Malayalam cinema has had quite a few anthologies after Kerala Cafe. But Kerala Cafe is very special to us for the wonderful well made short movies, which also gave us a reinvented Fahad Faasil, in a swanky new model.
The latest anthology to hit OTT, (Sony Liv) Freedom Fighters, is even better than that. Each movie is about half an hour or so, but each warrants careful analysis and a healthy discussion.
A crop of young directors, schooled in hard competitive times, with no image to hold them prisoner, is out with five gems, all precious but differrent. The glue that holds them together is the fight for some kind of freedom.
Geo Baby who gave us The Great Indian Kitchen and won high praise (my grouse was that though good, it was dated, came a few decades late) helmed this anthology. It"s topical, honest, not cinema for cinema's sake and makes you think, real hard. If it's a kind of freedom fight that's the common denominator, another slogan that reverberates all through is, 'love yourself, be kind to yourself, to hell with what society says.'
Geethu Unchained by Akhil Anilkumar opens the anthology. Rajisha Vijayan is the central character who is all too human and does make mistakes of the heart and mind. But she takes responsibility for those mistakes. The attitudes of both a lover and husband, especially when the lover turns into husband material in Kerala, are depicted in sharp, pithy strokes.
Akhil Anilkumar turns the grammar of Malayalam cinema upside down in the treatment of Geethu Unchained.
Asanghadithar is the second one and its a true story, the fight for toilets in a busy Kozhikode shopping street. Kunjila Mascillamani, who is a product of the Satyajit Ray Film Institute and also one who has experienced personal injustice at the hands of authorities, handles a delicate issue like this spiritedly but with compassion. Women working in shops, like salesgirls, tailors have no toilets. The women form Penkoottu to get one. How they achieve it is their story. Srinda, a delightful actor, takes centrestage in this fight and Viji, who fought for toilets in the real Mithaitheruvu, plays herself, ably indeed. The plight of the third gender and the different ways the poor women devise to ease themselves are filmed with pathos. Pooja, an actor who has done serious theatre for a couple of years, plays a single mother of Penkoottu.
Ration by Francies Louis, lingers the longest in my heart. Geo Baby plays a man who works in a shop and in just one scene at the shop, he grabs your full attention. The nuances of a man in such a shop are spot on. Ration deals with a kind of self respect that is killing. The rich and poor neighbours form the backdrop for this telling societal glitch. Kabani is the poor neighbour who moves mountains to keep their pride and self respect intact. She cooks some seer fish in her fridge which she thought was a return gift by the rich neighbour. But when she finds out that it wasn't and they wanted it in the evening, she somehow manages to get it, money being the biggest hurdle. The scene in which, in the rich neighbours house, the double door fridge freezer pans packets and packets of frozen meat, fish, prawns and then a scene in the morning when a big bowl of leftover seer fish curry (yes, that same fish) is binned broke my heart. The haves and have nots gap is painfully so alive and kicking. She could have just said, Oh..I cooked it. She didnt.
Jeo Baby's own movie, Old Age Home, is all about loneliness. Joju George is usually all fire and brimstone, but here, you get to see a totally differrent character, silent, old, lonely and diabetic. His wife is played by Lali, who has a mind of her own and will not let loneliness engulf her. Rohini comes into their home as a help. All three have meaty roles. Fighting loneliness in old age with or without diseases is an uphill task, this story tells you.
The last one, by Jithin Isaac Thomas, is a difficult subject but taken with great caution. Its black and white, often darkness hiding unpalatable substances and the title is Pra. Thu. Mu. The first word is Prajapathi, meaning a politician, in this context. The second and third word together with the first means he wants to, well sh**t . It tells the story of septic tank cleaners and their plight. It is not vulgar and the background music is threathening enough. The camera angles add much to the imbroglio. But the violence bit is stretched. If I had met Siddharth Siva on the street today, I would have wanted to beat him up. Thats how well he did the villainous role of the Prajapathi.What happens when septic tank cleaners strike work? Find out in Freedom Fight.
So many unorganised workers have no unions, no bargaining power, people have no voice in their own households and life is unfair, lonely. Communism was all about getting rights for the downtrodden but today, unions call the shots in the organised sector and government establishments. Unions is big business. This movie is a wake up call for them and also to people who always say, what will people say? Its about time the old boldly say what they really want and take life into their own hands.
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