Malayalam cinema is rightly evolving. More and more film-makers here are recognising the importance of narrating a new story every time they make an effort. Definitely so is Sameer Thahir' who in his 'Neelakasham, Pacha Kadal, Chuvanna Bhoomi' pushes the cinematic boundaries of Mollywood, a little further. Even for the conventional spectators of Mollywood, this NPKCB' is sure to come across as a never seen before experience. A real road movie with much of its narratives that unfolds while on the move, the flick tells the tale of two friends Kasi(Dulquar Salman) and Suni(Sunny Wayne), all set for a travel to unknown lands in their bikes. They have different intentions for the journey, including the need to travel to the land of Assi (surjaBala), a fellow student from Nagaland who studied with them in their college. The movie unfolds amidst their journey and showcases their experiences with different sort of men, whom they meet while on travel. On the surface this NPKCB may appear as a road movie, but as you delve deeper and deeper, it depicts unconditional friendship, it portrays intense romance and in its many layers are the politics of the Indian subcontinent, with valued references about the country that is being sold out to corporates and companies. But the culmination of the story appeared hurried and some side stories are left open. And a little more depiction of struggle in the climax could have added the needed final punch, to make this one of the most well-crafted films of the recent years. Director Sameer Thahir has the trappings of a first rate storyteller a fact that was evident in his first two endeavours (Chappa kurisu and Isha in 5 Sundarikal). Hashir Muhammed's fine ,precise and unconventional scripts are terrifically executed by the youngster , in the unseen locales and backdrops. Though the narrative moves at its own pace, there's never a dull moment in the entire enterprise embroidered with fine, short dialogues.. NPKCB is also embellished with top notch performances, with Dulqar Salman once again appearing dependable in an interesting role. Sunny Wayne also scores brownie points for his super performance and timing of wits in the film, which is sure to create a lot more fans for the youngster. Surjabala in her first South Indian appearance definitely looks gorgeous and plays her parts well. All others in the cast are perfect and look raw and impressive. The technical sides are topnotch with Gireesh Gangadharan proving some exquisite visuals. Never does he opens the camera just to capture frame beauty but we are let known the real feel of nature, the cold of Nagaland, the heat of West Bengal and violence of Assam and deeper emotions that forced the duo to move on to their destiny. The BG scores by Rex Vijayan also needs applauds, so is some of his songs. The editor Sreekar Prasad has done the hardwork to combine the lot of the shots to a convincing package, though he may have been forced to cutaway some scenes to reduce the length of the movie, which now stands at 2.25 hours. Hoping to see an uncut version at least on videos, a little later. On the whole, this 'Neelakasham, Pacha Kadal, Chuvanna Bhoomi' is a movie that must be watched for its solid, though diluted content. Get into this ride for the spirit it is made in. Watch this film if you want to see cinema from Kerala beyond the routine Mollywoodish stuff. Rating -7/10 |
