Good dose of black humour
Film Review
Udayananu Thaaram
Starring: Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Jagathi Sreekumar, Mukesh, Salim Kumar, Indrans, Meena, Bhavana
Lyrics: Kaithapram
Music: Deepak Dev
Story: Sreenivasan, Roshan Andrews
Screenplay, dialogues: Sreenivasan
Direction: Roshan Andrews
(Showing at theatres in the UAE)
Udayananu Thaaram makes headlines for all the right reasons. A black humour on the state of the current "crisis-ridden" Malayalam film industry, the film's proceedings are to be taken for the larger context they stand for than its twists and turns per se.
For a fault, there are countless loopholes in the film; Sreenivasan doesn't bother to cover them. He doesn't have to — for the simple reason that he treats the film as a vehicle to mouth his anger against the "super-stars" whom he squarely blames for pushing the industry into a deep abyss.
He taunts them, the super-stars, at all quarters; he takes swipes at Mammootty (through some mannerisms), Mohanlal (with comments on actors endorsing parathas and pappadam), Suresh Gopi (by insisting on being the all-out action hero, who walks away after beating villains to pulp in slow motion) and Dileep (by striking CID Moosa poses and mocking at his hit titles). In fact, he spares no one. And that is the heart of this film. It showcases Sreenivasan in top-form — a trifle too much, for a fault. But then, for an audience numbed with pedestrian fare, any wake-up call better be loud and clear.
Sreenivasan is assertive in his final statement with the film that stars are made by talented directors. His enthusiasm to drive home the point should explain the many contrived edges to the story and the loud acting of some of the protagonists in the film. But such peripheral faults or not, what Sreenivasan deserves is a nice round of applause for his sheer guts.
Yes, he gets carried away. He takes factual liberties; the climax is contrived; it isn't even convincing. And even Sreenivasan cannot turn his back to the song-dance routine that hikes up the cost of Malayalam films. The main narrative of the film — the marital discord of a struggling filmmaker, Udayabhanu (Mohanlal) — starts pretty well and then sags. But yet, Sreenivasan gets away with it all — the seasoned professional that he is.
Just as the film, for its content, belongs to Sreenivasan, it is also a true showcase of the actor, Mohanlal. He simply is Udayabhanu, nothing less, nothing more. In his sterling performance is a silent retort to Sreenivasan too: No matter what you say about superstars, cinema is a team-exercise where talented superstars can indeed make a difference.
If superstars were indeed the bane of the industry, why did Sreenivasan, who would have had tremendous clout over the producer and director, still decide to rope in Mohanlal? Sreenivasan knows, and he wants the audiences also to know, that stardom too is part of the game that is cinema.
There is hardly a great story-line for Udayananu Thaaram. But the moment the opening credits close with the camera-eye turned straight onto the audience, and Sreenivasan steps in as a narrator, the film dares to be different, to be a true visual experience.
Sreenivasan lends tribute to the strugglers, who fail to make it big in cinema through Udayabhanu, whose dream of becoming an independent director is shattered when a highly ambitious actor Rajappan (Sreenivasan) steals his dream-script. Rajappan convinces a producer (Cochin Haneefa) and gets ace-director Prathapan (Lohitadas) to direct him. Of course, Rajappan, now Saroj Kumar, will play the lead.
For his transition, Rajappan also owes to Pachalam Bhasi (Jagathi Sreekumar), a dancer who teaches not just nine but 12 emotions (and what a show by the incredible actor! The extra rasas from Jagathi are inimitable. Take a bow, Sreekumar. You are one of a kind.)
Meanwhile, Udayabhanu has to bear the emotional baggage unloaded by Madhumathi (Meena), an actress who got her first role thanks to him. The top-notch heroine is bored with the clichéd fare in cinema; she is also taunted by his father and brother — a rather oblique reference to the Meera Jasmine episode, where the actress had to take refuge with the police to escape the "greed" of her parents.
Udayabhanu is shattered when he learns of Rajappan's cruelty; he also is forced to protect Madhu. They get married. But with no doors opening, Udayan sinks into self-destruction. Meena deserts him to boot.
Help comes from a kind-hearted producer, Babykuttan (Mukesh), who agrees to do a film for Udayan. But he must relent to cast Saroj Kumar, and so starts another round of undiluted Sreeni show — hilarious, hard-hitting, sometimes, over the board.
While Sreenivasan deserves much of the credit for the film, there is no denying the fact that first-time director Roshan Andrews shows a thorough professional's flair. He gets his cast and crew going in true spirit to the script, and together the effort is laudable.
Every character in the film makes a mark — that is the success of Sreenivasan, who has a firm finger on the character build-up. Memorable moments come from Saleem Kumar as a struggling actor who gets a break when Udayan gets his director assignment; Mukesh; and even Indrans in a two-bit role as a production executive — indeed, you meet such guys.
Sreenivasan’s utter practicality about life, as it is, as it comes, is reflected in his dialogues. He doesn’t paint his characters in black and white — at least not the main protagonists. They have their failings too.
Udayananu Tharam, for the uninitiated to Malayalam cinema’s ways, must be taken with a pinch of salt — there are gaping holes in the story and the cinematic build-up. But for those who love a good laugh, and love to see Sreenivasan policing the rest of his peers (and even himself too), this one is a must-see. If only to watch Jagathi Sreekumar’s “extra rasas…”
