Arabikkatha is refreshing and poignant

Kerala is one Indian state where the spread of communism and leftist thinking is so far and wide that it has cut across all kinds of boundaries- religious, monetary, casteist, the works. Even though the propounder of communism, Russia, has given up the ideology completely, the strength of the movement in Kerala gives one an impression that the movement had its origin here. Another aspect the state is famous for is the percentage of its population that works in the Middle East or the Gulf Countries. There are towns and villages in the state where one member from each family invariably works in the ME. On a closer analysis, one might be able to find out a correlation between these two aspects- Rampant spread of communism opposing industrial set up, "n" number of trade unions, closing down of industrial units, creating a generation that is aware only of its rights but not duties, all resulting in unemployment and underemployment culminating in the migration of skilled and unskilled youth to the Middle East in search of greener pastures. The film makers in Kerala have dealt with this subject, analyzing the same from different view points (K G George's Visa, I V Sasi's Iniyenkilum), but this is for the first time that the plight of Keralites in Gulf has been shown on screen through the eyes of a staunch communist. This is precisely where Arabikkatha scores. Arabikkatha is the story of the life journey of "Cuba" Mukundan (Sreenivasan), a local committee secretary of the Leftist party at Chemmannur. He is a dedicated party worker ably supported by hot blooded comrades like Anvar (Indrajith) and morally supported by his father- old time Communist leader Society Gopalan (Nedumudi Venu). The movie starts with Mukundan and his fellow comrades emerging successful in closing a factory owned by Dubai based Keralite businessman Kunjunni (Jagathy Sreekumar); for discharge of chemical wastes into rivers. A faction of the party headed by Karunan (Sivaji Guruvayoor) wants Mukundan to stay back from such activites, but he does not budge. Infuriated, Karunan with the help of Kunjunni frames Mukundan's father Soceity Gopalan in a scam of Rs. 20 lakhs. Gopalan passes away without being able to offer an explanation and the burden of repaying the debt falls on Mukundan. To earn enough money to repay the debt, Mukundan lands in Dubai- the land of opportunities. From here on, life is a roller- coaster ride for the simpleton who gets cheated by all and sundry. Mukundan finally ends up as a supplier in a tea stall owned by an old Keralite Muslim. He comes across an attractive Chinese girl who sells pirated Malayalam CD's in Dubai and falls for her, thanks to the high regard he has for the Red Dragon. He even manages to win a jackpot of Rs. 10 lakhs out of a private financing agreement, but is cheated again of the money. Unable to bear the trauma, Mukundan disappears. The rest of the movie is about how his friends from Kerala manage to find Mukundan out and how he finally emerges victorious. The best thing about Arabikkatha is that it deals with normal human beings. The characters, their background, the language that they speak, the way they appear, the way things transpire in their lives- are all so very realistic and identifiable. Add to that the straight from the heart performances from each and every member of the cast and the result is an extremely enjoyable fare. Sreenivasan literally lives the character of Mukundan. Indrajith and Samvrutha Sunil are adequate. Sivaji Guruvayoor is an actor to watch out for. Jagathy and Jayasurya are their usual self. Nedumudi Venu puts in a neat cameo. The Chinese heroine is endearing. Manoj Pillay's photography goes with the mood of the story, Ranjan Abraham does a neat job with his scissors. Lyrics by Anil Panachooran are outstanding and Bijibal's music add to their lyrical quality. Dr. Iqbal Kuttippuram has shown some promise as a script writer in the past (Swapnakoodu, Gramaphone, For the People), but Arabikkatha is definitely his best till date. He has successfully brought out the emotions of the characters and made his script appealing to one and all. However, a lion's share of the credit for making Arabikkatha what it is, should go to the captain of the ship- Lal Jose. The courage and conviction with which he has carried the narrative forward deserves a pat on his shoulder. With this movie, Lal Jose definitely joins the ranks of the most talented directors in Malayalam Cinema like K S Sethumadhavan, Padmarajan, Bharathan, K G George, I V Sasi and Sathyan Anthicad. To sum up, Arabikkatha is a golden feather in Lal Jose's already over crowded cap. Bravo!