Teenage Troubles

My earliest memory of "Kaanamarayathu" is watching it at Shenoys theatre as a 5 year old along with my grandma and aunt and singing along with Krishnachandran that iconic "Oru Madhurakkinavin" while Rahman was cavorting on screen wearing his brief :-) As I sat through the timeless classic on VCD almost 25 years later, I could understand clearly what Malayalam Cinema of today is lacking- a scriptwriter like Padmarajan and an maverick director like I V Sasi (who is now past his prime!)

Kaanamarayathu has a plethora of star actors each contributing significantly to the plot and ending up putting a wonderful performance- right from Mammootty who plays the uber cool Roy to Rahman's energetic youth to Sobhana's spirited Sherlie to Seema's mature doctor to Unnimary's playful housewife to Lalu Alex's concerned older brother to Bahadur's witty office boy- its a pleasure watching these actors perform characters that have been very well etched out!

Padmarajan has always been a master with his dialogues and you see his brilliance and naturalism all over the script of Kaanamarayathu. Add to it, I V Sasi's skilful direction, Syam's melodious music (Janaki and Krishnachandran are the singers), Ajayan Vincent's meticulous camera work and some razor sharp editing- no wonder Kaanamarayathu ended up a blockbuster that still lingers on in the minds of the movie goers.

Catch it on DVD/ VCD if you have not seen it before and you will see flashes of brilliant acting by Sobhana- you realize its no surprise she went on to become an iconic actress...