Madhu Kaithapram through his debut film Ekantham has tried to go the parallel way of schemes and has etched out a better film. The film with its title which means "Solitude" is a sensitive creation based on the loneliness felt in old age, with no one to take care off.
On watching Ekantham at theatres, I definitely have felt it. Solitude....not only by the craft and mood of the film or by the sensitive treatment of the subject of the film, but also created by the viewing masses who deserted such a good movie in release centres to leave me in solitude... With bringing in, the two of the best performers of the present day Malayalam cinema --Murali and Thilakan, to do the pivotal roles, the film has taken the safest way to tell the in-depth story of today's human relationships.
Opening with aged Achutha Menon performing the last rites for his deceased wife Saraswathy, the film follows his loneliness since he has no children and no immediate relatives. Being a big beaurocrat, he had never taken care of his family in his home village. Tiring of his lonely life, he decides to go to his younger brother Ravunni, who lives in their native village. Ravunni too is a widower, but has a son Viswanathan and a daughter Chandrika, both of whom are settled in the city with their respective families. Since he is suffering from a severe ailment, his daughter and son visits him at regular intervals. Both the brothers meet after a long time, they cherish the memories of old times and are happy being together.
As Ravunni's health deteriorates further, his son and daughter decide to shift him to the city for better treatments. But on the advice of his friend Captain R.K.Nair, Ravunni decides to move to 'Kaarunyam Pain and Palliative Care Centre' a place that provides holistic treatment.
And once at the centres, the two brothers come across a bunch of very different characters like Velayudhan, Dr. Sunny, who is in charge of the centre, Dr. Sophie, who is working there and is deeply in love with Dr. Sunny. All the incidents in the centre is a relegation to Achutha Menon, who is also staying back with his brother. A world of uncanny human relationships opens before him, who decides to look into them in a novel way that he never had experienced before.
Thilakan who plays Achutha Menon once again proves why he is the best in these kinds of characterizations and does it with ease, while Murali is also in his usual self. Salim Kumar as Velayudhan has a small but beautiful role to keep in his records. Manoj K. Jayan as Dr. Sunny and Meera Vasudev as Dr. Sophie are also good.
The highlight of the movie is M.J. Radhakrishnan's cinematography, which captures the mood and feel of the film at its best. The film has one of the best song heard in recent times, 'Kaiyeththum doore oru kuttikaalam', created by the Kaithapram brothers and soulfully rendered by Yesudas.
The film which moves in a leisurely pace may find it hard to reach the masses looking for crass entertainment. Even though the film has a good storyline, the script, penned by Alankode Leelakrishnan drags at intervals. Any way, the crew must be appreciated for creating such a meaningful film on such a sensitive subject.
