Papa, don’t preach?

Kappela (Chapel, Malayalam, 2020)
Written & Directed: Muhammad Musthafa

Another Malayalam movie that makes its viewers think.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kappela

Growing up, I often saw my mother hovering over my sisters. She would insist on having the final say on how they should dress, behave, and interact with others. My sisters believed that my mother was just a typical conservative mum, thinking her daughters were like beauty queens and that the world was an overly testosterone-charged place waiting to target them. Throughout their teenage years, they disliked my mother for that, but, being obedient girls, they simply complied and focused on their studies.

Later in life, they would tell me about the harassment they endured, as I had already left the house for further education. In hindsight, however, they thought she had to do what a mother must do to guide her children in the right direction. Perhaps they would not be so comfortably settled in life now if not for our mother's vigilance and, perhaps, paranoia. 

Again, when we, the children, became parents ourselves, we also had to balance giving freedom, being modern parents, and educating about predatory behaviours to our own. It became even more difficult with access to the outside world through social media and the spreading of anarchic values celebrated by the leftists as progressive. Whatever Eastern values were promoted are seen as outdated and discarded. 

People who have not been parents themselves might not understand the storyline. Scolding a young girl for sitting as a passenger on her male classmates' bicycle may seem old-fashioned, but her parent had his reasons. After hearing stories of children going astray, parents naturally become cautious. 

A misdialled call leads to romance between an older teenage girl who has failed her public school examinations and a random auto-rickshaw driver. The driver seems like a kind and well-meaning chap. After frequent exchanges of calls, the lovers decide to meet when her parents are away. 

At their rendezvous in another town, there is a frustrated and angry young graduate who is unable to find a job. This young man is seen as a violent individual who does not hesitate to fight for his cause. 

In the story's intriguing development, the audience is shown another side of the nice guy, who is not so nice after all, and the anti-hero is actually a saviour of the naive girl. The nice guy is a predator, and the angry man is a do-gooder. 

How many times have we witnessed these stories unfold repeatedly? The spring of youth, with its hormones impairing rational thought, may have lifelong consequences. Stalking is mistaken for care, and touching is seen as unrestrained passion and a way to express love. Sadly, only hindsight offers perfect clarity.

(P.S. Thanks, JM, for the recommendation.)

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Find love via stalking?

Annayum Rasoolum (Malayalam; 2013)

Story and Direction: Rajeev Ravi

https://madaboutmoviez.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/annayum-rasoolum-
movie-review-tender-love-story-ode-lovely-city/

This is one of those movies where stalking is portrayed as a legitimate way to try to win a girl's heart. The approach is to appear occasionally, put on a penitent expression, and hope that she will pity him and fall for him. The film also depicts a female character with no agency, swayed effortlessly like lallang in the wind, by her parents and the men in her life, without ever making a sound. This role suits Andrea Jeremiah perfectly as her debut in a Malayalam movie, portraying a naïve Catholic girl from a conservative family. 

The feminists among us would cringe that such a story is even allowed to be made, as it may steer society in that direction, since we, descendants of primates, follow the adage 'monkey see, monkey do'! Look around. People come in all forms, sizes, and ways of life. Increasingly, some among us believe that certain people should be just seen and not heard. They are also regressive in their thinking, claiming that all world problems are caused by women, the weaker sex and the ones who carry half the credibility of their male counterparts. Witnesses only carry half the weight. They are given second priority in the distribution of wealth and educational opportunities. And this trend is seen across societies. 

What fascinated me about this movie is the location. Shot in the remote and less developed areas of Kerala, in Kochi and Vichy, regions 'discovered' by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. These areas are also adjacent to the most familiar tourist spots, the backwaters of Kerala. The cinematography is simply stunning, and viewers would not mind the slow storytelling because of the visual gratification on offer. 

It is a story of love at first sight when Muslim taxi driver Rasool spots Anna, a saree shop assistant. She takes the ferry to work every day. Our hero believed the best way to win her over was to stalk her, to follow her to work. It worked. The problem mainly arose from Anna's family. They wanted Rasool to convert to Christianity, which Rasool refused. 

It swings like a yo-yo. Anna's family decide to marry her off to a random widower. In a scene almost reminiscent of the final scene from 'The Graduate', Rasool makes a dash to pull Anna away from a pre-wedding counselling course at a church. 

More trouble ensues, complicating matters further. As the ultimate solution for all life's crises, in the Indian movie style, there must be a death. 

Another crowd-pleaser in the film is the music. The songs resemble Sufi music with poetic lines about love, death, and divine forces, infused with Arabic words. It is refreshing to enjoy these Sufi melodies accompanied by electric guitars and drums.

 

The movie performed well at the box office and was nominated for many awards, winning a few on the technical side. 

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Unchain thyself!

The Girlfriend (Telugu, 2025)

Director: Rahul Ravindran

At first glance, I thought it would be another dull Indian college movie. Based on my previous experiences, I believed it was a superficial, illogical love story. The typical tug-of-war in this genre would be between eternal love and an unashamed, ego-driven opposition.

 

It started with a generic script about a girl with innocent eyes, whose mother died in her childhood, who joins a university to study for a Master's in English Literature. She is smitten by her and is pursued relentlessly by a senior, a handsome man doing his Master’s in Computer Science. The girl resists but eventually succumbs after constant wooing.

 

Things change after he gains 'vacant possession'. He becomes possessive, controlling, and a lover reminiscent of 'Fatal Attraction' or Sting's character in the 1983 Billboard No. 1 hit song 'Every Breath You Take'.

The story drags on until the heroine has her realisation. She boldly takes control and asserts her legitimate rights as a thinking human being, standing up for herself and refusing to be shamed for being a woman. She understands that in a game involving two parties, it is illogical to shame only one while the other walks free. Once she frees herself from those shackles, she is free to climb the ladder of progress. The sky is the limit. 

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Rom-com of yesteryear

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch

https://www.rosendaletheatre.org/movies/
the-shop-around-the-corner-1940/

It is interesting to observe how the concept of a romantic comedy (romcom) has evolved over the years. The idea of a rom-com in the 21st century is one where the protagonist is between relationships and finds perfect love most romantically. It could be a comedy of errors, a mix-up, or occasionally it could start with both parties not looking eye-to-eye on something, but later get closer and then decide to be a couple. Along the way, that would be casual sex, nudity, crisis and resolution. That is the sure formula for a box office blockbuster. 

Refreshingly, a light romantic drama from yesteryear does not reveal too much of their intimacy. In this 1940 film, there is hardly any physical contact. Still, the spark was obviously electric between the protagonist, a young James Stewart, who is well known for his feel-good Christmas films, and the lesser-known co-star, Margaret Sullavan. 

The festive atmosphere remains in the film. The setting is a gift shop in Budapest during the lead-up to Christmas. The owner and his staff share a warm and friendly rapport as they run the shop. A new staff member, Sullavan, joins the team. She does not get along with Stewart, the clerk. Unbeknownst to them, they are pen pals who enjoy each other's company through their correspondence. Meanwhile, the shop owner learns through his private investigator that his wife is unfaithful.

Everything concludes happily in this feel-good film. It is quite a cheerful movie that finishes on a positive note. Despite being vintage, the film remains fresh and relevant as ever.

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As you see it!

Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une chute, French; 2023)
Director: Justine Triet

We reassure ourselves by telling lies. We are so cock sure that truth will win. It would somehow emerge from the crack to balance the equilibrium of the Universe. One of the half-truths we convince ourselves is that there is a balance of two opposing but sometimes complementary forces; the good and bad, the truth and the lie, the masculine and feminine forces, chaos and order and so forth. The 'truth' wins every time, we con ourselves.

It is all a perspective of the now and the glaring presence of the evidence of the present. No caped sorcerer will ride the high horse of justice to right the wrong. 

That, in my opinion, is the essence of this story. A husband is found dead in his frosted front yard, presumably after a fall from his balcony three storeys up. He was discovered by his blind son, returning from a walk with his guide dog. The wife was alone in the house with blaring music playing on the speaker. Their relationship had seen better times.

The physical fall brings out the metaphorical fall out of love, the fall of status for the husband, and the possible fall into depression of the husband. 

Initial police investigations suggest it could be a suicide, but a recording of the couple's conversation throws a spanner into the works. The wife, an established author, is arrested as the possible suspect of the murderer of her husband. 

The court trials tease out the family dynamics. What starts as the couple falling in love, having a child, and juggling their careers turns murky. In an accident possibly caused by the husband's lackadaisical delay, the son is caught in an accident that causes him to lose his eyesight. The guilt-stricken writer-husband, compounded by the mother's veiled accusations, becomes a wreck. His writing juices dry up, and love falls off the cliff.

The wife is questioned as a possible perpetrator of the crime or maybe accidental death on a possible domestic tussle. Her previous blemishes are exposed. The animosity that arose as she prospered as a prolific writer at the expense of her husband's creative impotence is laid bare. 

The son takes the heaviest brunt of it all. His testimony at the stand may determine how the case turns out for the mother. He is unsure how to look at all of the events. Did his father kill himself? Did his mother kill his husband? These conundrums seem to put a lot of burden on the shoulders of a young early teenager. Everything is confusing. He is pressured to do the right thing, but what is right anymore? 

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Only so much we can blame our genes!

Bones and All
Director : Luca Guadagnino

There is only so much we can blame our parents for our miseries. Our parents give us building blocks to start life with. That foundation sets us the footing to let us grow. We acquire some favourable traits and some not-so-pleasant ones. We do not say much when things go our way. The moment something goes against our way, we jump at our parents for transmitting that offensive gene as if they were in control of what chromosome gets transmitted and what does not. Like an old friend once told me, we must take their diseases and other chromosome-related unfavourable traits just like how we willingly accept their wealth in their will.

This bizarre romantic horror film is about an 18-year-old girl, Maren, who has to move schools and towns as she tends to eat human flesh whenever she feels love. She grows up with her single father. After her last fiasco at a sleepover party, her father had enough. He leaves her money, birth certificate, and background information about herself and bolts off. Maren goes on a road trip for self-discovery.

Maren discovers that she is adopted. She embarks on a self-discovery journey to confront her mother about her abandonment. On her journey, she encounters many people with the same cannibalistic tendencies. She finally finds her biological mother is a dangerous inmate cooped in a mental asylum.

It is a twisted tale of discovery, camaraderie and performing tasks with love, not just a chore to complete.

At the end of the day, there is only so much we can blame our heritage, genetics and upbringing. Once we reach an age of cognisance, we should be empowered to hold the bull by the horns to steer it in the desired direction. Unable to do so, at least we should adapt our bodies to protect ourselves so as not to be taken for a ride and thrown off balance. That is what we call a balancing act.

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Are you happy?

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Director: Clint Eastwood

With all the hype surrounding finding the perfect love and that love is forever with persuasions like 'listen to your heart' and 'you'll know when the right one comes along', this one is a wet blanket.

This film may be one of the best love stories ever made, not because it was directed by one of Hollywood's best directors but because it deals with a mature theme. Is the whole idea of marriage to complete the cycle of childbearing and childrearing as well as dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's to ensure the institution of marriage continues unhinged, to pass the baton to generations next or is it to savour all the senses that complete a human being?

Is sex a privilege accorded only between a society-sanctioned couple and not with anybody else? Is it true that some people are just not wired to stay monogamous, or is it just an excuse to play truant, to savour the forbidden fruit?

Did society criminalise extramarital sex to give a face to paternity before a time when paternity testing was mainstream? At a time when most sexually transmitted infections were viewed as God's wrath on fornicators and adulterers and antibiotics were not discussed, it does not make sense for little children to run around without their mothers. What contraception? Coitus is a divine act sanctioned for procreation and nothing else, say the Judeo-Christian traditions. Now that our contraceptive options have improved, is this still applicable? 

Detractors of the above will cite the emotional (or lack of) reasons for keeping everything within the family unit, the good, bad, warts and all. Sex is just one component of married life. There are more experiences to achieve in this union called matrimony. 

This film gently deals with this touchy topic without condescending thoughts or resolution. It is what it is. We just have to deal with it.

Two siblings return to their farmhouse to have their mother's will read. They are shocked that her mother wants her remains to be cremated and ashes scattered over a bridge nearby. The children are puzzled as the family already has a cemetery plot. Looking through her journals, the children get access to the mother's well-kept secret. The mother, Francesca, was a war bride when she met her love in Italy at the tail end of WW2. Excited about the idea of marrying an America and migrating to the USA, her hopes are dashed when she is stuck in Iowa, on a farm where nothing happened - no neon lights, no Disneyland. In the summer of 1965, when Francesca's husband and her two teenage kids were away attending a fair over four days, she had a brief affair with a National Geographic photographer. Francesca lived the rest of her married life in memory of those four days, still performing her motherly and wifely duties.

In the spring of youth, with raging hormones, we plunge into relationships. Soon the magic died out. The ember of passion fizzles out. We reach a crossroads - to cave in to bodily needs or to look at the whole exercise as a higher calling and persevere.

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Follo

The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human...

Gems of Gemini Ganesan
L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan,
Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari and
Dr Jaya Shreedhar. 
(Abs: Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan)

Seeing six of Gemini Ganesan's seven daughters together is rare.
In December 2004, when he was very ill, they decided to come down to Chennai and nurse their father.

They met again in February 2005 at Chennai's Apollo Hospital. Rekha was to inaugurate the Apollo Wellness Clinic, and all the sisters except Rekha's sister, Radha, made it a point to attend the function.

The eldest among the six sisters is Dr Revathi Swaminathan, a radiation oncologist practising in Illinois, USA. Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Gemini Ganesan's second daughter, runs the G G Hospital in Chennai. Narayani Ganesan is a journalist with The Times Of India in Delhi. The youngest is Dr Jaya Shreedhar, a health advisor with Inter News Network.

Rekha and Radha are Gemini Ganesan's daughters of actress Pushpavalli, and Vijaya Chamundeswari, daughter of actress Savithri, is a fitness expert working at the G G Hospital.
"The only one missing is Rekha's sister Radha, who is in the US," says Dr Jaya Shreedhar. "She is elder to both Viji [Vijaya] and me.

"Though Appa was unwell, we had some good moments when we met in December. People may assume that there are strained relationships because we don't share the same mother, but there is nothing like that," she adds.

"We are professional women, and over the years, have learnt to appreciate each sister for what she is. We did not have the pleasure of growing up together. In fact, between my own elder sister Revathi and me, there is a 20-year age difference. Appa was thrilled to have all of us together. This was a pleasure he never had when we were young."

Jaya was the only daughter who saw her father at home when she was young. "By the time I was born, he was a senior star, had moved out of those relationships, and was with my mother. It is extraordinary, but the upbringing was in a way that there was never any ill-will. You are born into it," she says.

"Suppose we were raised in a middle-class, rigid culture; I might have found it unusual and emotionally challenging. When we sisters met this time, it was more like six 'wild' cousins meeting and talking non-stop. It was lots of fun!"

"..Though there is no correct account of the number of wives he had, it is widely believed that he was married to Alamelu, Savitri and Pushpavalli. He is survived by seven daughters and a son. His children are Revathi Swaminathan, Kamala Selvaraj, Narayani Ganesh, Jaya Shreedhar, actress Rekha, Radha Usman Syed, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumaar Ganesan...." Wikipedia