Film: Vishesham
Starring: Anand Madhusoodhanan, Chinnu Chandhni, Althaf Salim
Direction: Sooraj Tom
Plot: Soon after their marriage, a couple faces societal pressures to live according to conventional expectations, taking an emotional toll on their lives.
Duration: 136 minutes
Vishesham, the Malayalam word, has multiple connotations, both pleasant and unpleasant, depending on the context in which it is used. The Vishesham in Sooraj Tom’s film’s title implies the latter, indicating the unpleasant questions that newly married couples face from relatives and random strangers.
At one point, the makers appear to make their stand clear on such questions by having Sajitha (Chinnu Chandni), one of the protagonists, burst out uncontrollably at a woman from the neighbourhood who pesters her with that question related to child bearing. But unlike Jude Anthany Joseph’s Sara’s, which was about similar societal pressures faced by a couple, Tom’s film does not go the whole hog. Rather, it is concerned with the emotional upheavals that a couple which gives in to such pressures has to undergo.
Anand Madhusoodhanan, who has scripted the film, also plays the protagonist Shaiju Bhakthan, an online motivational speaker and organic farmer, who is low on motivation in his personal life. After a marriage that ended on the first day and several rejections in his attempt to get married a second time, he hits it off with Sajitha, a police officer, who has also survived a bad divorce.
Earnest performances
The evolution of their relationship, from the initial awkwardness to completing each other’s thoughts, is portrayed relatively well, with the lead pair’s earnest performances making it more effective. But, the same thing cannot be said about the narrative which sags at times due to some flat and aimless writing. At some junctures, it almost feels like a public awareness advertisement film about infertility clinics, but after some pointless iterations of the same plot point, the film takes another direction. In the end, it almost becomes a not so good advertisement for such centres.
Predictable approach
Vishesham can be considered as an example of filmmakers setting out to do a movie based on a particular issue, and paying more attention to the issue than the various aspects of filmmaking. Despite having identifiable protagonists, whose everydayness the film underlines several times, and a few emotional high moments, the film really does not leave an impact because of its mostly predictable approach. The writing also appears to be unadventurous in taking some extra efforts to not rock the conservative boat much, unlike what films like Sara’s did. The only ones it dares to take on are the people who intrude into the private lives of others, and make life hell for them with their unsolicited opinions. But, even that is no small step.