#Home Malayalam Movie
Writer-director Rojin Thomas's #Home is a film about the emotional distance between a father and son. The father, Oliver Twist played by Indrans, is a former video store owner. The son, Anthony played by Sreenath Bhasi, is a screenwriter with writer's block. With a deadline approaching, Anthony's producer tells him to go home and complete the script quickly with a fresh mind. We learn that home is where Anthony produced his first hit film as a director, so there is some rationale behind his move to go back home. However, that move does not pay dividends immediately.
The thing with Anthony is that he has such an emotional issue with his father that he cannot even have a brief conversation with the old man. He is more interested in engaging with social media elements. Like all sweet fathers, Oliver Twist does household chores, like washing the son's car, to get Anthony's attention. We never quite know what the real reason for their disillusionment is. This is a part that could do with some explanation because Oliver Twist is a sweet person. You cannot hate him. The other family members do not contemptuously treat the old man but Anthony does. There is a technological explanation for Anthony's behavior, but it requires more depth. Instead of exploring this angle more deeply, the makers needlessly spend much time showing a romantic track between Anthony and his pestering girlfriend.
Oliver Twist is one of those traditionalists who have not kept up with the gradual changes in the world, especially changes regarding technology. This characteristic drives some of the distance between the two main characters and jokes in the film.
The whole movie is nothing but a family portrait, so expect a drama where the stakes are low. This is what many describe as a feel-good movie. It is the kind of film where each conflict has an easy resolution and where nothing untoward happens. The objective is to leave us, the audience, feeling good about ourselves at the end.
But here is a big reservation I have with the so-called feel-good movie genre. Everything in the movie must have a positive vibe. Take the bank officers who visit Anthony over default EMIs, for instance. Or, the producer (Maniyan Pilla Raju) who has been waiting for a script from Anthony for two years even after paying him a big lump sum as an advance for it. These people should be showing some more anger, but this is a feel-good movie. In this genre, anger is reserved for only specific moments in a family. Sweetness is so excessively used in the film that even Shaju's mobile store owner character conveniently gives Twist a considerable discount. There is a convenient explanation for it too.
The casting is mostly pitch-perfect, though. Sreekanth Murali is excellent as Anthony's erudite father-in-law. Johny Antony, who continues his second wind in Malayalam cinema with character roles, is intermittently funny and is appropriate as Oliver Twist's long-time friend. As Anthony's mother, Manju Pillai has good chemistry with Indrans here. Sreenath Bhasi looks and behaves like a creative person and is pretty good in some of the film's emotional moments. As Anthony's lazy brother and a wannabe YouTuber, Neshlin shines. But the scene-stealer here is Indrans as Oliver Twist. The actor puts in a nuanced, perceptive performance as well as is the heart and soul of the film.
At a point, the movie becomes too sentimental and borrows heavily from M. Mohanan's 2007 film Katha Parayumpol. Then, there is more of a twist that tries to deepen the bond between the father and son but is contrived. The main positive of the film is that it seldom becomes boring, even at a screen time of around 02:45 hours. The runtime, as well as the performance of Indrans, makes the film watchable.