Neelathaamara

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Kailash, Archana Kavi, Rima Kallingal, Sredevi Unni, Samvritha Sunil, Suresh
Sript : MT Vasudevan Nair
Director : Lal Jose
Music : Vidyasagar


Director Lal Jose is a prominent name in the malayalam cine field. He has given notable films like 'Oru Maravathoor Kanavu', 'Meesamadhavan', 'Chandranudikkunna Dikkil', 'Chandupottu' etc His last few films like 'Achanurangaatha Veedu' and 'Mulla' were not hits. Now he has got a golden chance to direct the legendary writer MT Vasudevan Nair's work. In the last 20years, MT had written script for directors like Hariharan (films like 'OVV', 'ESJ', 'Parinayam' and 'KVP'), IV Sasi ('Midhya'), Bharathan ('Thaazhvaaram'), K.S.Sethumadhavan ('Venalkkinavukal'), Sibi Malayil ('Sadhayam'), Harikumar ('Sukrutham'), Ajayan ('Perumthachan'), Venu ('Dhaya'), Kannan ('Theerthadanam') and also a couple of them for his own direction ('Kadavu' and 'Oru Cheru Punjiri'). The new film for Lal Jose, 'Neelathaamara' is not a fresh subject. It is the remake of an old film with the same name that got released 30years before. It was directed by Yusafali Kecheri; Ravikumar, Sathaar, Ambike etc did the main roles.


This 'Neelathaamara' is produced by Suresh Kumar under the banner Revathy Kalamandhir. New faces like Kailash, Archana, Suresh, Sreedevi Unni, the three film older Rima Kallingal, Samvritha etc are in the main cast. Unlike the old version, here the director had included three songs; Vidyasagar had given some good numbers here.


The film opens in the current period when the youngest member in the family reaches her native village as a part of a video production. The grandmother's (Sreedevi Unni) niece cum daughter-in-law (Jaya) and a lady (Parvathi) also visits the house hearing about her disease. The flashback portions are shown through the memory of those characters. Almost three decades before, you can see the poor young girl (Archana, doing the younger age role of Parvathi) reaching the big house as a servant, where the mother and her son (Kailas) alone stays. He has completed his studies and is waiting for the result. He gets into an affair with the servant girl. She gets a friend (Rima) who is also a servant in the neighbor house, to share her feelings. Later, the hero's marriage is fixed with a rich girl (Samvritha, doing younger age role of Jaya). What happens to the cheated girl, the bride and the other characters are shown later.


The film mainly highlights on the relationship between the hero and the servant girl. There is nothing unpredictable here. In the first few scenes itself, the story is understood. Hence the script and the dialogues by MT becomes the main attraction. The concept of the flower "neelathaamara", the conversation between the neighbors, the lunch menu given by the grandmother, the quotes regarding the steps in the house, the mention of the disease of the singer character etc are some of the areas which we can't witness in the films now a days. The director had presented the film as the script demands. The performance of the new heroine Archana and the new hero Kailash were good. They are promising talents, where the industry can utilize. Casting a new face like Sreedevi Unni (later actress Monisha's mother) in the grandmother's role also felt different. Rima Kallingal had also made her role notable. Using the old non popular hindi song by Yesudas, "zid na karo..." in the background (as if from the radio) for the romantic scene, the telegram shot, remarks about the bridge, close up of the calendar etc are all sequences done to establish the period.


The performance of the old lady who accompanies the heroine girl looks amateur and the dubbing given to her character by Anandavalli is also not matching. The quarreling between the couple felt dramatic in few shots. The divide in the relationship between the lovers happens all of a sudden. Here and there, you are having the after effect of the film 'Nandanam'. The selection of heroine's old age character done by Parvathi is good, but old age character of Samvritha is not a real prototype. Director's boldness to include songs is good, which can in turn becomes a promotion factor for an ordinary film (theme wise) like this. Since I have not seen the old version, no scope for a comparison here.


Vidyasagar's background score is good. Cinematographer Vijay Ulaganathan ('Madambi' fame) gave colorful frames without any gimmicks.


'Neelathaamara', acted by many new faces is told in the village background. It is not extraordinary and it won't surprise you also; but it is a fact that this film highlights certain situations which we can't see usually in commercial films these days...


Rating : 8 / 10