How Drushyam, a family thriller is changing Malayalam cinema

Malayalam cinema, once synonymous with art-house movies of international repute and a commercially viable mainstream repertoire, had been in a rut for a long time until a breed of “new generation” directors dawned on the scene a couple of years back. Some of them sparkled and promised a revival of the industry, while others, mostly copycats, died a sudden death. After what appeared to be a flash in the pan, Malayalam movies were threatening to go back to its morass yet again. A few guys still made interesting cinema, but they were far too short of the critical mass needed to tip the scene. [caption id=“attachment_1381867” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: wikipedia[/caption] But a remarkable new movie, Drushyam, by a relative new-comer with Kerala’s superstar Mohan Lal in the lead, seemed to have cracked the code for new generation success - a topical theme centred around the ordinary Indian family, brilliant writing and contemporary - but gimmick-less- treatment. According to trade reports, it’s the biggest box office hit ever to me made in Malayalam and the first film from the state to gross Rs 50 crore. More interestingly, the movie will soon be remade in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Besides release stations in Kerala, Drushyam is also running in different parts of the country for several weeks now. In Chennai, where Malayalam movies usually get a week in a multiplex - mostly for Malayali audiences - it has completed 50 days. From the second week of its release, it has been largely a cross-over audience that sustained its run. The last time any Malayalam movie created such a buzz in the city was about 25 years ago, when a Mammootty starrer “Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha” enthralled the local movie-buffs. According to media reports, the Tamil and Telugu versions of the movie are going to the floors soon. In Tamil, Kamal Haasan will play the lead, while in Teleugu, it will be Venkatesh. In Hindi, apparently the remake rights holders are in talks with Ajay Devgan. It’s not a superhero character that these actors are after, but that of the father of a teen-aged daughter. Drushyam is a movie that calls for a second look because of its sheer quality of writing within the confines of mainstream cinema. It depicts how a closely-knit middle class family triumphs over a scary situation that a rogue-boy imposes on them. It’s about the triumph of the ordinary Indian family and its ethos and how the underclass can vanquish the rich and the powerful with the conviction of its values and rights. The movie is also refreshingly great to look at for the use of cinematic tools and vintage performance by Mohan Lal. Whatever the protagonist (played by Mohan Lal), his wife (played by Meena, the leading lady of Tamil superstars till a few years ago), and their two girl-children, do in the film are deceitful, illegal and are punishable, but in the context of society’s rights and wrongs, they are heroic and the audiences root for them. In this cat and mouse game between the family and the police, they would want the family to win - an aam aadmi aspiration in which you beat the system that doesn’t protect you. Remarkably, the movie found public appreciation from former supreme court judge Justice KT Thomas who on Thursday said that it sent out a “brave message”. Killing the opponent for one’s safety and destroying evidence, as shown in the movie, was brave, he reportedly said at a seminar in Kollam. People should be aware of their legal protection when they try to defend themselves from crimes. Girls and women should be particularly aware of Section 96 of the constitution. The movie is also about the vulnerability of girls to sexual abuse in our society and how even a simple step of self-defence can land them on the wrong side of the law. While creating the storyline and impeccably detailed situations, director Jithu Joseph has made it a battle of the ordinary indians against power. The power that one sees in the movie is not over the top, but highly nuanced and scary. The sympathy for the protagonist is not evoked by his anger, but his powerlessness. Drushyam will remain a milestone in Malayalam cinema because it has revived the art of commercially successful parallel stream that ruled the state in the 1980s. Although many old-style romantics tried to rework the genre, their attempts looked terribly dated. What was needed was a new genre that resonated with a totally new demography, its values and aspirations. Besides his intelligent writing, what makes the movie enjoyable is the director’s craft that is so contemporary. It’s a taut thriller. Looks like Malayalam cinema is on its way to reclaiming its past glory. A band of new directors have made high interestingly films in the last couple of years. Among them, Ashiq Abu, Anil Radhakrishna Menon, Rajesh Pillai, Anwar Rasheed, Lijo Pallissery and Rajeev Ravi (noted Bollywood cinematographer) are remarkable talents. Their movies, which incidentally also make money, are not like anything that Malayalam cinema has seen before. They are not averse to trying newer and crazy ideas, employing newer techniques - some inspired and some, their own - and challenging the state’s sensibility. Drushyam should be the inspiration they require because of late they have been stuck in a thematic confusion. Jithu has unequivocally demonstrated that the ethos of the Indian family and the helplessness of ordinary people are generation-neutral and can be eternally inspiring.