Wednesday March afternoon stood still to watch a classy 2015 Malayalam film: Ozhuvidivasathe Kali (An Off-day game). Had heard about the film, read of it in The Indian Express, never got to see it as the film had a limited release same as no release. In recent times, Malayalam films are mostly crap care of Mohanlal, Mammootty and Sreenivasan. Ozhivudivasathe Kali by director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan based on a short story of the same name by R.Unni changes all that with rare cinematic craft. Yes it is TOPS. With crisp English subtitles, anyone can see it, if so inclined to serious films. Five men on election day go on a forest trip, drink and chat life: the democracy of sex; of one of them being a black skin (born black, live black, die black); a bare body, yellow dhoti chasing a female who cooks jackfruit curry to go with the drink and gets slapped out of sex; she demands payment for cooking and the drunk pay her; a childhood game of robber, police, king, minister and judge; and the hiccup end. Yes, it is a Wow satire on today's politics where Aadhaar is a must for hungry children and women and living is dangerously anti-national. Questions are banned; answers given. There is force in sex, chats a fellow as his friend talks of sex democracy; then the issue of violating one's wife stands up and there is trouble. Best to keep in mind they are on drinks when men turn sober; they run short of kicking liquids and Namboodiri goes to town to get a bottle promising five votes to a political party: five votes for a bottle, the going rate. Every ism is knocked and living gets a drunken clarity. Crisply edited with the end hauntingly abrupt will make me see it a second and a third time. wikipedia says the film has only 70 shots with the second half of the film being just a single shot. Do not know what it means but the camera moves easily and the sounds of Kerala forests and rains stay with you; the film credit lines a group called Artifical rain makers and they sure have done the job delighting Rama who understands Kerala rains, Alleppey rains, in particular. A 100 minute film, no songs, no dishum, no sex .... just think of it a Kerala film and without Kerala. R. Unni short story should be worth reading and Rama promises to do so. There are no best actors, no best actresses, no comedians .... the film director Sasidharan is all, an entirely director work; a rarity. Yes, me repeats, Malayalam film art has flown far far away from Adoor. Congrats Sasidharan.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
A Malayalam film....
Wednesday March afternoon stood still to watch a classy 2015 Malayalam film: Ozhuvidivasathe Kali (An Off-day game). Had heard about the film, read of it in The Indian Express, never got to see it as the film had a limited release same as no release. In recent times, Malayalam films are mostly crap care of Mohanlal, Mammootty and Sreenivasan. Ozhivudivasathe Kali by director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan based on a short story of the same name by R.Unni changes all that with rare cinematic craft. Yes it is TOPS. With crisp English subtitles, anyone can see it, if so inclined to serious films. Five men on election day go on a forest trip, drink and chat life: the democracy of sex; of one of them being a black skin (born black, live black, die black); a bare body, yellow dhoti chasing a female who cooks jackfruit curry to go with the drink and gets slapped out of sex; she demands payment for cooking and the drunk pay her; a childhood game of robber, police, king, minister and judge; and the hiccup end. Yes, it is a Wow satire on today's politics where Aadhaar is a must for hungry children and women and living is dangerously anti-national. Questions are banned; answers given. There is force in sex, chats a fellow as his friend talks of sex democracy; then the issue of violating one's wife stands up and there is trouble. Best to keep in mind they are on drinks when men turn sober; they run short of kicking liquids and Namboodiri goes to town to get a bottle promising five votes to a political party: five votes for a bottle, the going rate. Every ism is knocked and living gets a drunken clarity. Crisply edited with the end hauntingly abrupt will make me see it a second and a third time. wikipedia says the film has only 70 shots with the second half of the film being just a single shot. Do not know what it means but the camera moves easily and the sounds of Kerala forests and rains stay with you; the film credit lines a group called Artifical rain makers and they sure have done the job delighting Rama who understands Kerala rains, Alleppey rains, in particular. A 100 minute film, no songs, no dishum, no sex .... just think of it a Kerala film and without Kerala. R. Unni short story should be worth reading and Rama promises to do so. There are no best actors, no best actresses, no comedians .... the film director Sasidharan is all, an entirely director work; a rarity. Yes, me repeats, Malayalam film art has flown far far away from Adoor. Congrats Sasidharan.
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