Stimulating emotions

New-Age Director

A good number of films that have found favour with audiences of all age groups have resurrected an industry that was once hailed for its offbeat films before it sank into a morass that found more and more filmmakers chasing the same formula that had been already ground to a pulp.

Films like Kutty Shrank, Urumi, Traffic, Salt n’ Pepper and the National Award-winning Adaminte Magan Abu not only entertained audiences but also gave them food for thought. One recent film that has been winning critical acclaim from all quarters is the Blessy-directed Pranayam, a film that celebrates middle-aged love.

It showcases a rare bond between a woman and the two men in her life — one of them is her divorced husband and the other man is her husband, who married her and gave her a home and also lots of love and affection. Blessy, who has made just five films so far, is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers today and this film, especially, is a standout effort because it has an unusual theme backed by an interesting cast.

Matinee idol Mohanlal, who has worked with Blessy earlier in Thanmatra and Brahmaram, plays the character of professor Mathews, struck by paralysis, which restricts his movements and makes him almost an invalid.

Jayaprada, once hailed by Satyajit Ray as one of the most beautiful women in the world, is Grace, the woman who is married to Mathews. The third angle in the triangle is Anupam Kher, who plays Achutha Menon, the man who had divorced Grace but comes back into her life after a freak meeting with her.

The unique bond these three characters share is the essence of the film that talks of mature relationships and accommodative love. Comparisons have been drawn between Pranayam and Bharathan’s Oru Minaminginte Nurunguvattam and M T Vasudevan Nair’s Oru Chiru Punchiri but Blessy’s film is definitely in a different league altogether.

The film, which is Mohanlal’s 300th film, finds him in his element, delivering a performance that is as subtle as it is endearing. Jayaprada, as Grace, is grace personified and Anupam, who makes his debut in Malayalam, is at home, although the language is alien to him as it is to Jayaprada. The film even has an English number sung by Mohanlal, and a good score by Jayachandran with lyrics penned by Jnanpith awardee O N V Kurup.

Pranayam’s critics have opined that it could rank as one of the finest films in the last few decades. Blessy apprenticed with one of Malayalam cinema’s finest auteurs, Padmarajan, and was a part of many of his successful projects. He branched out on his own with Kazcha, starring Mammooty and Padmapriya, a film that told the story of a young boy, the sole survivor in a family devastated by the Gujarat earthquake of 2001.

Kazcha marked the arrival of a director who strove to veer off the beaten track and for whom set formula would be anathema. Kazcha not only got rave reviews but was also successful at the box-office. The films that followed were Thanmathra with Mohanlal, the story of a middle aged man struck with Alzheimer’s disease, Palunku with Mammooty, and Brahmaram, again with Mohanlal.

His film, Kolkata News, somehow did not connect with the audience while Thanmathra and Palunku generated mixed responses. Pranayam should bring back this talented director into the reckoning once again. Blessy is one of the few directors today who does not have the audience in mind while choosing his themes or making his films.

He believes that the audience comes into the picture only when his final product is ready. But, can Blessy deliver hits with other actors and not just with Mammooty and Mohanlal?

The director is quick to defend his choices and opines that the actors just fit into his film and he does not cast them because they are superstars. If his casting in Pranayam is any indication, this is certainly one director who knows his onions.