An eccentric maker made an eccentric film. Inspiration from a weird ad couldn't go anything beyond Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Lijo with his quirky strings of imagination, has given us a great ride in his latest slow-paced epic drama.
Experiments drive art beyond its frontiers. That's what the maker is accustomed to and it is not broken in his latest experiment.
It makes one wonder how can an artist take inspiration from an advertisement that should've gone irrelevant and unnoticed. An inspiration heavy enough to make the artist blend the narrative shown in the ad with his complex philosophy. Which eventually becomes a perfectly composed amalgamation.
The whole movie picturised through still frames starts with a pilgrimage trip to Velankannimaatha Church in Tamil Nadu. The pilgrims are all theatre actors from Kerala. While returning the key actor of the troupe James transforms himself into Sundaram upon reaching a Tamil village. The journey becomes bumpy from here on. Everyone, both the Malayalis and Tamilians are shocked seeing this.
What could this transformation mean? James, one who hates even Tamil food acts like a Tamilian's spirit has entered into him.
From a particular point of view, one can interpret it as an actor's desperate attempt to establish a connection between two ethnically different people. In that attempt, the actor moves into a different language, culture and religion. The actor's greatest role ever played.
Apart from interpretation, what would it mean for Lijo? Is he trying to establish exactly what the above interpretation points out? Or is it a film that arose out of his nostalgia? Or a film that tries to bind together people through the essential humanism that possibly lies in every human? The maker might be trying to portray all of these!
Anyhow, it ultimately lies with every individual who watches the film. Great art evokes thoughts in the beholder. That's what exactly Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam does. A thousand viewers, a thousand interpretations, and maybe a hundred inspirations.
Experiments drive art beyond its frontiers. That's what the maker is accustomed to and it is not broken in his latest experiment.
It makes one wonder how can an artist take inspiration from an advertisement that should've gone irrelevant and unnoticed. An inspiration heavy enough to make the artist blend the narrative shown in the ad with his complex philosophy. Which eventually becomes a perfectly composed amalgamation.
The whole movie picturised through still frames starts with a pilgrimage trip to Velankannimaatha Church in Tamil Nadu. The pilgrims are all theatre actors from Kerala. While returning the key actor of the troupe James transforms himself into Sundaram upon reaching a Tamil village. The journey becomes bumpy from here on. Everyone, both the Malayalis and Tamilians are shocked seeing this.
What could this transformation mean? James, one who hates even Tamil food acts like a Tamilian's spirit has entered into him.
From a particular point of view, one can interpret it as an actor's desperate attempt to establish a connection between two ethnically different people. In that attempt, the actor moves into a different language, culture and religion. The actor's greatest role ever played.
Apart from interpretation, what would it mean for Lijo? Is he trying to establish exactly what the above interpretation points out? Or is it a film that arose out of his nostalgia? Or a film that tries to bind together people through the essential humanism that possibly lies in every human? The maker might be trying to portray all of these!
Anyhow, it ultimately lies with every individual who watches the film. Great art evokes thoughts in the beholder. That's what exactly Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam does. A thousand viewers, a thousand interpretations, and maybe a hundred inspirations.