It cannot be a period story nor could it have been premised in a contemporary setting by the writer as the backdrop showcases a time span set in the pre-independence era. A segment of the anthology based on M T Vasudevan Nair's selected collection of short stories, the short movie 'Kadalkkaattu' is directed by Rathish Ambat and stars Indrajith, Aparna Balamurali and Ann Augustine in lead roles.
The narrative predominantly follows the environs of an upper-class traditional household in Kerala and the graph of the complicated mental construct of an ambitious middle-aged man named Keshav, portrayed by Indrajit. While Aparna Balamurali essays the role of his pregnant wife Bharathi, Thennal Abhilash plays their 10-year-something daughter Babymol. Ann Augustine dons the role of Margaret, Keshav's lover.
Lokanathan's brilliant camera captures the time and ambience, however, could not reproduce the verve and magic that MT's story encompasses. The movie is propelled solely by virtue of the force of the original writing and not by the visual representation. The mellifluous prologue to the short movie by Kamal Haasan, describing it as a story that unveils a man's bid to be modern by breaking conventions and unshackling bonds, and then making his final return to his roots, seems quite wasted in the end.
Indrajit and Aparna Balamurali are ace performers on any day. What foiled their chemistry here are the absence of timing and lack of variation, maturity and depth in the delivery of emotions. The debacle in executing the dramatics pulls the film down. In the movie, we see a cocky and arrogant Keshav speaking so awkwardly fast and behaving weird (our memory may slip to Lucifer for a second). But he looks confused when he is silent. He is authoritative and feeble at the same time. Involving unabashedly in promiscuity and he finds his past struggles and experiences of neglect and oppression from his own family as reasons to vindicate it.
But then, what we see is MT's lines detailing the dilemma of a confused man torn between his intense desires and sense of guilt, which is entirely missing in the pictorial depiction of Keshav. Instead, he funnily resembles a haughty and insipid playboy. Even the dialogues by Aparna modelled on the dialect and slang of a feudal household of ancient Kerala sounds monotonous and artificial. Ann Augustine as Margaret, looks graceful but has nothing much to offer. The black-and-white treatment of mores by juxtaposing contrasting sequences, make the drama shallow and repelling. Among performers, the only saving grace is Thennal Abhilash as Babymol whose looks and speech seem natural.
The music by Rahul Raj is compelling but never rises beyond a certain level. The only takeaway of the movie is the visual canvas which serves as a vehicle for a revisit to the pre-independent feudal era of Kerala.
