Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan, Vinay Fortt, Dileesh Pothan, Sanal Aman
Director: Mahesh Narayanan
Ambition is dangerous.
Teachers in all walks of life preach about ambition. Self-help texts and management tomes scream the value of aiming higher and higher. Songs, stories and movies recite the lives of those who dare to dream big and achieve that dream. Magnificent ambitions have also resulted in magnificent failures. But that just added to the allure. Between the two extremes lie the also-rans, the so-sos, the efforts that are soon forgotten, the biggest danger to ambition. Let me tell you about Malik.
Ahammadali Sulaiman (Faasil) is a middle-aged Muslim man who wants to go on Hajj. Through a series of flashbacks, each told by a different person, we find who he was and why going on a pilgrimage was next to impossible for him. From a sickly child who was given up for dead and almost buried he grew to be a godfather who could not be made answerable for his crimes because his followers would not let that happen. His life is also closely connected to a local mosque.
All epics that trace the life of a don inevitably get compared to Coppola’s Godfather movies, which, in turn, owed a lot to James Cagney’s gangster movies. Actors love the scope these movies give to display their histrionics. Writers love the chance to mix grey into the hero’s persona. Audiences are more vary, though. They still want to have a good time at the movies.
Fahadh has been a director’s darling for a few years now. Being outside the star system and its trappings, he was able to portray some of the more interesting characters of recent years. Malik was a shoo-in to be his magnum opus. He was working with frequent collaborators on and off the screen, the story was interesting, and the real-life inspiration was also fresh in people’s memories. He dives headfirst into the role and showcases his talent.
Nimisha Sajayan is possibly the most polarising of young Malayali actresses. Even in our household, the opinion is split. I feel she is the anchor of the film allowing the more showy performances to take flight. Vinay Fortt probably has his strongest ever role and he does justice to it. Dileesh Pothan may be the Malayali’s favourite director at this point. But when confronted with a really complex role his acting limitations come to the fore.
When Ali’s mother came on screen, something about her sent us straight to IMDb. Imagine our surprise when she turned out to be Jalaja, once known as the Tragedy Queen of Malayalam cinema. She was appearing on screen after almost three decades.
The actor portraying the young antagonist-to-be seemed familiar. What good is a reviewer if he can’t name-drop once in a while! My batchmate and friend Jiju made a hard-hitting movie – Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani. Sanal played the main character in that. And I had singled out his performance. Here he goes through the motions, not getting the material to really chew into.
Malik borrows liberally from a series of real-life incidents. It tries to bend circumstances to become the villain of the story. This is not new. But it also highlights the limitations of the story. Malik feels stale. It reminds you of so many other movies done the same way. It feels like a manufactured sequel rather than an original film. This is unfortunate, considering the talent at work here. The backbone of every good movie is its screenplay. This one, unfortunately, reminds me of my back. Always creaking and groaning, with one issue or other.
There is a 12-minute single take at the beginning of the film that serves no purpose other than showcase the ability to do one. This is the danger of ambition. It makes you forget your moorings. It gives you false confidence. Malik wants to soar. And tells everyone that. But the wind beneath its wings is not strong enough.
Director: Jude Anthany Joseph
Family WhatsApp groups are a different beast altogether. Populated by relatives of all shapes and colours and each of them expects you to follow their viewpoint, because you are related. Blood, apparently, should bond thicker than Fevicol. It was on one such family group that I first heard about Sara’s. The forwarded post was a video. I didn’t open it. Yet, even the title gave me enough clues about what the movie was about. The seemingly criticizing tone also made it a must-see, for me.
Sara (Ben) is an Assistant Director in Malayalam movies. She is writing a script that she hopes to direct someday. During a fact-gathering session with a doctor, she meets with the doctor’s younger brother Jeevan (Wayne). The two hit it off. Jeevan was completely supportive of her ambitions that it didn’t take much convincing for Sara to accept his proposal. Since the damn things are called ‘birth control measures’ and not “birth preventive measures”, you can guess what happened next. As is the case in most Indian homes, everyone except Sara has a say in how things would proceed.
Anna Ben is delightful in the role. She is spontaneous and effervescent. The movie begins with a prologue of Sara in school. She carries off that vibe so well that it is hard to accept her as an adult for some time. That prologue proves to be ill-advised a second time when Sunny Wayne makes his entrance. While essaying a likeable character, one cannot but keep thinking that he is too old for Sara.
Mallika Sukumaran has a rather meaty role as Jeevan’s mother, but one is constantly reminded of something that Sheela had done before. Siddhique has a small, but critical role. Anna’s real father Benny P Nayarambalam plays her reel father, too.
Please don’t go by the ridiculous iMDb score or the negative reviews that abound. This is a delightful little film that Jude Anthany Joseph (no, I didn’t misspell the middle name!) has crafted. Both he and first-time writer Dr Akshay Hareesh are in love with the idea that is Sara and it shows in every frame. The story is simple and this could have been told well as an episode in a series. Unfortunately, the subject matter is still taboo in 21st century India, where society dictates that a woman does not own her body. That is what makes Sara’s a relevant movie.
Cast: Kani Kusruti, Shailaja Jala, Surjith
Director: Sajin Baabu
‘What did I just see’ is likely to be the first refrain of most people who see Biriyaani. And they cannot be faulted. The movie begins and ends with two people having sex. Nudity in Malayalam movies is not unheard of as there was a time when young males around the country would swear by Malayalam porn. But nudity in a regular movie is rare in India itself. What is more incredible was those scenes were not for the shock value, but rather very important to the story writer-director Sajin Baabu was trying to tell.
Khadeeja (Kusruthi) is a young mother in a traditional Muslim household. When her brother was outed as an ISIS agent, she is divorced by her husband via text message. She tries to take care of her mother (Jala), who is not completely connected with reality. How Khadeeja and her mother attempt to face the tough times that do not seem to leave them is the crux of the plot.
Kani Kusruti puts in an absolutely fearless performance. She does not hesitate in getting naked before the viewer, literally and otherwise. The cast is mostly unknown and do a commendable role. In a curious coincidence to the earlier movie, Kani Kusruti’s real father also plays a small role in the movie, though not as her father.
Biriyani is a rice dish popular around the country. Primarily non-vegetarian, it is usually associated with the Muslim community. The title is a call-out to popular cliches, even though it is a major plot point. Flavours of Flesh is the sub-title. There was a really good movie waiting to be made just on the aspect of sex alone. But Biriyaani straddles multiple genres, including being a social commentary, a religious and moral examination and even a hilariously over-the-top revenge drama.
Sajin Baabu’s previous movie was a puzzling oddity called Ayaal Sassi. With Biriyaani, he has really come to the fore. This is a polarising film that was released only due to the prevailing political climate in the country. That shouldn’t be the defining trait of a movie that dared to tread where none have before.
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