Sneha Veedu

Satyan Anthikad for me, is the finest commercial movie Director who has survived into a fourth decade of meaningful movie making. He began by directing a delectable comedy in 1982. Almost 30 years later, he perhaps is the only Director of the older generation who has retained currency in this era of decline of Malayalam cinema.

After suffering series of horrible Mohan Lal movies, I had stayed off his 'Pranayam' fearing a boring old-age drama. So if I decided to watch "Sneha Veedu" on first day, it is because of my admiration for Satyan Anthikad. Let me confess he hasn't made any great movie here and this is not 'Vara Velpu' or 'Sandesam'. It is a mix and match of Satyan's old formula. But it works beautifully simply because of the theme of love.

Ajayan Menon [Mohan Lal] as a Chronic Bachelor shying from commitment to a marriage only to see his mother happy in her old age is the protagonist. Veteran Sheila playing his mother complements the picture of 'Love' in a home full of love.

Then there is Sunanda [Padmapriya] a neighborhood girl with charming manners and great conviction in whatever she does. Balan [Biju Menon] plays the role of Ajayan's friend, philosopher and side kick. He is a Sub Inspector of Police and is fabulous. Innocent as Karinkannan Mathai is his usual best. An Anthikkad movie is incomplete without these kind of characters.

There is drama, suspense, earthy comedy, love, puppy love, mother - son sentiments [so thankfully not overdone] and a little bit of tragedy. Then there is a humane climax that comes like a wave of the ocean, all of a sudden; touches us and leaves us wet in the eyes yet happy for the effect.

I wouldn't like to spoil the thrill of watching the movie by discussing the story. But let me add this, the new boy Rahul Pillai is a huge surprise package. He walks away with honors appearing on screen for the first time along with the likes of the stars mentioned above. Some real talent !

The music is beautiful and songs are fabulous. Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal add variety to the songs. Palakkad and surrounding villages have been shot beautifully to make the visual experience pleasant. A little bit of sagging in pace during second hour apart, "Sneha Veedu" is a wholesome entertainer.

Malayalam cinema suffered all these years because people like Shaji Kailas had turned a magnificent actor into a monstrous Frankenstein of a Superstar. We can't thank you enough Mr. Anthikad for giving us back the 'Common man' Mohan Lal !

Recommended: For every Malayalee who has missed the beautiful family entertainers of the 80s and early 90, go watch this one. And for the new generation growing up on Hindi, English, Tamil and dubbed Telugu masala movies, watch this one to understand Malayalam Cinema !

Pranchiettan and the Taint !

About the writer: A Doctor by profession. A Jack of all trades and Master of none, including the chosen profession of Medicine. Live, Love and Laugh is the motto in life. Cricket and Cinema are part of life. It all began with undiluted adoration of Bachchan in "Amar Akbar Anthony". Like Deekay, graduated to Aamir Khan, but don't have a Hero today. Believe movies belong to Directors / Writers.

Basically a movie buff and not an expert in the job of reviewing. Hence wouldn't like to brand posts as Reviews. Prefer to call them 'Views' ! That saves a lot of effort on surgically dissecting things like Screenplay and Editing which aren't easily understood.

Believe, a movie is a story. If it touches a cord, have to express it. If not, have to dissect it. Done it on Facebook and Twitter. But they are basically micro-views. This is the first attempt at organizing thoughts on a movie that was very close to heart. Thanks Deekay for the inspiration and for the opportunity to post here.

My love for Malayalam movies

For over 16 years now I have come to admire the Malayalam movies and learned the language thanks to the movies. For me, "Panchavati Paalam", "Sandesam", 'Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu" and "Devasuram" are irreplaceable Classics from a list of a large number of magnificent movies.

You can't replicate these movies in any other language or culture. These are unique to Malayalam and that is the USP of Malayalam movies. And I loved these movies even before I became familiar with the cultural ethos of Kerala.

Unfortunately Malayalam was on a losing streak for a long time thanks to the larger than life image the Actors turned Stars cultivated and due to the demise of old Masters and also the decline of the old-time Directors like Siby Malayil, I. V. Sasi, Satyan Anthikkad and Priyadarsan to name a few. Thankfully, the next generation guys like Ranjith, Shyama Prasad, Rajesh Pillai and Ranjith Sankar have enlivened the gloomy picture considerably in recent years.

Let me be pardoned for such a long introduction. But I had to tell something about myself before I expressed my views. I would like to state that these are views of a Non-Malayalee who loves Malayalam movies more than any other movies and who 'Doesn't tolerate anyone talking about Poland' !

One movie that touched me deeply in recent times was Ranjith's "Pranchiettan and the Saint'. I loved Ranjith's flawed yet endearing 'Nandanam'. I believe his 'Paleri Manikyam oru Pathira Kolapathakathinde Katha' is a modern day Classic. So I decided to watch 'Pranchiettan and the Saint' on first day and did. I must say I was not disappointed.

Pranchiettan and the Taint !

First of all, let me be pardoned for writing on the same subject Deekay has dealt ably in the previous post. But as a Non-Malayali who has fallen in love with Malayalam movies, I had to tell this and that is why I pleaded with Deekay to give me an opportunity. Thanks again Deekay.

The Story: The whole story is about the inferiority complex of an undereducated but over-rich rice merchant from Trichur called Chirammel Enasu Francis or C. E. Francis fondly called Pranchiettan by friends and ridiculed as "Ari Pranchi" by others. Little Francis develops a dislike for that nick name and grows up hating it.

All that he does in life is to erase the 'Taint' of that name "Ari Pranchi". He does charity but the 'Taint' sticks. He starts a Jewelery to get rid of the name. But the Jewelery acquires the name of "Ari Pranchi's Jewelery". Whatever he does, the name sticks much to his dismay.

He loses his childhood sweetheart to a scheming boy who goes on to become a Doctor and again wins the election to the post of the President of a reputed club in Trichur town. Thus Pranchi's life is a continued story of debacles in public life in spite of material riches. A born loser if there was one.

Everything he does in life has a motive. We all do have our own motives. Charity for the sake of publicity is a reality. Sponsoring a public felicitation of an Oscar Award winner earns further humiliation for Pranchiettan. His appearance on the dais ends up in ignominious exit in front of his arch nemesis.

Thus he embarks upon a mission to get himself decorated with the prestigious "Padmashri" award. This ill advised mission mooted by good friend Menon ends in a disaster. He suffers a loss of 1.5 Crore rupees and earns further ridicule. As he plans to withdraw into a shell to escape the barbs, the real Padmashri enters his life.

This married and about to be divorced heiress of a reputed family brings the long missing romance into his life. She literally and figuratively brings color into his hitherto white and white life. She changes the way he dresses and the way he and his house looked. She turns it into a home. In turn, he helps her to save her ancestral home from being sold off by her uninterested relatives. Even as he plans to confess his amour to her, she flies off to Mumbai once again leaving him a loser.

This is when the next character makes entry. A precocious boy who has become a headache for the teachers as well as the Headmaster of the school where Pranchiettan too studied. To help the Headmaster realize his dream of retiring with a 100% success rate in Class 10 exams, Pranchiettan takes the responsibility of getting the boy tutored at his place. THIS act is the first ever act in his life where he expects nothing in return. NO publicity, no name, no fame and not even appreciation.

The boy defeats everyone including the tutor Pandit Deena Dayal. His failure in the exam hurts Pranchiettan and he decides to abandon the boy. That is when he comes to know the sad story of the boy. The story of a drug addict father murdering his mother and beloved teacher. The traumatized boy develops hatred for school and studies and turns hostile to life.

The boy is living with a person who happened to be a friend of his father. That person takes advantage of the situation and then runs away with the money given by Pranchiettan. This story of misery brings the human side of Pranchiettan and he decides to adopt the boy as his son and successor.

Some people like Deekay have questioned this angle of the story. How could the entire school have remained unaware of the sad story of the boy ? That definitely is a hole in the story, which could have been better explained by Ranjith and his team. But for this, the movie is a real class act.

We get to know the entire story of Pranchiettan in Eastman Color flashback, as he narrates his story to the 'Punyalan' or St. Francis De Assisi. The Saint listens his story and passes comments in Malayalam in Trichur accent. And finally Pranchiettan expresses his desire to adopt the boy to the Saint. This meets with instant approval and blessings from the Saint.

Now we reach to the most delicious part of the movie. He comes out of the Church and tells the boy of his decision to adopt him and of his encounter with Saint Francis. Pranchiettan rues the poor luck of the boy who couldn't meet the Punyalan. But the boy tells him, "I did see the Saint". As Pranchiettan counters him with when and where; the boy says, "Saints are incarnated in good deeds of Men on earth. For me, YOU are the Saint". The movie ends with the Boy and his father Pranchiettan making a resolution to face life in an honest manner.

We get to see the 'real' picture of the material world where the Doctor and his wife being in a marriage sans love and living a life of mutual cheating. We see the fraud who swindled Pranchiettan meeting his fate. 

We also get to see in advance, the fruits of one act of unselfish love. Pranchiettan gets his Padmashri; not the award but the real one. He didn't expect anything in return when he set out to help the boy and his reward was the unexpected love he had almost given up on !

"Every Human born has a Saint within. We just need to look inwards to know him, to realize him and to unleash him from the clutches of greed, lust, envy, anger and all kind of negative emotions that rule our psyche". This is the beautiful message encapsulated in this movie laced with earthy Trichur brand of humor.

This is a beautiful journey of Chirammel Francis from being an unscrupulous business tycoon to becoming Saint Francis ! In the process, he is washed off all the 'Taint' because it doesn't make any difference to him anymore.

Ranjith is in top form in all his roles. The music, dialogues and all the technical aspects are fine. Every actor from Pranchiettan to the little boy have done justice and it is tough to point out one stand out performance. Even the Midsummer Nights Dreams quoting cook is superb in his limited role. Overall a wholesome movie experience for the entire family. Every Malayalam movie buff should watch this movie.

This is definitely Ranjith's answer to "3 Idiots" which he was so much in awe of. Mr. Ranjith, I loved the One Idiot in your movie more than 3 Idiots !