Bhoomi Malayalam

Very recently, when I entered a theatre, with only 5 minutes left for the show to start, I saw less than 10 members only sitting there to watch a film. Such a tragic situation has happened for a new malayalam film named ‘Bhoomi Malayalam’. No need to be surprised. It is due to the placement of the this film in a certain category. Since the film is directed by TV Chandran, we are happy to include this film in the section of parallel films or art films.

I don’t know whether such a way of categorization is right. We have experienced names like mainstream, parallel, art etc related to films even from the childhood days. But, I personally feel that it is better to classify films into two types, good and bad. If you are so particular in classifying this film into an art film, then sorry, I can’t agree with you. Those who have seen films directed by TV Chandran like ‘Daany’, ‘Ponthen Maada’, ‘Soosanna’, Ormakal Undaayirikkanam’, ‘Paadam Onnu Oru Vilapam’ and ‘Kadhavaseshan’ will also have the same opinion.

The Mother Earth is the english translation (meaning) given in the credits for ‘Bhoomi Malayalam’. The main theme of the film is the problems faced by few ladies who come from different cross section of the society. It includes a lady worker in the tea estate, a house wife who got mentally ill after witnessing a murder, a journalist who faces problems from her husband and his family, an athlete who is unable to fulfill her dreams after marriage, a daughter who is always afraid of her rich father who is a womanizer and an young girl who is wishing to marry her lover. As every female oriented story, here also the director had tried to exploit the negative acts against the women.

The most important thing to be noted here is the presentation of the film. The director who is also the script writer has created it in a different way. The scenes are linked to each other through different characters. For example, if a scene starts with a young lady, it ends with the rich man and there after rich man will take the story through the next scene and that person who is in the end portion will take you through the rest and go on. Such a difficult way of staging the scenes is adapted well. The post interval session shown as a replica of the beginning scene is also a different style. Also the flash back portion, which happens in the post independence period, is shown well. Director’s approach in showing the attitude of various female characters through facial expressions might be unusual for a film; moreover it resembles the style of plays and dramas. The climax is also not cinematic, it happens on a sudden. Thus as a whole, we can see the flavor of foreign films in many areas of story telling.

Padmapriya, Samvritha Sunil, Priyanka (‘Veyil’ fame), Kripa, lakshmi Sharma etc are those who acted in the female leads, they have performed well as instructed. Suresh Gopi, Govind Pamdasoorya ('Adayalangal', 'IG' fame), VK Sreeraman etc. are also there to support them. KG Jayan is the cinematographer and Issac Kottukappally has given a good bg score.

‘Bhoomi Malayalam’ is not a bad film, but in these days of entertainers and masala films, I don’t think the viewers will opt for this. If you are keen to watch the different style followed by the director in this slow movie, then carry on…(also keep in mind that this is not supposed to be a "commercial" film).

Rating : 3.5 / 5