Balyakalasakhi Malayalam Movie Review

A Movie Adaptation of one of the acclaimed works of V M Basheer. The story conveys the romantic relationship between Majeed (Mammotty) & Suhra (Isha Talwar).

Script & Direction - One of the biggest challenge while adapting a literary work is either to avoid comparisons or come up with a work which satisfies the viewer. The challenge gets bigger when its an adaptation of one of the popular love stories in history of Malayalam Literature and the hype adds to it when the lead actor is also an acclaimed one. When I saw "Mathilukal" which was a work of Basheer, you can clearly see how Adoor established and conveyed the relationship between Basheer & Narayani through various conversations. Thats why you feel for Basheer when he leaves the jail premise in that film.

The biggest issue with Balyakalasakhi was Pramod Payyanur was unable to establish the relationship between Majeed & Suhara. Its as if Pramod except every viewer to read Balyakalasakhi even once so that they don't really need the characters and the relationships to be established in order to sit through the cine experience. This is the biggest failure from Pramod as a writer/director. Second issues was the risk taken by opting the narration in a flashback mode. We can see clear confusion from the director's side regarding where should he focus...Majeed's life n struggle in Kolkatha?...Majeed's romance?....Majeed's Father?....I expected Balyalakalasakhi to be a romantic experience but the "romantic" portion was poorly handled. He depended on songs and music pieces along with beautiful visuals to narrate the portion. One such scene was when Suhara conveys how the society see their relationship to Majeed. Immediately we see Majeed n Suhara walking through the market with the villagers singing a song. Finally the uninspiring narration of scenes which seems to be a collage of many scenes taken from the book without changing 99% of the dialogues and finally leaving the audience confused regarding what was director planning to convey...A Love Story??...A Struggle??...A Period Drama??? . Regarding his style, it was neither arthouse nor commercial nor musical. There was a serious hangover of a man coming from drama from his narration. Except some visuals, I seriously didn't find anything that can be conveyed as good. I really wished he would have taken the kids' portion a bit more elaborate manner but there also he failed to capture the essence.

Cast & Performance - Mammotty had to go through various get ups....Young Majeed, Majeed @ Kolkatha (with & without beard n long hair), Majeed in crutches after being amputated (with & without beard)...Majeed's father, Majeed's old father.....But believe me...none even provide a single moment that challenged this actor. He was sleepwalking through those roles and Majeed's father was apt for an actor of Mammotty's age. While the Majeed's role should have gone to a younger actor (at least during his scenes with Isha Talwar). But still that won't make any different because the shoddy work done by the director himself. Rest of the actors just come and go. Only Seema Bishwas as Selvi created some impact with her brilliant performance. Isha Talwar got less screentime and she looked absolutely dumb with her performance. Meena didn't have anything to do but repeat her Drishyam performance in a Muslim role while Kavitha Nair was fine as Suhara's mum. Tanushree Ghosh, Sasi Kumar, Parambrata Chatterjee, Sunil Sukhada (once again) etc etc come and go. Casting Atlas Ramachandran displays how serious was the director regarding his job for those who has seen his previous acting moments. The kids who played the roles of Majeed n Suhara (especially) were cute.

Songs & Background Score - "Thaamarapongaavanthile..." is a beautiful song composed by Late Raghavan Master which was shot well. "Aa Nammalu..." was the village song which I mentioned earlier. "Poovukayaanu..." is played during opening credits. "Kaalam..." was a song sung by Suhara's dad when he is suffering from jaundice. The background score by Bijipal was apt for the situations.

Technical Expertise - Hari Nair's cinematography was simply outstanding. Be it the night shots of Kerala or Kolkatha orthe picturesque frames in the period drama, his work was the biggest highlight. I am not sure whether to blame or feel pity to Manoj regarding how he edited the film. The make up by Ranjith Ambady & costumes by Arun Manohar provided justice to the period drama along with the art direction by Santhosh Raman.

Bottomline - The film isn't even worth the 10% of the hype created due to its uninspiring narration by the director, If anyone is planning to watch the movie, I suggest to read Balyakalasakhi once to understand how the relationship was between Majeed & Suhara according to the author. You will not find it in the movie.

Ratings --> 6/10
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