(S)he man Forever...

Things have reached a stage where if you want to watch a good Malayalam movie, you have to dig into your DVD Collection or depend on the sattelite channels to telecast one from the good old glorious days! Thus, it was on a lazy Saturday afternoon that I dished the CD of "Chandupottu" out of my private collection for some relief from the banal flicks that are playing out on the screens in Kerala these days.

Released in 2005, Chandupottu is a delightful love story- a tale that depicts the love that Malu (Gopika) has for Radhakrishnan (Dilip) often referred to as Radha, thanks to his effeminate ways. Things turn ugly for the couple when Kumaran (Indrajith), the local thug casts his eyes on Malu and starts plotting against Radha to eliminate him from the scene. How Radha survives and how he is united with Malu forms the rest of the plot.

On the surface, Chandupottu is no different from a regular love story. What makes it stand out is Dilip's portrayal of the effeminate Radha. Radha is brought up like a girl by his grandmother who always wanted a grand daughter and not a grand son. To add to this, Radha's father (Lal) is sent to prison for murdering a fellow fisherman (Anil Murali). Thus, his grand mother's affection coupled with his father's absence results in Radha growing up like a woman, learning dance and eventually ending up teaching dance to the girls in his village .

Benny P Nayarambalam, the scriptwriter is in fine form here. His character sketches are strong for a regular, commercial film. Radha's bringing up scenes have been done very well. Sending Radha's father, the only man in the family, to prison in the first reels itself is a clever master stroke on the part of the scenarist. Komban Kumaran and his scheming ways as well as the apathy shown by Kanaran, Radha's neighbour towards the family have come out real well. With Freddy, Rosy and Ammoomma joining the party in the second half (Biju Menon, Bhavana and Valsala Menon respectively), Chandupottu gets another major boost. How the threesome along with their Goan friends manage to instill confidence in Radha and (try to) change his feminine ways is a treat to watch.

But the strongest point in Chandupottu is that the movie ends with Radha being Radha. After the final showdown with Kumaran, Radha, Malu and their kid are shown walking together and even in that last scene, Lal Jose cleverly induces that feminine swing to Radha's body language making it very clear that no miracles happen in the lives of ordinary mortals.

Vayalar Sharath- Vidyasagar team come up with some beautiful lines and songs. Omanappuzha was a chart buster and Vineeth Sreenivasan scores high on this one. Chandu kudanjoru has its lines oozing sensuality and it has been picturized very suggestively, though aesthetically. Aazhakadalinte has S Janaki making a strong comeback after years.

Azhagappan's camera works magic. Never before has Gopika looked so beautiful. The color pattern that he uses for the scenes in Kerala and the richness with which he has canned the shots in Goa stand testimony to his vast talent. Renjan Abraham does a great job with his scissors. Sound, Art, Costumes, Make up and everything else work wonders!

As far as performances go, Chandupottu gave a big boost to the careers of Indrajith and Gopika. Lal, Sobha Mohan, Rajan P Dev, Koottikkal Jayachandran, Biju Menon, Bhavana, Valsala Menon and everyone else in the supporting cast have done justice to their respective roles. But, the film belongs totally and completely to Dilip. The actor puts his mimicry experience to good use but makes sure that his performance never goes overboard. The natural and spontaneous charm that Dilip lends to the character of Radha is unbelievable. It is really sad that the actor was not suitably rewarded by the various award jury in the state.

Lal Jose proves once again that he is all for variety and that he is equally at ease with all genres of film making. He exhibits a keen sense of picking up the right script and has to be congratulated for his perfect casting. Chandupottu is one film that will urge the viewers to forgive Lal Jose for his earlier mistakes like Randaam Bhavam, Pattalam and Rasigan!