Movie Review: Ore Kadal

Shyamaprasads Ore Kadal has a touch of class and is one of the finest movies told about relationships and the contours of the human mind. Shyam puts the institution of marriage under the scanner, and talks about the emotional turmoil that a person undergoes, that can make or break a relationship.

What makes the film work is the top-of-the line performances of its lead actors. Mammootty shorn of his superstar mannerisms and Meera Jasmines life like performance, ably supported by Narain and Ramya Krishnan. The haunting background score of Ouseapachan creates the mood, as the story moves on a kaleidoscope of human emotions.

The film is based on Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyas classic Heerak Deepti. Shyam has changed the milieu from Kolkata of the early twentieth century to a modern metro. Though he does not identify the city by name it looks like the story is happening in Hyderabad, by the registration number of the vehicles used in the film.

Dr S R Nathan ( Mammootty) is a renowned social economist, who is also a well known writer on the social inequalities in the country. He is basically a loner, alcoholic and a womanizer (whenever physical need arises!), who has a long standing relationship with a high class call girl Bella (Ramya Krishnan). Nathan has hardly any human feelings or emotions when it comes to matter of love. He is in love with himself, his work and says- Its economics that rules, not emotions.

But fate has something different for Nathan, when he helps a lady staying in his apartment complex with a sick child in arm, who has no money for treatment! Nathan comes to know that Deeptis ( Meera Jasmine) husband is unemployed and she has no money even to pay her rent! ( Nathan: In India the biggest problem that the middle class is facing is unemployment, there are 20 million unemployed people in the country.).

Soon Nathan takes a fascination for her, which ends in bed, nothing new to him, but it opens a whole new world for Deepti. She is drawn emotionally to him, as her husband Jayan (Narain) is still looking for a job! Nathan, on Deeptis pleading, gets him a good job, which makes her more indebted to him emotionally; though he makes it clear he has no time or inclination for any kind of feelings or love.

Soon Deepti is pregnant, and when she goes to tell him that it is his child, he says every minute 7200 babies are born in the world! Nathan does not bother to ask her anything, which slowly makes her lose her mental balance.

The film is a very sensitive and intimate trip through the human mind fraught with hidden minefields of hurt, rejection and fragile egos. The director, like in his earlier films, plumbs the depth of human mind. This time, he examines the threads that hold a marriage together, and the emotional and the physical dynamics that sometimes turn those ties into shackles that oppress the soul and sour a relationship.

As a writer and director, Shyamaprasad narrates the plot like a European art film of the seventies. His target audiences are the matured adults. There are symbolisms galore as his central character Deepti is torn apart from her sense of guilt. The director makes no attempt to sit on judgement on the choices of the characters and none of the players are conveniently killed to come up with an easy conclusion.

What makes the film stand out from other Malayalam films that have timidly tiptoed through a sensitive subject like infidelity is that no excuse is offered to Deepthi to justify her liaison with Nathan. The climax will leave the traditionalist in a fit of rage and confusion.

Mammootty as Nathan is brilliant; he presides over the film like a torch whose burning is invisible to everyone but the viewer. Brooding and understated, he is terrific. Meera Jasmines portrayal of Deepti, a woman suffering from guilt pangs, succeeds in conveying the various mood swings and frailties of the character, and is one of the best roles she has done so far. Narain puts in a restrained performance as Jayan the husband who never knows that his wife cheated on him! Ramya Krishnan as Bella has walk-in role, which she does adequately.

Technically the film is well crafted, with Azhagappans camera being the highlight. Azhagappan had a tough job, it was not the scenic locale but the intimate relationship and its emotional conflict within the confines of a flat, where the lead characters dwell that he had to shoot. He has done wonders with the camera which gave expressions to the directors thoughts, with great lightings and close-ups of the protagonists. The art director Muthuraj's sets and interiors of the flat and Bellas bar are superb.

Shyamaprasad has made a film that is contemporary and valid, though its too arty and at times moves at a snail's pace. Still, these are minor blemishes in an effort that is supportable and well made. All in all, a perfect watch for connoisseurs of good cinema.