Thanmathra

I am a big fan of Malayalam movies and off late most of what is churned out is mindless comedy or violence. Blessy's Thanmathra is a well made movie with a good theme. There are several movies on Alzheimer's patients and if you were to hear the theme from someone the response is likely to be, "so what's new? " What makes this movie good are.. Strong actors- Mohanlal, Manu, Jagathy, Meera, Nedumudi; Good direction- Well woven story, seamless progression, good technical knowledge of Alzheimer's.(Loss of recent memory and preservation of past memory. Mohanlal remembers the Sukumaran Nair of his childhood, but not his father- in-law with the same name...Going to his 'Appachy's' house for 'unniappam' etc); Music - Melodious songs, good background score.

The subtitled quote in the end though seemed profound somehow didn't blend well with the end. Could have done without it I think. I strongly recommend watching this movie

"If you can't compare your wife to another woman, how can you compare your son to another boy?" - the moment Mohanlal pops this question, you know Thanmathra will not just be any malayalam movie. At a time when the industry is ruled by crass comedies, Blessy should be appreciated for taking up such a complex theme in a commercial format, without compromising on artistic values.

Thanmathra is the story of a middle-class family; the very family that stays in a mini two bedroom flat; the very family which uses a Bajaj scooter for transportation; the very father who dreams about his son attaining what he couldn't. In short, it is the family which you can see in your day-to-day life. But what makes the movie special is the craftsmanship that director Blessy shows in extracting the best performance from his cast into what can be called as the ideal script for any artist to prove his skills.

Thanmathra excels in every class. Let it be cast performances or direction or paperwork or music or cinematography or art work or whatever, Thanmathra is perfect. The movie drags a bit in the latter half, but the theme demands the lag and without it the movie would have ended up as a typical TV serial. Mohanlal has come up with one of the strongest performances in Indian Cinema. In real life, people often consider Alzheimers as a variant of madness. Therefore the slightest mistake from the actor can transform an Alzheimers patient to a lunatic. But Mohanlal handled the character carefully. Rameshan, being an Alzheimers patient, forgets everything. But still somewhere in his mind, he knows that he wants to see his son as an IAS Officer, even when he cant recognise his son's face. Such roles are always challenging to any actor but Mohanlal came up with a brilliant, effortless performance, proving any role is only a child's play for him. Debutant Arjun Lal is certainly an excellent actor in the making. Jagathy Sreekumar and Nedumudi Venu have done their parts well. Other than some unsynched lip-movements, Meera Vasudev's performance is top notch.

Once you watch the film, Thanmathra will give you a melancholic feeling. One might wonder why God is so cruel to Rameshan and his family. After all his only dream was to see his son as an IAS officer. And he almost saw it...almost.

Amitabh bachchan wondered about Mohanlal's acting when he saw this movie,and glorified about lal's acting.No more words are required when bachchan himself claims that Mohanlal is the finest and effortless actor this country has ever produced,no matter he himself bagged the national award for black the same year beating Mohanlal.And thats all about Mohanlal.

And about movie:Before watching this movie i did not believed that movies give messages to a society.Prior watching this movie i rush for exit doors when the movie is about to complete.But after watching this movie i couldn't get up for a minute.The sad ending (or joyous)made me like something haunting me for a couple of days.this is something extra ordinary a movie can make to me i believe. We are going through a fast life where we have not enough time to do our own duties of life.This movie shows whats the important of time we waste,and what we can achieve using it in the right way.

Two thumbs up for blessy.

Finally comes a movie that makes you laugh, think, cry and above all makes you feel that you didn't waste your time seeing another stupid Malayalam movie. Everything is underplayed here in an era where Malayalam movie makers think that a malayali wants every masala played out loud in Malayalam movies. I agree, they like it in other language movies. But we don't want our movies spoiled. To say that Blessy's direction is excellent will be a gross understatement. He has made a movie close to his heart by defying the box office trends. Once again we are fortunate to see laleettan in full form(Maybe after Narasimham)...with not a bit of acting...like olden days ..just Ramesan Nair..,the character he is portraying..Kudos....I would like to watch the movie again just to see the innocent look on Ramesan's face.

Blessy has proved that class of art still remains in molly wood.As it's add says Mohanlal performed as the way we wanted. Rameshan Nair now became one of his classic characters.Meera,Arjun and other actors contributed their full effort towards this drama and made it a feel that never ends.I could see lot of audience with satisfied faces after the show.That only a filmmaker dreams about.The casting was again the best from the director.The camera work is apt to the story mood.'Kazcha' was an excellent film,Blessy made 'Thanmatra' one step ahead than his previous project.The Pathmarajan touch came back as the Blessy touch.

Keep going Blessy!!

Keep going Lal!!