Ee. Ma. Yau Malayalam Movie
It's a tale told by a master craftsman, who truly deserves to be called as a maverick filmmaker. There is full of sound and fury in his film "Ee.Ma.Yau," but its significance is remarkable. Well, the excitement is ceaseless and brimming after experiencing such a novel treatment from Lijo Jose Pellissery. Call it satire or sarcasm on the frivolous acts by the human beings even in the face of the greatest truth, Death. Lijo is unstoppable in his creative best to portray such a delicate theme by tethering it to dark comedy genre.
The premise of a dead man's house gives the realistic picture of Man's hypocrisy and callous attitude to his fellow beings. Lijo with his inimitable style of narration extracts humor from relatively impossible milieu of death. He places the viewers at a juncture where they are made to ponder on the futility of life. Kudos to writer P.F. Mathews for his brilliance in molding such a simple storyline into a powerful and eloquent script.
Vavachan Mesthiri (Kainakari Thankaraj) arrives at night in his home in a fishing village after a hiatus. That night, in an inebriated state, Vavachan casually reveals about his desire for a grand cremation to his son Eeshi, played by Chemban Vinod. Following the conversation, he collapses and dies inside the house. As a son, who deeply loves his father, Eeshi seeks the help of Member Ayyappan (Vinayakan) to fulfil his father's dream for a grand burial. The conflict starts when some people spread suspicions about the death. In mourning milieu, a commotion ensues in the house yard.
The mourning of family members, including Vavachan's wife Pennanna (Pauly Valsan) and daughter Nisa (Krishna Padmakumar) is amazingly realistic and it also generates necessary sarcastic feel. Pauly Valsan, who won the State Award for the Best Character Actress for this film, is supreme in portraying the role.
With his small screen presence, Thankaraj gives a towering performance in the beginning of the movie. Chemban outclasses all his performances so far in his career through his full-fledged showcase of the protagonist. His powerful portrayal of Eeshi makes the viewers hard to expunge the character, who eventually kindles their pity. Vinayakan effuses the most sympathetic expressions as the close friend of Eeshi. From the vicar of the church, Zakaria (Dileesh Pothen) to the ordinary men, the cast is impressive and amazing in their performances.
Shaiju Khalid beautifully blends his visuals with rain and gusty wind in the company of light darkness. Composer Prashant Pillai once again proves his sensitive skill of imbibing the premise of a Lijo film with haunting music.
Obviously, it's a masterpiece by Lijo in his career so far. A mind-blowing dark comedy with a tad emotional outburst, this movie is outstanding simply due to its sincerity to reality. The magic is such that the amazing performance of actors leaves one spellbound and mesmerizing. It's definitely a unique film with bizarre treatment and theme in recent times.