Thalappavu & Passenger - Refreshing Films from Debutant Directors

I am not all that pessimistic when it comes to Malayalam cinema. I used to keep bragging about my language's film industry to non-keralites whenever I get a chance to. Many believe that malayalam cinema is all about Shakeela. Of course, it was, for a couple of years at least, and I would rather forget those years. Despite being a big fan of films like "naalu pennungal", "akale" etc, the best movies to brag about, to outsiders, are quality mainstream movies. 2004 had kaazhcha, perumazhakaalam and kathaavasheshan.. and then, there was arabikkatha and classmates.. this post is to write about two movies which were real surprise packages from debutant directors.. Madhupal and Renjith Shankar, I feel, made their way into Malayalam cinema in much the same way as Blessy did in 2004 with Kaazhcha. 

I like it really well when it provides something that the common malayali can relate to.. Kaazhcha did that - the naayakan, mammukka plays the role of a common man in kuttanad - and so did Thalappavu and Passenger.. 

Thalappavu

Thalappavu is a story set in the 1970s and talks about a constable who had to do something that he regrets a lot. Many would think of it to be similar to the story of constable Ramachandran Nair and naxal Varghese - we all know that story too well, and I need not narrate it here. Lal plays the role of the constable who never lived peacefully between the 1970s and the present. The director marvellously switches scenes between the present and 1970s; and does that graciously. Prithviraj, who died in the 1970s re-appears frequently in the mind of Lal; and that is shown on screen with impeccable eloquence. The films moves on keeping the audience glued to the screen until the very end when the sentence, "oru viplvakaariyude swaram orikkalum marikkunnilla" appears on the screen in the backdrop of an old-fashioned lamp built out of a chiratta (coconut shell). 

I saw this in little Shenoy's - a bit weird that this films was alredy in little Shenoy's, the smallest hall in Ernakulam in it's second week. It was heartening to see everybody enjoying the film and that nobody left the hall until the applause that lasted for at least a minute, subsided. 

Passenger

Madhupal is a familiar face in Malayalam cinema and also I have read some of his malayalam writings - hence, I wasnt overly surprised that Thalappavu was a wonderful movie. But, this one was a real surprise. I went on the first day (or rather, the second day - the first day was a Harthal day) to Padma, and found long queues. I managed to get a ticket and then, the movie started thanking Dileep Fans association etc. That somehow led me to believe that it would just be another of those Dileep starrers. But, that was not to be. 

Sreenivasan's roles in films always turn out to be entertaining, and something that the common Malayali can relate to. The wonderful roles in chinthavishta were as entertaining to me as the humorous role in yes, your honour. And truly, he did impress so much in this film too. The story revolves around the advocate Dileep and his journalist wife Mamta. Sreenivasan and Dileep meet in a train journey and what follows are several unprecedented events from which an edge-of-the-seat thriller very graciously falls out. The movie is running well; I hear. So, you better watch how it is. This definitely marks the arrival of another promising director in Malayalam cinema, and am sure he would not disappoint us in his future ventures.