Vanaprastham

Do people view cinema as an art form?...you cannot give a definite YES as an answer.....But, Watch Vanaprastham and you simply cannot resist calling it a wonderful piece of art. The movie belongs to the forgotten era of art that affects you. And the effect is so pleasant and elevating, that the movie is sure to stay with you forever if you can appreciate it. Like a book you will remember for your lifetime, like a painting that you can never erase from your mind, like a song that comes to your head at least once a day, everyday.

The director has blended Kathakali and Indian Mythology into the storyline like milk and honey and the product is a treat to the senses. No words to describe Zakir Hussain's score and Santosh Sivan's camera..They just elevate the movie to a totally different level. The message that Dance is a form of self-expression has been very elegantly and poignantly told in the film, yet, there is a subtlety about every aspect in the movie that gives you something more in each and every frame than what actually is conveyed in each scene. The actors are tailor-made for their roles, with Mohanlal giving an almost flawless performance. He plays the role of Kunhikuttan with the right body language, emotions and expressions. He is impressive in those scenes where his dialogues are few because the actor knows just how to speak with his facial expressions. Suhasini as Subhadra is perfect with her performance.

The movie does not have a narrator yet you can sense a mute voice narrating the life of Kunhikuttan. This is primarily due to the acting and the Background score which deserve a lot of acclamation. After watching the movie you sense a deep heavy feeling which leaves a lasting impression on you. The story can very well be summed up in a line, but it is a lot more. The movie is slow-paced and rightly so because it also tells you that nothing happens suddenly in life. There are always a series of events leading to every minute of your life. And the life of Kunhikuttan is explained thus. At the end, you cannot help but wonder at the poignant performance, the message you never knew was being sent and yet you perceive all this in a span of 2 hours. One of the best movies ever to be made in India !!

Vanaprastham was already told, reviewed, judged and all and it seems inappropriate to talk now. I went through the film some years ago and now without any reason, I want to revisit and that was the purpose for me. One thing with no compromise and no objection I can entirely see Kunjhikuttan and his each Kathakali character. The films blend in his character he performed as Arjuna but it begins with his shifting from female character and then other shift from Arjuna to a Villian character (kathakali character). Overall it is completely a shifting of Kunjhikuttan along with Kathakali characters to his behavior. Shaji N Karun, a well-crafted filmmaker who is so much cared about the assembly of all other flavors for the film. Especially the Cinematography, Music, etc are so peculiar and all are done by the Veterans.

Vanaprastham (1999) : Brief Review -

A supreme legacy of Mohanlal blends mythology with an amazing art form but fails to condemn the infidelity. Vanaprastham is a rich experience overall, actually it is one step higher than what we deserve in late 90s and therefore it deserves that fan following. But the fact that the film being too specific about Mahabharata's ideology where having an sexual affair outside arrange-marriage is termed okay is totally absurd. I am shocked to see many critics and movie buffs not mentioning this ridiculous factor anywhere in their reviews. Additionally, it is linked to Mythology then i guess it deserves even more bashing than what I've just done. In a film we see an illicit relationship between a Kathakali dancer and a young woman from an upper caste family resulting in an illegitimate child. He faces hardships when she refuses to let him see their child and then seeks for ultimate salvation. Isn't it a big joke that he seeks salvation for his own mental peace and not for his sins? How ethical it was from the woman's side to hid the child from his father for her own mistakes and how etihical it was from his side to have this extramarital affair and not feeling sorry when he's living with his wife and a daughter? This part didn't make any sense to me even if i assume historical references of Arjuna and Abhimanyu. Come on, this was 1950s and you don't apply Mahabharata theories here. Thankfully, Vanaprastham is blessed by Mohanlal's legendary performance and Shaji Karun's skillful direction. These two overtake the weak writing and makes Vanaprastham an absolute cinematic experience of poetic proportions. Overal, Vanaprasthan has absurd theories to tell but Mohanlal's acting and Karun's direction have saved the ship from sinking. A very good attempt to bring new modulation in Indian Cinema of late 90s.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

About a week ago I saw the movie "Vanaprastham"...........

The movie has been with me for over a year now.....but I did not watch it because I thought it to be a slow movie depicting the poverty of Kathakali artists..........and I could not find the mood to watch that film............

But somehow one week ago I watched it...........and oh God, what a movie it was.............one of the best movies ever in Malayalam........actually in my opinion, one of the best movies I have ever seen in any language..........it stands a class apart from an average Indian movie..................hats off to Shaji N Karun, Mohanlal and Zakeer Hussain for his soothing background score...................

From what I knew, even some of the serious movie watchers have failed to watch this movie.......may be because of the similar attitude, I do not know......I seriously urge anyone who wants to see a good movie to see this movie if you have not yet............

The movie is about a Kathakali artist Kunjikkuttan portrayed by Mohanlal.........but the director is showing the life of an artist in that movie, be it a Kathakali artist or a painter or a movie artist, whatever........Kathakali is just a setting...............The name itself speaks about the movie........"Vanaprastham"............it is one of the four ashrams of life........."Brahmacharya" "Grihasthasram" "Vanaprastham" and "Sanyasam".............the movie portrays the different stages of an artist........................evolution of an artist, may be you can call it that way................

To me the stand out performances have been from the director Shaji N Karun himself, the great tabala maestro Zakkeer Hussain who composed the background score and the acting legend Mohanlal..............hats off to the director for making a complex storyline such as this into a movie which never bores the viewer...........not even for a second..........that is the main success of this movie.........It grips you from the start to the very end like in another world..........a world of Kathakali.........a world of art.......................and when the movie finishes, it haunts you....................the characters never fade..........they are still with me, every scene is being replayed over and over again in my head..........

The background score by Zakkeer Hussain plays a big part in setting the mood..............the music is really gentle and soothing..............what should I say........heavenly, may be

The supporting artists are also good......................the likes of Suhasini and Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar have done a great job........................but the real star of the show is Mohanlal himself................he made the character "Kunjikkuttan" alive....................I could feel him walking, breathing..........I did not at any time feel that there was any sort of acting going on...................there are some instances in the film when Mohanlal, being in the Kathakali Chutti makeup had to act with his eyes only................and oh, my God.........that was simply amazing...................Mohanlal is surely one of the greatest if not the greatest actors ever to have walked our planet earth............

The movie did win many awards including the best picture and best actor award and best editing award also in the national film awards....................the movie was greatly critically acclaimed but I do not think it was that much appreciated by the common folk, ie, us..........It is really sad actually...........................It is actually movies like Vanaprastham that should get popular acclaim instead of the unrealistic movies that we all love because we want to enjoy rather than appreciating reality.............................Really sad, really.

Just watch it for his eyes...and that's enough reason.