It is the same 20 year old Aparan that I am planning to write about here. I had seen it in theatres when I was 9 years old and I have always remembered it in bits and pieces for its strange subject and unique treatment (I was too young to understand and appreciate it then, you know)
In spite of the onset of sattelite television and all movies being telecasted and re telecasted time and again, Aparan remained a rarity. It was with tremendous pleasure that I sat down to watch it this saturday when Amrita TV was generous enough to telecast it
Aparan is the story of Vishwanatha Pillai (Jayaram making a strong, impressive debut) who hails from a small village in Alappuzha district. His family comprises of his father, a retired headmaster (an aptly cast Madhu), mother (Sukumari) and sister of marriageable age (Parvathy). His mother is constantly worrying about his unemployment and he gets a call for an interview in Kochi.
In a restaurant in Kochi, he is manhandled by a couple of local thugs and taken by the police into custody. That is when he realizes that he has a look alike in the city who is on the wrong side of the law. Thankfully for him the sub inspector (Mukesh) is an old classmate who recognizes him and releases him.
Life turns topsy turvy for Vishwam with even an alliance for his sister getting cancelled thanks to the antics of the look alike. He finally lands a job in the city but is ousted out of it because his look alike had failed in the past to supply a prostitute to his MD (M G Soman) after taking money from him.
Vishwam finally decides enough is enough and sets out to find out the "aparan" (look alike). His efforts yield result and he is handed over a sum of Rs.1.5 lakhs by a person who had hired the aparan for a murder. Vishwam decides to hand over the money to his father for conducting his sister's wedding but is hunted down by the aparan and his goons on his way. In the confusion that follows, the aparan is murdered by his own folks and Vishwam's parents accept the dead body thinking that it belongs to him.
The climax of the film is its major highlight where Vishwam hands over the money to his father and walks off declaring that he has no other way but to continue living as the "aparan". The very thought of having a look alike who is in no way related to you is scary. Even more scary is when that person is on a route that is completely opposite to yours. It is on this scary premise that Padmarajan has built up a taut script. Kudos to the master filmmaker for having come up with such a novel thought and giving it the kind of treatment that is so unique to Padmarajan.
Venu's camera, B Lenin's auditing and Johnson's authentic background score add to the proceedings. The movie has a plethora of artistes- but other than Jayaram and Madhu, the others do not have enough screen time or well written scenes to contribute to the narrative.
Aparan is considered a classic for treading a road less travelled and making that travel a very exciting one! And did I tell you that this was the first time Jayaram and Sobhana came together on screen providing an early hint of a crackling on screen chemistry that regaled the audience for another decade?
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