Kaiyoppu Malayalam Movie

Jan 25, 2007 By Unni Nair

Kayyoppu (Signature), directed by Ranjith, is a film that has the maker's signature all over it. Though it may not be a crowd puller, the film impresses you, shocks you, disturbs you and awakens you to grim realities that are mostly overlooked. In spite of some flaws the film stands apart, and is worth seeing more than once.

Kayyoppu tells the story of Balachandran, who works as an accountant in a fertilizer company in Kochi and lives immersed in the world of books. He lives in a lodge in a room that is full of books. As far as literature is concerned, he is an encyclopedia and the passion that he has for books and reading amazes almost everyone, including writers. Even noted writers like C.P. Vasudevan are his fans.

Once at a public function, C.P. Vasudevan mentions about an unfinished novel that had impressed him much. The novel was written by Balachandran who was present at the function. Sivadasan, a small time publisher and a lover of genuine literature, was also present there. Sivadasan follows Balachandran to his room and urges him to finish the book and give it to him for publishing. Balachandran agrees and tries to make a beginning. But things don't move the way he wants them to. He is afflicted with what is usually termed 'Writer's Block' and fails to write even a single word.

In the meantime, Padma, who was once his classmate in college and a fan of his too, comes to stay in Kozhikode. Padma, who is divorced from her husband, is a great lover of literature. She gets Balachandran's number and calls him. The entry of Padma into Balachandran's life changes things to a very great extent. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in Balachandran's life. What happens from then forms the plot of Kayyoppu.

Mammootty as the central character Balachandran is very impressive. Occasionally though, the star in him comes to the fore making his performance seem a bit artificial to keen observers. Khushboo as Padma, Mukesh as Sivadasan, Nedumudi Venu as C.P. Vasudevan, Narayanan Nair as Balachandran's estate-manager and father-figure Kammaran, Jaffer as Babu who looks after things in the lodge etc have done their respective roles very convincingly.

The rest of the cast like Mamookoya, Nilambur Ayisha, Biju Pappan, Neena Kurup etc too fit into their roles perfectly well. Cinematography by Manoj Pillai, editing by Bina Paul and art-direction by Sabu Ram are no doubt the highlights of Kayyoppu. Vidyasagar has done his part as the music composer with elan and heightens the tempo of the dramatic moments in the film. Ranjith has included the immortal Hindi song "Jalte hein jiske liye (composed by S.D. Burman and rendered by Talat Mahmood for the old-time Hindi film Sujata), this time rendered by Manjari and blended very well with the situation in Kayyoppu.

It is the sensitive approach of the director that makes the film stand apart. The very touching and disturbing climax remains etched in our minds for a long time. Though one gets the feeling that Ranjith occasionally tries to be a little arty, the director ought to be appreciated for a film that is definitely not to be missed by those who love good cinema.