Making tall claims is an art one should learn from the humble filmmakers in Kerala! Agreed, Renjith is creditted with some gems - Oru Maymasappulariyil, Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal, Devasuram and Kaiyyoppu to name a few. But, that does not mean you can forgive each and every mistake he makes- be it Neelagiri, Pradeshika Varthakal, Ravanaprabhu, Valiyettan, Mizhi Randilum, Black, Prajapathy, Rock n Roll...and definitely not mistakes that are made in the garb of meaningful cinema like "Thirakkatha"."Thirakkatha" starts off as an attempt at path breaking cinema. It is about a young filmmaker, Akbar Ahmad (Prithviraaj) who has made his first superhit film without any superstars and is in the process of scripting for his second film while also running a coffee shop- Casablanca- with friends and the love of his life- Devayani (Samvrutha Sunil). A meeting with superstar Ajayachandran (Anoop Menon) sets him thinking about Malavika (Priyamani), an acclaimed actress of the 80's and Ajayachandran's estranged wife, who has been out of news for quite some time. Akbar plans his next film on their relationship and starts out with meeting producers, directors and actors of the 80's to understand what happened in the lives of Ajayan and Malavika.
The interesting plot has been translated well on to the screen for more than 75% of the running time. But what leaves you totally disappointed is the climax! After portraying Ajayachandran as a scheming person who would do anything to get ahead in life, Ranjith ends up glorifying the superstar in the last scene. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the character of Ajayan has been moulded on the two megastars of Malayalam Cinema- who happen to be regulars on Ranjith's movies. The superstar is even shown wearing a wig, leading an unhappy life and even sleeping around with his young heroines. All this is good but when some one like Ranjith stoops low to say that the superstar was ruined by his misunderstood ex- wife, it becomes a bit too much to take! The unshared secret here is nothing of the earth shattering kind and what remains an important question is why Ajayan never tried to locate Malavika in spite of knowing that she was fighting a deadly disease.
Ranjith through his protagonist, Akbar Ahmad takes a trip through the Malayalam film scene of the 80's and finally ends up making a movie as frivolous as the ones we got to watch in those times! In the bargain, Priyamani's talent and Anoop Menon's earnestness are wasted. As for Prithviraaj, one only feels sorry for the young actor (who looks malnourished, by the way) for having been reduced to a prop in a movie that is not going to be of any benefit to him whatsoever!!!
Posts
At last someone who does not think that this film is going to be the next National Award winner.
ReplyDeleteI was unimpressed by Priyamani despite all the hyperbole I have been hearing about her histrionic abilities. She is no Meera Jasmine, judging her from just this film, though.
I thought Anoop Menon could tone down his acting a wee bit : I found his breaking down into tears in the last scene comical.
I agree with you entirely on the personality conflict in Anoop Menon's character. This automatically suggests a personality conflict in Priyamani's character as well.