Kireedam (1989-Malayalam)
This movie has a very special place in me. This is the movie
where Mohanlal became my favorite Indian actor. The role proves that Mohanlal
is one of the best and most versatile actors India has ever produced. Also a revolutionary genre in Indian cinema.
Synopsis -The story revolves on the philosophy how an environment and
situations could change the perception of a character. Their journeys of Sethumadhavan
(played by Mohanlal) whose steps to becoming a Sub-inspector changes and end up
being the most notorious criminal of the town.
Every element of this movie right from acting, direction,
screenplay, dialogues, music etc. are right on spot.
The movie’s Screenplay and Direction is so grounded and relatable to a typical middle class family life
style, the screenplay clearly but in a very subtle way has split the plot into
3 acts and flow between them is beautifully handled.
1st act
the plot focuses on character development and has been handled like a
masterpiece. The scenes don’t involve the typical plot devices to portray a character
of each roles or cliched movie dialogues to show how good the
character is or how much he cares etc. The entire 1st act is done so
natural, just a day to day life of Sethumadhavan (Sethu) but yet the character and
dynamics of each role has been painted with impeccable resolution.
2nd act
is where the main turn of events takes place and again here Sibi Malayil did a
great job to keep the pace and tone in sync with the 1st act and builds up on it. He
made sure to keep the audience in the emotions of Sethu and to sympathize the character.
Audience emotions are pushed to levels, after each tragic incident audience
tend to have a ray of hope that things would go right. This was handled with
such natural approach, every character in the movie stuck to their characterization
and events happening seem so normal n genuine and yet has devastating effect!!
3rd act
is where the movie picks up its pace and audience starts losing hope and sets
to gear up for a tear-jerker. The fight scenes have been handled with a very artistic
touch. For a movie where in its time (even now :P) fight scenes had flying actors, the natural
and the long established fight shots were revolutionary. Seems like Mohanlal was
asked to fight for real!! And unlike other many movies the skills of the roles also
never deviated from the character defined, a rare thing in Indian movies :D. In
the last shot Sibi Malayil gives a classic climax with a great emotional build up
and an end. May be one of the best climaxes!!
Acting in this
movie has been top notch by all actors but standing out in this gold mine is Mohanlal and Thilakan (Sethu’s father). Mohanlal’s acting took the movie to an extent that even Sibi Malayil had not predicted! The precision
of each emotion and transcends from emotion to emotion in fraction of seconds
without any effort. The shift of his behavior throughout the movie was so
subtle and yet effective. Nowhere in the movie has he lost the essence of his
core character. I would say Mohanlal didn’t act the role of Sethu but Mohanlal
became Sethu. This exceptional performance made Sibi Malayil’s work on established
shots way too easy. Nothing less by Thilakan giving a powerful and convincing
show. These 2 could convey emotions just by a look what pages of dialogues
cannot.
Plot on the shell
looks very simple but crafting a plot where Sethu’s character perception
changes from end to end and yet maintaining the core of its characterization is
just writing at its best! The plot never deviates from the Philosophy it’s
trying to portray. Nor depends on plot devices where Sethu goes out of
character to make it happen. This has been tried by many movies in this genre
after this but never succeeded. Also the plot makes sure to sympathize the
rowdy version of Sethu making it so undesirable and hence putting out a very
strong message that has a visceral effect.
In short it’s a true cinema and flawless in all
aspects. Highly recommended for Drama fans.
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