One may wonder much water has flown under the bridge since 28th IFFK (fourteen months to be precise), so why I am putting such an effort writing about it now? My answer would be “out of sheer excitement” because Thadavu will be in the theatres near you today and I wish that at least a few people reading this make a beeline for the ticket counter.
“Have you seen Majboor?” was the first question I asked Fazil Razak (the director) after the first screening (in hindsight I feel that I just wanted to flaunt my encyclopaedic knowledge of Amitabh Bachchan/Salim-Javed films in front of a new kid on the block), very well knowing that the poor fellow may not have even heard of it. But, the germ of the story in both the films is similar. I refrained from making any more comments and promised Fazil that I will be there for the second screening too as I am grappling with a few things and hope they will be cleared in the second viewing.
The young filmmaker shows uncanny audacity by placing a middle-aged woman at the centre of his story and she is flawed to hilt with very few redemptive qualities. We as an audience are conditioned to see women of certain age having motherly pieties. But here she is petulant and simmering like a volcano that can erupt anytime. And, she being an Anganwadi teacher amplifies her stress manifolds.
Beena R Chandran getting the Kerala State Best Actress Award for this role gives a sweet culmination to the effort. Again, she sharing this Award with Urvashi (for Ullozhukku) feels dichotomous (taking nothing away from the doyennes) as her film has lots of crowd-pleasing elements.
Now, coming to the director, he was first referred to me by a mutual North Indian friend who had followed Thadavu in couple of festivals before IFFK, he kept using his first name and the English title of the film. Seeing the confused expression on my face he asked “haven’t you heard of him?” I said “please give me real title of his film”. Now it was his turn to be confused; he consulted his partner and few other people surrounding him and came out with “Thaaa-Daaa-Vooo” at that moment my speech went away and I feared that I’ll remain speech-impaired for the rest of my life but somehow, I conveyed to him that I’ve grown up watching Fazil’s movies but never have come across such a title in his filmography. I don’t remember how the clouds of confusion between us were dispersed in the end. But today the mention of multiple-award winning director Fazil who made Thadavu won’t create such a confusion as the youngster has carved out a space for himself in the annals of Malayalam films.
So, please throng the theatres playing Thadavu so as not to miss the birth of an acclaimed filmmaker of the future.
Athiru, one of the short film directed by Fazil Razak...
Here is why I remember Majboor so vividly.
