How do you make the lead character of your story cover up a murder and yet retain his apeal without condoning the transgression? And make sure that the audience is rooting for him till the very end? Tricky?
ASHOK’s FIVE recommends the 2013 Malayalam movie #Drishyam available on #DisneyPlusHotstar. Go watch it quickly; the sequel Drishyam2 has been announced and is releasing on #AmazonPrime on 19th February 2021.
Written and directed by #JeethuJoseph, this thriller traces the sequence of events when a lower middle class cable operator and his family come under the line of fire after the family is involved in the murder of the son of a high-ranking police official. It stars Malayalam Superstar #Mohanlal as GeorgeKutty along with #Meena, #AshaSarath, #Siddique, #KalabhavanShajon and #NeerajMadhav. It was the first Malayalam film to collect ₹500 million from the box office. The film grossed over ₹750 million worldwide and ran for more than 150 days in theatres. It remained the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time until it was surpassed by #Pulimurugan in 2016. The film is supposedly inspired by the Japanese film #TheDevotionofSuspectX.
The film is very deliberately slow in the first half and #JeethuJoseph takes his own time to set up the context, the characters and the premise. This works even more effectively because the second half picks up the tension quotient and more than makes up for the slowness. The story is set in Rajakkad near Thodupuzha. George Kutty is a lower middle class cable operator who is completely besotted by the movies. He has studied only upto Class 4 but derives a lot of worldly wisdom from the movie plots.
Critics have pointed to one scene which is perhaps the best in the movie. And the scene is not even part of the nail biting tension as the plot unfolds. In what is almost the last scene, George Kutty stands as #CharmyHarikrishnan in her review says “a rock-solid, impervious presence on the screen, and then his body language transforms into a blend of extreme self-containment and unsurpassable remorse”. He admits to the murder and defends himself. I am a self-confessed fan of #AjayDevgn but when you see the Hindi remake, you realise that Vijay Salgaonkar there is almost apologetic and that ruins it completely. “An unwanted guest invaded our privacy. In a moment of panic, we made a mistake. We ensured he’d never come back to ruin our lives. We sent the guest back.” He says, staring directly at the woman IG and her husband. I think this feature of the film, where what is essentially a crime as per the law is counterbalanced by a father who is prepared to go to any extent to protect his family, is brilliantly portrayed.
And that brings me to #TheCompleteActor, #Mohanlal. At 61, it is amazing to see this thespian still going strong. Starting with the role of a villain in #ManjilVirinjhaPookal in 1980, this man has over the last four decades played a variety of roles - romantic, action, character, common-man and comic to straddle the Kerala film ecosystem like a colossus. He is currently the President of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists). The Moniker of “The Complete Actor” has been bestowed on him and it is also the title of his own website and blog.
#Mohanlal essays the role of George Kutty effortlessly. His portly frame and furtive glances are a perfect foil to the mischievous advances he makes towards his wife. The character of George Kutty is sketched out very well. Here is a stingy father who is loath to buy a mobile phone for himself or take his family out on an outing and puts on a gruff exterior with his wife; the transformation of a man completely in control is brilliant. The detailing with which all evidence including the blood stains, the car and the phone are destroyed; every single event is re-created and painstakingly imprinted on the minds of all witnesses is fascinating. The last scene where he outwits the police by planting the dead body under their very nose is the cherry on the cake!
#Drishyam has been made into several languages with fine and subtle changes in each version. The redoubtable #KamalHaasan plays the lead in the Tamil version #Papanasam. However, he is so overcome with remorse in the final scene that he breaks down in tears. The telugu version was done by #Venkatesh and the Kannada one with #Ravichandran. The Malayalam version stands out for the fact that it is almost a ‘complete’ film. The Hindi version has the daughter shown as an adopted girl in a feeble attempt to build some alienation from the crime. There is absolutely no attempt made to distance the hero from the murder and yet the audience roots for him in the Malayalam version.
The screenplay deserves special mention for the manner in which certain key facts are established as also the build-up of the tension. In spite of a lower middle class background without adequate formal education, George Kutty holds the principles of law very dear to himself; at the same time he sees no reason to be scared of the police. In the second part, the film uses jump cuts and flashbacks to unravel the plot and this helps build suspense. Cinematography by #SujitVasudevan is also a standout part of the movie.
Another interesting point is that George Kutty is pitted against a woman and not a man. This makes the tussle between both of them even more poignant . It is not just a battle of the brawn. IGP Meera at one point makes the issue personal as she asks what has happened to her son. It is therefore no more a matter of the police versus the common man; it is now two individuals against each other.
The final scene is a stunt and catering to the front benchers. As George Kutty signs the register and walks out of the new police station, the camera cuts to the fateful night when he made the same journey out. I am not a great fan of sequels in general and in this particular case even more apprehensive. I would much rather leave Drishyam where it is. As the opening credits on the tile say “Visuals can be deceiving”. Happy to live in that deception!
