There was nothing extraordinary about Rameshan Nair's life. He had similar dreams and ambitions of any middle class government servant. His goals in life revolved around his family. He was blessed with a loving wife and two smart kids. He knew that his dreams had every possibility of their fulfillment. He was so sure and he was so happy. So was his family. Then it came, with kind of foot steps of a cat, silent and sneaky. Though he was little anxious, it amused him when he forgot his childhood sweetheart's nickname, because she was his lost love. Then it struck. Struck hard with a kind of forcefulness of thunderbolt. It took away his small world, twisted it with tragic consequences. And he was ruthlessly unaware of that. He did not see his little world tumble like a pack of cards. He did not care and in a most cruel way he forgot his family, his dreams and even himself. He did not respond, his mind did not melt at his family's plight. But then, he had no mind, because he had Alzheimer's.Blessy crafted this movie with precision and well defined craftsmanship. The narrative style and realism he portray in each frame brings an undeniable identification of events that had happened or have been happening in and around our family or friends or neighbour. The film brings to mind a very forceful reminder about the uncertainty and transient nature of our life and how precious is each moment of our life while we have it. Above all this movie has tremendous academic value. Social awareness of this disease is very much absent and many misjudge Alzheimer's disease for lunacy.
Total credit goes to director Blessy. His films may result in the resurrection of parallel cinema in Malayalam. Performance of the entire cast was remarkable, especially performance of Master Arun as Rameshan Nair's son. He is natural. The main character Rameshan Nair, played brilliantly by Mohanlal, is undoubtedly his best performance to date. Meera Vasudevan, as his wife, is also outstanding.
Thanmatra is a remarkable film that moves you and leaves in your mind a very long lasting impact. This classic film should not be missed by those who love Malayalam movies.
Yes, 'thanmaathra is the kind of movie which has the sort of power that it haunts you for days and weeks after you have seen it...portraying how helpless we are at the hands of illness and calamities, its a remarkable film...and Mohanlal couldnt have done his role better , also his co-actors ....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, Madhu. I missed this one when I was in India. Had seen Kazcha, and felt that it was more of "imposed senti". Will watch Tanmatra when I get a chance!
ReplyDeleteSoorya, Vishnu..
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Though Thanmatra is also "senti" it is not an "imposed senti". From an artistic as well as educational point of view it's a remarkable film.
Very true, thats what i tell people who try to discard this brilliant film as 'senti', its definitely not one which tries to sell itself through exploiting the rather prominent 'sentiments' of malayalee audience( we have quite a lot of films in that category, sadly enough and i for one dislike them alot)
ReplyDeleteI have watched Blessy's Kazhcha. Blessy seemed to be fond of calamities and natural disasters.
ReplyDeleteവളരെ നല്ല പോസ്റ്റ് ഇനിയും പ്രധീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു. ലൈവ് മലയാളം
ReplyDelete