Pathemari

Best movie i have ever watched...mammootty shows the real life of peoples working in gulf countries

Fantastic movie from great director Salim Ahemed And Great actor MAMMOOTTY A best Class movie from Malayalam Pathemari is an interesting watch that tells you an already familiar story, but in a way that makes you sit up and realize that more often than not, the life of those we know living in the Middle East is not that cozy and comfortable as we often assume it to be. Or at least it was not for those who moved there before it became the buzzing urban centre it is today. A tribute to the hordes of Malayalis who leave home to go work in the Middle East to bring a better life to their families, Pathemari narrates the story of Narayanan (Mammootty) who travels to Dubai as a teenager and spends a major part of his life away from his parents, siblings, wife and children.

As far as the narration goes, the film takes you through familiar territory, like what we have seen in films like Arabikkatha, but let's just say that Pathemari is highly laced with empathy. At the end of the film, you can't help feel empathetic about the suffering and chronic homesickness that every Gulf Malayali or any expatriate would be going through for that matter.

Mammootty, as Narayanan, has delivered an impressive performance. You would really feel for this character who is caught between his own wishes and the needs of his family. Jewel Mary, as Narayanan's wife, has given a subtle yet strong touch to her character. One performance to watch out for is Siddique, who, despite very little screen time, has the most powerful lines and moments in the film.

The director, Salim Ahamed, has narrated this story with a pace and style that is now familiar to us through his last two films Adaminte Makan Abu and Kunjanandante Kada. To note are some one-liners that subtly pass through the scene, but says more than entire scenes put together. Madhu Ambat's camera holds you down from the opening shot. The opening credits of the film show you Dubai in a way you've probably never seen the Emirate before. Resul Pookutty's sound shows through, especially the portions where the sea is involved. Bijibal's score is beautiful and unobtrusive. It serves as the right backing for the manner in which the story has been told. Vijay Shankar's editing is seamless as it takes you to and fro from Kerala in the 60s and forward to the present day.

The life of an expat is a very turbulent one. I would know as the son of an expat myself. The Keralan community would have never prospered as quickly as it did without the influence of the GCC states. It has encompassed sides of things I myself have faced being an NRI, such as the feeling of being a tool to facilitate the ease of another man's life, the delusion that life there means a quick buck is a garunteed, and the breakdown of family relationships. The perils of NRI can never truly be encompassed unless you are one and hence why I believe this movie did a seriously commendable job at addressing what it did. The film is very well made, the acting is excellent and the screenplay is wonderful. It should go down as one of Mammooty's most socially significant movies.

I have seen this movie several times, but when I watch it now doing a course of International Humanitarian Action I am able to find parallel between some of the struggles of the Malayali Migrants at that time of 1950s and also the Syrian Refugees struggling to reach Europe. This movie clearly shows the need to change Refugee laws and also better the condition of the refugees and Migrants in host countries. The other aspect which I felt this movie throws a spotlight on this the current treatment of Malayali Migrants from Middle East which has to an extend stayed the same since the release of the movie. This needs a change and this movie is an open question of why that perception change hasnt happened fully.?

This is a Malayalam language film starring Mammootty.

It is a really good reflection of the initial folks from Kerala who had to migrate to the Middle East in order to escape poverty and hunger in the Communist state Kerala.

Even today the Kerala economy primarily runs from the remittances of these emigrants who had to labour and sweat to pull their families out of hardship. They actually never got to live a wholesome life as in most cases they couldn't take their families along. Living with roommates as boarders all their adult lives, just hearing stories of life that's moving ahead back in their homelands, yearning to be with loved ones, it's truly tragic. The director has depicted these beautifully without melodrama.

This is not even the story of the middle class Indians who reside there now. Having the best of cars and lifestyles, they are now there by choice.

This is the story of the hard workers who had to pay the price of believing their Communist political leaders.

How the protagonist opens everyone's eyes informing that when they send money, it is mostly by borrowing. And how the boatman opens the protagonist's eyes by bluntly saying they value the money you send more than you. The truth is so on-the-face, without Narayanan even informing the boatman Velayudhan about what's happening at home.

It is really touching when you hear in the end that he feels successful that thanks to his efforts, his family could lead a good life..

A hats-off to those pioneers truly is not enough. Our prayers to them.

A must watch movie for such an honest depiction.