's portion and winter for Kali's portion. The film’s most entertaining parts are during Srank’s stay in Cochin along with Pemmana and Loni Aashan. There are some brilliantly written scenes and sequences in this portion of the film which stands apart from the rest of the film. There is a lot of dark humour in those portions, which makes them entertaining as well. Srank appears as different persons to these different women, He is a ruthless animal-like servant at first for Revamma, but then he undergoes a miraculous transformation out of guilt. Pemmena looks upto him with utmost admiration and love and she cannot resist revealing her strong and raw sexual nature to Srank. For Kali, Srank becomes a saviour. There is the signature of the masterful direction of Shaji N Karun throughout the movie. 

Coming to performances, Mammootty is, as expected, brilliant as the protagonist Kutty Srank. He underplays his part beautifully and is able to bring out the growth and decline of the character quite well on screen through the three interpretations, even though there is little change in his physical appearances. He plays the same character, but he comes across as three different persons to each woman. And it was pleasantly surprising to see him making some great moves during the Chavittunaadakam portions. But the movie’s best performance comes from the under-rated Suresh Krishna who is usually typecast in villain roles. He gives a spectacular performance as Loni Aashan. Suresh’s only negative is his voice, and in this movie, somebody better has dubbed for him with a voice that perfectly suits the character. Siddique is brilliance personified and he has been proving that time and again with each and every character he gets. The Palliyil Achan in this movie was no different. Padmapriya does exceptionally well as Revamma. Kamalinee Mukherjee is very good and has done a scene which comes across as quite a shocker to the audience as well. Meena Kumari as the mute woman who is considered a bad omen to an entire village is excellent. In fact, she gives the best performance among the female leads. Sayikumar plays his part with considerable ease. The actor who played the drama artist Joppan deserves special mention. P Sreekumar and Nandu are also part of the cast. The actor who played Padmapriya’s father did some terribly bad acting.

This review wouldn't be complete without a mention of the magical cinematography in this film by first-timer Anjali Shukla. One of the very very few female cinematographers we have in the country. Her National Award was indeed well deserved as the movie has some absolutely amazing visuals. Shaji N Karun’s films always have brilliant cinematography, since he is a cinematographer himself. Sound design is another brilliant aspect in the movie. And the movie has a wonderfully charming musical score by Isaac Thomas Kottukappally. The songs during the Chavittunaadakam portions are delightful to listen to. Mammootty himself has sung a drinking song in the film. Sreekar Prasad's fine editing also adds much more value to the film. The National Award winning Costume designer Jayakumar deserves a special mention, especially for the wonderful costumes he created for the drama portions. The technical team has done a marvellous job in the film. 

Overall, Kutty Srank is definitely a great piece of cinema. It was not my kind of cinema, but it still kept me hooked throughout, except for very few scenes that didnt rise up to the level of the rest of the movie. The movie stands on a slightly lower position, when compared to Shajji N Karun's previous movie Vaanaprastham (released 10 years ago). It has great performances, innovative storytelling, fantastic cinematography, beautiful music, and a great atmosphere. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but connoisseurs of offbeat cinema, this is indeed a treat. 

Rating - 4/5