Classmates Reviewed

'Classmates' was the one of the biggest hits and the most popular of all Malayalam movies released in the year 2006. Even months after its release, the song 'Ente Khalbile...' was still on the lips of all Malayalees. The movie did very good business in all the centres. It was a bit surprising, since it had no superstars in it. The film, directed by Lal Jose, won praise from all quarters for its screenplay, songs, and not least, the performance of all the actors.

 

The film unfolds with the reunion party - after 15 years - of a batch of final year B Sc Chemistry students of a college, presumably in central Travancore. The reunion party has been organized in the memory of one of their classmates who had died tragically in the college. Each of the main characters has a lot of memories of their last year in college and they all are eager to meet their classmates after such a long gap. The story of their last year in college is told in flashback.

 

So, what is special about the movie? Lots of things, one would say. First, as mentioned above, the film has no superstar, which makes a grand opening near impossible. Yes, it would have been foolhardy and utterly unbelievable if Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram or even Dileep was cast as a college-goer. Malayalees are a lot less tolerant than Kannadigas or Tamilians in this regard; there will be heavy criticism even if the movie does well [A 60+ Rajnikanth being cast as a young guy or a 70+ Rajkumar being cast as a college student are all normal in TN and Karnataka and the films are guaranteed hits!!]. The absence of superstars itself is a big strength for this movie. All the actors - Prithviraj, Indrajith, Narain, Jayasoorya, Vijeesh, Kavya, Jagathi, Balachandra Menon and all newcomers including Radhika - have put in a power-packed performance that is convincing. Full marks to the director for the perfect casting. All of the younger actors now have a rightful claim to the baton held presently by the superstars. In fact, one can go on and on about their performances. The meatiest of the roles of course went to Prithviraj and Narain. As the leftist students' union leader Suku, Prithviraj truly lives the role; his mannerisms and dialogues are all typical of a leftist leader in college. The variations in his tones and body language as when he is leading a march and when he confesses his love are amazing. Narain, as Murali, the peacemaker, singer, the secret lover and the tragic hero steals the heart of all. This role has given him a big break in the industry. Though he'd been noted in his roles as the IPS Officer in '4 The People' and as Ijo in 'Achuvinte Amma', the different appearance he came up with, in this movie and the name change - from Sunil to Narain - seems to have worked magic for him. Indrajith as the college Romeo Pious is hilarious and natural. The chemistry in the movie between him and his real-life younger brother Prithviraj is something to be seen to be believed. Jayasoorya and Kavya too excel in their respective roles. It was truly a mind-boggling performance by debutante Radhika.

 

Coming to music, Alex Paul has done a decent job in the movie. The music is not, in my terms, outstanding; but, it blends well with the storyline and the songs have been picturised well too. However, background score is poor. Even when there is high drama on the screen, the BGM fails to make its presence felt, let alone matching the scene.

 

Editing is strictly OK; nothing to write home about. In fact, it could have been much better, to intensify the drama and its impact on the viewer. Similar is the case with cinematography - nothing much to appreciate; it's just good.

 

The real hero of the movie as such is the story and screenplay. That again is by a newcomer, James Albert. He has cleverly weaved in campus life, comedy, romance, action, tragedy and a murder mystery into the story. The liveliness of college life - student activism, campus love, bunking classes, welcoming junior students, etc - is shown without losing its sheen. The unfulfilled, subtle, unknown-to-others love of Murali and Razia is sure to move everyone, even as it is the high profile love of Suku and Tara that everyone will notice first.

 

For one, the movie can be appreciated better only if one is familiar with the background of the movie - the politically charged atmosphere in Kerala's college campuses, more so in the 1990s. The students unions in the state's colleges - especially the arts and science colleges - are dominated by SFI, KSU or ABVP. It's a no-brainer that the unions mentioned in the movie, SFK and DSU, stand for SFI and KSU respectively. If the DSU leader is shown as a manipulator, the SFK guys too score no better - they leave Suku to fend for himself, even as it was his humble background that led to his joining SFK as a natural choice. If you would notice, there is not even a single shot of these student leaders attending classroom lectures, but there are scenes showing them exhorting students to strike; it tells a lot about the nature of student activism in Kerala and about how the student leaders "study".

 

In my view, this movie is a powerful indictment of student politics in Kerala and the violence that is very much a part and parcel of such politics. Politics in college campuses serves the interest of only politicians; they use the students as pawns in their political game of power-grabbing. Colleges, or for that matter, any educational institution, are temples of 'Vidya' and no other activity should be allowed to thrive there. The earlier the students realize this, the better the future will be for them; nobody other than the students stand to lose from campus politics.

RDB Reviewed

This is a review of the Hindi movie 'Rang De Basanti'. I wrote it soon after watching it. Publishing it here for a wider audience.

Rang De Basanti: A Gem

Considered just a movie, RDB is a gem. Everything about it is top class. To start with, the taut screenplay and editing and crisp dialogues. There's is not a single jarring sequence, not a scene that's irrelevant. Kudos to Prasoon Joshi (the scenarist) and the editor. Prasoon Joshi, as you may know, also penned the songs. Remember, he's the man behind many successful ads, like the 'Thanda Matlab Coca Cola', 'Log Chloromint kyun khate hain?' and the latest 'Happy Dent'. Surely, he's a man with multiple talents.
Then there is the cinematography by Binod Pradhan. I'd always thought that Ravi K Chandran was the best DoP in India. But, here's competition for him. The shots are all fantastic, to say the least. The use of sepia tone to show the portions of the documentary was a novel idea. The Digital Intermediate technology is put to the best use here. [Shankar can pick up a lesson or two from this one!]
And, now about the songs. Yes, the songs are special for me, cos it's by ARR. But, the integration of the songs into the narration makes a Himalayan difference - both to the movie and the songs themselves. When I first heard the songs, I'd formed some ideas about each of them, like sad, romantic, chill out, etc. But the songs are given a totally different treatment in the movie. Note that none of the songs have the characters lip-synching the lyrics. Instead, the songs are left to play in the background. This magnifies the intended impact. Also, you may feel that when the narrative goes in one direction, the song goes in another. E.g. 'Khoonchala' during the lathi charge, 'Roobaroo' after the confession, etc. Yet, the impact it leaves you with is phenomenal. Remember, in the usual lathi charge scenes, there'll generally be huge, rising violins and chorus. Look at the similar sequence here. It's a slow one [Khoonchala] with a slight romantic feel to it.
I should also mention the spectacular background score. At various points, it switches from silence to heavy-duty orchestra and takes you to a new world!
With this movie, Rakeysh Mehra has announced his arrival. Yes, his debut was with 'Aks', but to me it seemed to have a lot of violence. RDB is to him what 'Lagaan' is to Ashutosh Gowarikar. I'd say his brilliance is best shown in the scene where the commandoes burst open the door to the studio, where Siddharth and Aamir are chatting jovially. The scene is frozen immediately thereafter and what you hear are the gun shots. You watch with a heavy heart....
Rakeysh has successfully extracted the best performance from his cast and crew. The leading ones, Aamir, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Madhavan, Soha and even the debutante Alice Patten have all given their best. Now, imagine Shah Rukh instead of Madhavan and Hrithik instead of Siddharth....yes, they were the ones first offered these roles! Had they accepted it then, RDB wouldn't have been RDB! It'd have been crushed by the weight of these stars. Not that they aren't good performers, but they do not have the flexibility like Aamir to get into the skin of these characters....

That was about the movie as such. What about the message it tries to send out? If you recall, in recent times, there were a few movies which tried to convey a similar message, like Yuva, Swades, Anniyan, Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, etc. But none of them succeeds like RDB in etching the message of 'Wake Up!' firmly in the minds of the viewers. Whereas Yuva and Swades seemed preachy at times, Anniyan's gloss and other aspects were distractions. I haven't seen 'Hazaron...' to comment on it. In my view, the key factor behind this success of RDB is the way it juxtaposed the past with present. It tells you that what happens today is just a replay of the yesterday. In other words, History Repeats Because You Failed To Learn The Lesson The First Time.
There's so much we, the youth, can do for our country. Violence, it may seem, is the answer. It's NOT. Instead, like Madhavan's character says, you can join the military, civil service...To expand that, let me add that being sincere in whatever you do makes the difference. And, don't forget about the down-trodden. Look at what the richest man in India Azim Premji is doing for them through his 'Azim Premji Foundation'. Look at the Murthys, the Tatas...whatever little community service you can do, do it...Let's make this country the Heaven on Earth.