Name: Pathirakalam
Language: Malayalam
Genre: Social/Realistic Drama
Duration: 132 minutes
Director: Priyanandanan
Cast: Mythili, Indrans
Plot:
A highly-qualified young lady takes a break from her job in Berlin and comes to her native place in Kerala, in search of her missing father who is a champion of social causes. The quest proves to be an excruciating self-liberating experience for the young lady, opening her eyes to the tyrannical, egotistical and terrifying social situation in the contemporary Kerala.
In his typical no-nonsense style, film-maker Priyanandanan explores the present-day tyranny and political/religious/communal/nationalist viciousness in Kerala through his realistic characters and situations, while taking care not to depress his viewers. Being genuine and sympathetic, he exhorts the viewers to be the change that they want to see in their society. Let’s not turn a blind eye towards our fellow beings who are victims of social injustice, is the simple and forever-relevant message.
Unless you have the indisputable notion that movies are for entertainment alone, you would positively appreciate this realistic drama. With its engaging screenplay, pleasant cinematography, natural performances by the artists, and seamless direction, Pathirakalam is a well-made movie for the discerning viewer.
The whole narration is anchored around a beautiful father-daughter relationship and communication. It is through the poetic and philosophical words written by the father to his daughter that the movie traverses its less-traveled path. Though the viewer never gets to see the face or the physical form of the father, he gets ample substance to feel the goodness, selflessness and nobility of the father character.
The father-daughter relationship, handled with great restraint and subtility, is perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the movie. Their sincerest love and care for each other, slowly and steadily uncovers before the hearts of the viewers, to finally touch the emotion of sacrifice. To say the least, it’s poetic!
That the commercial release of the movie has timed with the highly reproachable accident of the inhuman killing of the “aadivasi” (tribal) youth from Attappadi (Palakkad) by the sickeningly mad crowd at Mannarkad, proves a very valid point. It proves beyond doubt that the content of the movie is not fictional, and that it is based on very true and real incidents in Kerala!
The substance of the movie is food for thought on various levels. For those who appreciate the fact that Life is not merely entertainment and fun, the dialogues and scenes of “Pathirakalam” ought to stir emotions of angst and companionship. At least a few of us live for others in a selfless manner, disapproving the coziness and comfort their personal lives could have otherwise given them, has been expressed emphatically.
Though the plot and theme allowed explicit brutal violence and noise, the screenplay-writer and director have stayed away from them. Instead, they have chosen the implicit way, selecting their viewers’ minds to get what they want, in a very successful way. The background score, camera angles, editing and other technical aspects have been effectively used to achieve the dark mood of the “nocturnal times”!
Mythili is the mainstay of the movie, when it comes to performance by artists. Her character is well-developed and executed. Her bold looks and image (both on-screen and off-screen) have been imaginatively used.
It’s a pity to see very less takers for such movies! How can a society that supports movies that are entertainment & fun alone (however cheap and vulgar they may be!) expect social justice to prevail in its system? Where have all the discerning and mature movie-lovers gone? Where are they??
