Atheetham Malayalam Movie
Atheetham, the debut directorial venture by Devan Nair, is a film that deserves to be reviewed a bit minutely and analytically. Produced by Devan Nair himself under the banner of Sonnet Cinema, Atheetham is a film that stands out on account of the theme discussed, but fails to impress the average cine-goer as it is rather offbeat, somewhat amateurish and even dull in terms of the star-cast and on account of the heavy dialogues, which of course are in tune with the theme and the plot.
Atheetham takes us into the life of Anandan, a young man who is the disciple of a very learned guru. The guru, who is proud of Anandan, decides to confer upon him the status of a monk and begins preparations for that. At almost the same time, Raghavan, who is the brother of Kumaran and a friend of Anandan and works as a ferryman, is killed in Police custody, as a consequence to some developments in which Shekharan Nambiar, a money lender who extorts money from the poor, has a key role to play.
Anandan finds himself unable to do anything to help his friend Kumaran. He discusses the matter with his guru, but his answers don't satisfy him. In the meantime, Anandan comes to learn about some activists and their activities through Kumaran, and he longs to join the movement. Though his guru is reluctant to let him go, he later yields to Anandan's wishes and gives him permission to leave the ashram. And thus begins a new journey in the life of Anandan.
He works in different capacities in different places and learns a lot about life. Disillusioned soon with the activist movement, he works for a doctor who is interested in social service. But that too proves a disaster for Anandan. He even leaves Amritha, one of the members of the activist group, who had begun to love him, and sets out on a new journey and reaches Varanasi. What happens then forms the rest of the plot.
The theme of the film is of course not new. Such themes have been taken up many times before in literature as well as in Cinema. But still it is relevant and that is what makes the film too relevant. Shatrughnan has done a good job of the script, with the story developing in a logical manner and culminating very logically too. But the dialogues are rather too heavy for the average viewer, though considering the theme and the subject, they couldn't have been penned otherwise. The main flaw with the film is the performance of the lead actor, Rahul Easwar. Rahul, who has been noted as a television anchor and who also has some spiritual leanings, fails totally in portraying the character of Anandan.
The director had reportedly chosen Rahul since he is said to be someone with spiritual leanings. But that doesn't mean he can do justice to the role of Anandan, which should have been handled by someone who knew the nuances of acting much better. Rahul has yet to learn the basics of acting. The inner turmoil and the depth of the character couldn't be brought to light. Dathathreya as the guru is OK. Manikantan as Kumaran is good. Ramya Nambeeshan as Amritha doesn't impress at all. The others are just about OK.
Nothing much to mention about the technical features of the film, which though good, don't get noticed on account of the slow pace and the lagging nature of the film. Still, Devan Nair has to appreciated for having dared to tread on rather fresh tracks and for taking up for discussion a very relevant subject, that too at a time when we are getting distanced from all forms of spirituality and taking refuge in material and worldly pleasures. Bravo, Devan Nair! But next time, please attempt to present the theme more cinematically and with some talented, not necessarily experienced and established, actors in the cast.
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