Ee Adutha Kaalathu Movie Review
Arun Kumar Aravind's 'Ee Adutha Kaalathu' dabbles further with the multi-pronged approach in cinema, and armed with an undeniable power, courtesy Murali Gopy's forceful story telling, does the unthinkable - to keep you absorbed for a long, long running time of about three hours!
A marriage is on the rocks in one of the most flourishing suburbs in the city, and both Ajay Kurien (Murali Gopy) and his wife Madhuri (Tanushree Ghosh) have finally realized that there is nothing much that they can do about it. Far away, under a thatched rented house that threatens to topple down any moment, Vishnu (Indrajith), his wife Remani (Mythili) and their two kids make do with whatever little they have.
The Commissioner of Police, Tom Cherian (Anoop Menon) lives in constant dread of being made a laughing stock by the public, since a serial killer is on the loose, and the police department hasn't been able to do anything about it. His journalist girlfriend Rupa (Lena) has had it up to the hilt with the yellow press having a field time proclaiming the details of their clandestine romance, and keeps coercing Tommy to tie her the knot.
Multiple narratives have almost become overused in the world of cinema in general, and yet if it works extraordinarily well in 'Ee Adutha Kaalathu', it's because there are no deliberate efforts to link them together. Here, it's just that these characters hurriedly move about on the uneven landscape that carries them, and every now and then cross paths, sometimes to return and sometimes never to see each other again.
The subtlety with which the narrative dwells on some very significant issues that lie all around is highly appreciable. The waste dump where a human corpse gets dumped is more than a garbage ground; there are living, suffering human beings outside it, unaware of the rotting corpse that lies within, but fully conscious of an environmental hazard that had started to eat away their lives from outside and from deep inside. The almost uncontrollable influx of the immigrant workers from all over the North East has over the last few years emerged as a matter of grave concern, and the silhouettes of scores of those unknown faces walking towards you at a building site generates an uneasy reminder.
Arun Kumar Aravind's 'Ee Adutha Kaalathu' dabbles further with the multi-pronged approach in cinema, and armed with an undeniable power, courtesy Murali Gopy's forceful story telling, does the unthinkable - to keep you absorbed for a long, long running time of about three hours!A marriage is on the rocks in one of the most flourishing suburbs in the city, and both Ajay Kurien (Murali Gopy) and his wife Madhuri (Tanushree Ghosh) have finally realized that there is nothing much that they can do about it. Far away, under a thatched rented house that threatens to topple down any moment, Vishnu (Indrajith), his wife Remani (Mythili) and their two kids make do with whatever little they have.
The Commissioner of Police, Tom Cherian (Anoop Menon) lives in constant dread of being made a laughing stock by the public, since a serial killer is on the loose, and the police department hasn't been able to do anything about it. His journalist girlfriend Rupa (Lena) has had it up to the hilt with the yellow press having a field time proclaiming the details of their clandestine romance, and keeps coercing Tommy to tie her the knot.
Multiple narratives have almost become overused in the world of cinema in general, and yet if it works extraordinarily well in 'Ee Adutha Kaalathu', it's because there are no deliberate efforts to link them together. Here, it's just that these characters hurriedly move about on the uneven landscape that carries them, and every now and then cross paths, sometimes to return and sometimes never to see each other again.
The subtlety with which the narrative dwells on some very significant issues that lie all around is highly appreciable. The waste dump where a human corpse gets dumped is more than a garbage ground; there are living, suffering human beings outside it, unaware of the rotting corpse that lies within, but fully conscious of an environmental hazard that had started to eat away their lives from outside and from deep inside. The almost uncontrollable influx of the immigrant workers from all over the North East has over the last few years emerged as a matter of grave concern, and the silhouettes of scores of those unknown faces walking towards you at a building site generates an uneasy reminder.
The Performances
Ee adutha is one rare movie in which every other actor has given their best.Indran as 'Vettu'Vishnu is terrific and you can hardly imagine any other actor in his place.Indran is one actor who inspite of his histrionic capabilities hasn’t really got his due in Malayalam Cinema.Hope this movie gets him the much deserved standing ovation that he has been vying for.The 'Trivandrum/Parassala slang' that has become a bit cliched,thanks to Suraj Venjaramoodu and his antics is also used intelligently by him in this movie. Anoop Menon as the IPS officer continues his good work here too and so does Lena(Traffic,Randam Bhavam) who plays the young journo.Thanusree Ghosh as the frustrated wife is apt though at places the lip sync is not up to the mark.The usually wooden faced Nishan proves that he can emote too if guided by a sensible director and is backed with an intelligently written role.Baiju who plays Watson,Jagathy Sreekumar as the magazine editor,Murali Gopi as Ajay are nothing but brilliant.Mythili who plays Indran’s wife too doesn’t disappoint though she has a brief role in the movie.
Technical department and Songs:
Arun Kumar Aravind who adapted ‘Butterfly on a wheel’ as ‘Cocktail’ last year is back with a genuine and original movie this time.Ee adutha is a movie which he can definitely be proud of and most importantly Malayalam Cinema has got a sensible and intelligent director after a really long time.
