The Rainmaker

Movie : Neelathamara
Language : Malayalam
Date: Nov, 27, 2009

Review
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Do you remember the bed time stories during childhood, which your grandma used to tell you? Simple, down to earth stories. These did not have any complexities and had the flavor of human beliefs. It did not need too much imagination nor knowledge but only a clean mind which can be like a clean sheet of canvas ready to be painted by the various colors of such stories. Lal Jose's latest movie 'Neelathamara' is one such story. Simple to the core, 'Neelathamara' will appeal to you provided you have a mind for the same.

Delicious Simplicity
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'Neelathamara' has the story of a servant girl who believes in the folklore that God will answer ones questions with an unusual Blue Lotus that would blossom in the temple pond. The usual love story between the son of the house and the servant girl, the miseries of the girl and so on, 'Neelathamara' has much that you have seen before but it has the simplicity and truth to its characters which are rarely seen in the movies nowadays. The audience almost expects something that challenges their mind each time they see a movie nowadays but 'Neelathamara' is nothing challenging. It’s not intended to be. It’s all about the simplicity of a story told at its own lovable pace.

True to Life Characters
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'Neelathamara' has characters that really pulled out of real life. Hence, if the love story between Kunjimalu and Das never seems touching, that’s because it’s exactly meant to be that, as its always the love story of Kunjimalu only and not the other way around. Hence, Kunjimalu is never melodramatic. Through crisis she is always subtle. And hence, Das is always the guy who wants to take advantage of a girl. So he invites Kunjimalu to his room the first time he talks to her. Its clear that he was never the good hearted hero. And hence, Ratnam always knows that Das as the life gifted to him by her father. So she is bold enough to thrash him on hearing his stint with Kunjimalu. Though Ratnam is angry with Kunjimalu as any wife would be but she hence understands her plight being a woman.

We can go on and on but its without a doubt that most characters of 'Neelathamara' are real, honest and not fake. Kudos to MT Vasudevan Nair for yet another collection of beautifully written characters.

Performances
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Archana as 'Kunjimalu' is the show stealer in the movie. She is simple and slowly by the end of the movie, she would have stolen your hearts. Samvratha Sunil as 'Ratnam' packs impact in a smaller yet bold role. Kailash as 'Das' never much looks the good boy which he was never meant to be. He is above average with a good voice. Reema is somewhat irritating and wasted in the usual walks from the pond to back home.

Technical Crew
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Lal Jose has done justice to the script written perhaps a bit too much as well. His handling of the sequences is true with the pace of the story. He has been able to extract creditable performances from the cast especially new comers. Cinematography is superb and one of the best reasons to watch the movie. Lighting is superbly done in night sequences. It looks poetic. Music is lilting with 'Anuraga' being one of the best melodies of the year. The Ghazal during the sad sequences is aesthetically shot. There is no injection of unwanted comedy, drama to increase the length. Its sharp as much as the script demands. 1 hour and 45 odd minutes.

Negatives
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Lal Jose looks too much in awe of MT, so much so that he spoils the end. In whatever way you want to see, the end looks abrupt and not well done. Its this aspect that possibly makes a bravely (due to its simplicity) 'Good' movie to stay at an 'above average' level because the end of the movie is always one of the key points in the whole scheme of things. Lal Jose leaves it as if straight out of a novel or a literary ending. Forget a cinematic conclusion; 'Neelathamara' never gets a satisfying end which is a dampener. The director doesn't rise above the story or the script to end it and may have lost the holistic picture by doing that.

All in all, imagine a movie completely shot only in a traditional Kerala home with probably the room in the first floor, the wooden stairs leading to it, being major location spots. The temple pond, the Blue lotus being major factors in the story. Probably its too difficult to even imagine something as simple as that in the modern world. That is simply the beauty of 'Neelathamara'.

Verdict - Rating - 3.25/5, Opinion - Above Average

'Neelathamara'- Simple Poetry.