Fahadh Faasil’s Malayankunju shines in its darkest hour

The opening scene of  _Malayankunju_  depicts the morning routine of electrician Anil Kumar. Anil works on repairing electronic items in the wee hours of morning because that is the only time he can concentrate. Even the slightest sound distracts him from his task, and once he takes his eye of his work, there is not much that can help him focus again. He is reticent, harsh and extremely casteist. At no point does the film try to sugarcoat Anil’s characteristics. In fact, the film takes its time to establish that he is all of this and less.

I say less, and not more because Malayankunju is dead set on alienating the audiences from its lead character. It is not empathy that they seek, neither understanding. They simply observe him and his surroundings. In some ways, Anil is also a contrary man. One moment, he cannot stand the people belonging to people certain castes. Other times, he empathises with them. Case in point is his work for an employee’s daughter. He tries to repair her laptop and get it back to working condition.

Instead of using the right (also expensive) parts, he uses nuts and bolts to put the laptop together. When the young college students tries to cajole him and points out how embarrassing it would be for her to take the laptop to college, he does act tough. However, he ends up giving in, and helps her out. This is when an inking of doubt springs in the audience’s mind. What makes Anil tick? Why does he seem highly strung out, as if he is just one incident away from breaking down? The questions are addressed and it is interesting how his life’s biggest trauma takes root within him in unexpected manner.

It surfaces during fights, during conflicts with his neighbour who has returned with wife and a new born daughter. His frustration with the cries of the new born baby speaks to us at a fundamental level. It is a heart wrenching cry that disturbs not only the silence that pervades the night, but also disturbs the flimsy semblance of control that Anil seems to hold on to his life. He doesn’t revel in the control that he has over his daily routine, it is more of his retreating into himself. He uses it as a shield against anything that he may otherwise find unexpected.

In a vulnerable moment, this tough man ends up in tears. In opposition to his usual brusque manner in the company of his mother and friends, this moment of vulnerability occurs while he is on his way home. He stops his bike momentarily and lets himself feel the grief that he had kept locked within him for years. All of this occurs by the daylight, out in the open. In contrast, the best moments of the film occurs in the dark. Malayankunju’s exploration of the depths of trauma in the darkness of the crevices following a landslide highlights the desperation that humans experience.

Anil is trapped in the depths of land mass after a landslide and momentarily he gives up on his life. He has an otherworldly experience — his father’s appearance — that gives him the strength despite his despair. The very cries that haunted him earlier, and disturbed him to no end, is what appears as his saving grace. He struggles against nature to not only save himself but also a baby who is not older than a month. The cries echo around him and helps him navigate. The sights that he sees at this time only add more trauma to an otherwise weighed down heart and mind.

Yet, he perseveres. It is not about staying alive, but about ensuring the safety of a baby. This is not only placed as his saving grace but also sets him on a path of healing and redemption. The past struggles and conflicts that he had had with the baby’s parent disappears into nothing. Caste? Class? What does all of that matter in the face of death? Malayankunju arrives at the conclusion that it doesn’t.

It is not only the performance and writing that excels in the film, the cinematography adds life to scenes that might otherwise have been insipid. Especially the scenes of Anil being trapped in the landslide, and his struggles to make his way out is captured in a way that forces audiences to the edge of their seats. Beyond the matter of if Anil will survive, it is the claustrophobia that sets in. In the darkness of the theatres, even I gasped for air at certain scenes because of how realistic the frames in the film were.

Another element that must be mentioned is the music.  AR Rahman ’s background score not only breathes life into the scenes but it makes them stand out. Take for instance the moment when Anil chances upon a dead neighbour while trying to escape from the landslide, or the scenes where he seemingly drowns before he gains his senses back. The sense of being imprisoned, of unease, fear and disgust all rolled into one is expressed through brilliant background score.

Yet another time, Malayalam film industry has given its audiences a film that is beautiful as a whole.

Priyanka Sundar is a film journalist who covers films and series of different languages with special focus on identity and gender politics. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.