A GLIMPSE THROUGH ANJALI MENON FILMS

 Anjali Menon films are truly a different experience. Most of her films are of feel good type, yet she never fails to address socially relevant issues. Now, that is an unusual combination.

Why do her films stand apart?

What is common in Manjadikkuru, Usthad Hotel, Banglore Days and Koode? In this article the focus will be on these movies. Also she has not directed Usthad movie, she is the writer of the movie.

Each one of these movies deals with closely knit relationships. Good effort is being taken in establishing the depth of every relationship. We assume this as one of her success mantra.

Manjadikkuru is one good movie which takes us back to our most cherished childhood. The film presents a large number of characters, in the backdrop of a large aristocratic Kerala based family. The innocence of children, life struggles of middle aged people and the hopelessness of old age has been portrayed very clearly. Every character has a separate story. Characters are not merely used to move the story line, and so all of them have their own unique story and identity. One greatest thing in this movie is that we can’t completely love or hate most of the characters. At times we feel sympathy to some characters, but it will not last as they do something unjustifiable. It is exactly like the common people we see around us.

Coming to her next movie Usthad Hotel, it always feels like she is fond of picturing generation gap in movies. It is always well placed though. Like her previous film, intergenerational differences are well depicted in this film too. Everything in this film is somehow related to food. Who would have thought of food and romance as such a good combination? “The Sulaimani story” has a separate fan base. When combined with fairly good direction, natural acting and heart touching music, we got a feel good masterpiece.

Banglore Days is her first attempt as a commercial film director. Together with an ensemble cast including Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim, the film also had made a place in Malayali youths’ heart. The story is about three cousins named Kuttan , Aju and Kunju. Everything else revolves around three of them. Relationship troubles, soul draining daily work life and many other problems are narrated in a lighter tone. Unlike Manjadikkuru which showed the beautiful village life, Banglore Days picture the boring yet thrilling city life. Unlike many other commercial films, the characters in Banglore Days are super relatable to common audience.

Koode is a different approach when compared to all of her previous works. The story is mostly concentrated on two or three main characters. The movie mostly moves in a serious pace. Joshua (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and Jenny (Nazriya Nazim) are siblings who have a huge age gap between them. An unmarried Joshua works in a foreign land, and he arrives home hearing the death news of his sister. The story moves forward as he meets many people who were important to him in the past, including his school sweetheart, Sophie (Parvathy Thiruvoth). However he soon realises that Jenny’s role in his life is not over yet. The film mostly moves around Joshua and his pretty unusual relationships with other people. However, his troublesome life is not entirely his fault. Shades of sexual exploitation and atrocities towards children make a serious plot of the movie. Societal stigma towards divorce is also portrayed in a very realistic manner.

Every Anjali Menon film feels like it is a collection of stories which are somehow interconnected with each other. Most of the characters have their own unique story. Well, that surely enhances the character depth. Interestingly, at least in some movies she had used narration as the mode of storytelling. So far, it has been very efficient in conveying the feel of the movie. The use of very soft and apt music also adds to the soul of her movies.

In an interview called “I personally” by Mathrubhumi Kappa TV, she talked about the ability of a film to make an emotional shift in the audience. Atleast some of her films certainly has that ability.

What are your thoughts on this?