Mohanlal in Kairali People

Was watching Mohanlal’s interview in JB Junction in Kairali TV by John Brittos. He has come a long way from being a shy and timid person that he used to be while being interviewed to a confident man tackling all the tricky questions posed by JB with his trademark sarcastic smile.

Thinking of Mohanlal many of his superb performance come to one’s mind.
In recent Dhrishyam in the climax scene his performance was simply superb though my comments on the story line are reserved. I don’t want to go into the details for some of you might not have watched the film and I don’t want to discuss the climax scene and take away from you the charm of watching it.

As a middle class father and next door neighbour turned alzheimers patient in 'Thanmathra'... a good performance but very saddening script.

As an arthritis patient and moving around in a wheel chair throughout in 'Pranayam', taking his predicament with a sense of humour and love for life. I liked the film and his performance very much. The script too was light and enjoyable though the theme was rather heavy.

No doubt he has excelled in many light hearted comedy roles in films like Kilukkam, Nadodikkatru, Pattanapravesam and Chithram to mention a few.
And his performance in Bharatham was remarkable and he deserves the National award he got for that role.

Above all his performance in the climax scene of Manichithrathazhu haunts you every time you watch the movie. And I have lost count of the number long back.
On to the scene...

 Ganga stands before her imaginary villain husband's dummy with a long sword and tears the neck and drinks the red liquid placed there, thinking it to be his blood. Sobhana is a very good actor, and fits well in the role, no doubt. As she once said being a classical dancer helped her very much to portray different emotions with ease. She fully deserves the national award that she got for her role in the film. Her role demanded her to bring out the expressive and histrionic talents and she did it very well.

But this is about Mohanlal’s performance in the film. Right from the intro scene to the climax he is very active and subtle at the same time with a right mix of both. I enjoyed his performance in every frame of the film.
Back to his portrayal in the climax scene..

Ganga is not only his close friend’s  wife; he knows her well to be his friend as well. She is young, energetic and devoted to her husband. Theirs is a happy married life until recently. And here she is doing something like rudra thandavam and standing before a dummy tearing it with anger and animosity. And his profession reminds him that it was not she in her normal senses doing it but the devil in her that is her nervous disease. Of course it will come to pass. But still to see it now and here.... all these feelings and pain writ large on his face though he does not say a single word. Undoubtedly one of his master piece of a performance.  And to imagine someone else in his role in remakes of the film.... I just can't muster courage to watch the remakes.

Me and my mobile

Had arranged for a small get together at home. Invited close relatives and friends. Sisters and brothers from both sides arrived early to help me with the arrangements.  We decided to prepare food by ourselves to give it a homely touch. Being the lady of the house hosting the party, my presence and advice was sought by every woman who was happily sharing the work.

“Viji, where is kolappodi and kaavi?” my sister asked.

“Amma, can we place the diyas over there?” – daughter-in-law.

“Akka, how much milk is to be boiled to make curd?”—sister-in-law.

“I doubt if the vegetables chopped will be sufficient.” another s-i-l.

I was rotating my head in all directions to reply to them when my brother’s mobile rang.  After attending it he said he had to immediately leave for his place on an urgent office work and left.

 As usual the other men folk were busy discussing politics –local, national and international unmindful of the happy chaos going on in and around the kitchen. (Not that they all are not familiar with house hold chore. In fact almost all of them help with their spouses in kitchen at home. But that is different no? What will happen to their male ego if they are seen in the kitchen by others? Won’t they think of me as henpecked? )

Soon a mobile rang and we all realised that my brother had forgotten to take his mobile while leaving urgently. I knew it was indispensable to his work and started thinking of ways to send it to him. I tried to find if he had any other mobile with him so I could tell him that he had left this one here. I was not familiar with the touch screen in his brand new gadget. I tried to contact in his land line from some other phone. As usual I could not locate my mobile especially in such a busy day. I got one from someone. It was also fancy looking and unfamiliar to me. If I touched the screen for the keys some funny message appeared. Soon everything disappeared from the screen. Tens of chores awaited my immediate attention and I could not afford more time to these tech monsters and decided to call my tech savvy son. He grasped the problem and started to fix it. Out of curiosity I watched him. The tricky gadget eluded him also which satisfied my ego to some extent. He touched the buttons and got some funny messages too. Somehow my own mobile had become touch screen and stopped working. No working mobile had my brother’s land line or other number stored. There seemed to be no way to contact him.

Ring....  Ring....  Ring....  Ring....  

I panicked realising guests had started arriving. My hands automatically searched for my good old simple Nokia under my pillow, found it and switched off the snooze. And what a sigh of relief I let out when I saw the normal key buttons intact in my mobile.