Dear Salim Ahmed,
I commend you for making a movie on the first illegal Malayali immigrants to the Gulf nations. It is such an interesting topic - from a cinematic point of view, the possibilities are endless. Somehow, this is a topic which Malayali filmmakers have often ignored. Sure there have been social satires like Visa, Akkare, Diamond Necklace and Arabi Katha. And comedy films like Nadodi Kattu and Madhura Naaranga.
But here was a chance to make that one film that revealed all the suffering. And disappointment. A film about the prevalent social conditions that forced Malayali youth to jump onto an illegal ship. Live like animals on it. And then jump off it to swim to the Arab nations. Only to work like slaves in a hostile nation. Interacting with people from many other nations. So that they could send money back home. To relatives who did not care about them.
I was damn interested when I heard about your movie, Ahmed. I said to myself, this could be that one Gulf Malayali movie to beat all the earlier ones. The one that really nails it. I missed it in the theatres, but I finally got to watch it yesterday on DVD. And I can safely say ..... this is not that movie.
I mean, what the hell were you thinking man? The film starts off like a lot of other recent Malayalam movies where a narrator (who sounds like a news reader) hits us on the head with the social context of the film. And then you played that awful modern dance song during the titles. Wtf? The narration switches between the past and the present. The film is silent about the social conditions that forced Malayali youth to runaway to the Gulf nations. You have the usual trite scenes of poverty and unemployment.
The scenes on the ship were mildly interesting but in the end they were marred by uninspired acting coupled with unimaginative writing. I mean, here were a bunch of young men on an adventure. There were so many interesting possibilities. But you just chose the dullest among them.
Things don't really improve once the action shifts to the Gulf nation in which our protagonist Pallikkal Narayanan (played by Mamooty who sleepwalks through his role) works. How did he interact with his environment? Whom did he meet? The scenes are confined to the room in which he lives with other immigrants. It seemed like you were trying desperately to foreground the sacrifices of the protagonist.
What could have been a great social adventure drama ends up as a weepy. How is this different from Vathsalyam?
Best Regards, Pimpin.
(5/10)
I commend you for making a movie on the first illegal Malayali immigrants to the Gulf nations. It is such an interesting topic - from a cinematic point of view, the possibilities are endless. Somehow, this is a topic which Malayali filmmakers have often ignored. Sure there have been social satires like Visa, Akkare, Diamond Necklace and Arabi Katha. And comedy films like Nadodi Kattu and Madhura Naaranga.
But here was a chance to make that one film that revealed all the suffering. And disappointment. A film about the prevalent social conditions that forced Malayali youth to jump onto an illegal ship. Live like animals on it. And then jump off it to swim to the Arab nations. Only to work like slaves in a hostile nation. Interacting with people from many other nations. So that they could send money back home. To relatives who did not care about them.
I was damn interested when I heard about your movie, Ahmed. I said to myself, this could be that one Gulf Malayali movie to beat all the earlier ones. The one that really nails it. I missed it in the theatres, but I finally got to watch it yesterday on DVD. And I can safely say ..... this is not that movie.
I mean, what the hell were you thinking man? The film starts off like a lot of other recent Malayalam movies where a narrator (who sounds like a news reader) hits us on the head with the social context of the film. And then you played that awful modern dance song during the titles. Wtf? The narration switches between the past and the present. The film is silent about the social conditions that forced Malayali youth to runaway to the Gulf nations. You have the usual trite scenes of poverty and unemployment.
The scenes on the ship were mildly interesting but in the end they were marred by uninspired acting coupled with unimaginative writing. I mean, here were a bunch of young men on an adventure. There were so many interesting possibilities. But you just chose the dullest among them.
Things don't really improve once the action shifts to the Gulf nation in which our protagonist Pallikkal Narayanan (played by Mamooty who sleepwalks through his role) works. How did he interact with his environment? Whom did he meet? The scenes are confined to the room in which he lives with other immigrants. It seemed like you were trying desperately to foreground the sacrifices of the protagonist.
What could have been a great social adventure drama ends up as a weepy. How is this different from Vathsalyam?
Best Regards, Pimpin.
(5/10)