Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam movie review: Mammootty’s meditation on universality of human nature

James, for some unknown cause, is drawn into an odd scenario. As everybody falls asleep after a heavy lunch, the bus deviates from the freeway and goes right into a small village, which is much away from the hustle and bustle of the town.

It’s a sleepy village, which is quiet, tight-knit and at peace with itself. When the bus stops on the village in the course of nowhere, James will get down and begins to stroll. It’s as if he is aware of each nook and nook of the place. He wants no assist with the course. He walks steadily by means of the slender streets of the village and arrives at an outdated home. He alters his gown, walks into the home, and exchanges pleasantries with individuals in it. Whereas the neighbours and his household are shocked watching his behaviour, for James aka Sundaram, it’s enterprise as normal.

The sleepy city wakes up and it’s clueless as to how to reply to a stranger, who behaves like a person who has handed away. The villagers say that Sundaram disappeared two years in the past they usually may by no means discover his whereabouts. The household and the village conclude that Sundaram is lifeless. His spouse, performed by Ramya Pandian, takes the lifetime of a widow — her empty brow and grief-ridden face inform a narrative of their very own. She hasn’t moved on. Maybe, she is caught in time as a result of she was not in a position to say a correct goodbye to her husband. The remainder of the narrative is about how individuals associated to James and Sundaram react to this weird scenario.

Not simply the village, however even the viewers may wrestle a bit to make sense of the scenario. However, S. Hareesh’s writing is such that it leaves a whole lot of room for us to interpret. The movie’s subtext is heavy and it lets you undertaking your life’s experiences on it.

James and his companions not often appears to pause to assist one other particular person. However, by a accident, all of them cease and spend a day serving to a person, who has been lifeless for 2 years.

Filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery, scene-by-scene, builds our expertise across the way of life of the village. The individuals in that village are in no hurry. They don’t fear in regards to the ticking clock. They’re amazingly snug with absolute stillness, and there are fewer choices for them to be distracted from absolutely the mundaneness of life. The villagers depend on the nice humour of their pals, at occasions of strangers, to maintain themselves entertained and glad.

Folks within the village by no means trouble to ask the identification of James, who thinks he’s Sundaram and behaves with all of them with a way of familiarity. They simply get pleasure from his story and firm with out worrying about his caste, faith, language and different identities.

The quietness of the village is consistently disturbed by sound rising from the programmes operating on a black-and-white tv. Lijo makes use of the tv as a part of the background rating, including to the environment and layer of the narrative. Cinematographer Theni Eswar’s digital camera fantastically captures the wonder and tranquility of the village. The visuals are virtually meditative. Each body tells a couple of story. On the top of the drama, a single shot frames James’ spouse and Sundaram’s spouse collectively. They each have misplaced their husbands. Whereas they could have grown up elsewhere, conditions, and cultures and converse completely different languages, the grief every really feel is identical. It’s common and that is essentially the most humane second of the movie.