Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam

The onset of covid in addition to the quality of Indian movies in recent times had repelled many a movie buffs including me. The inability to box ourselves in a dark room for hours for a movie when there is alluring content on Instagram, tiktok and other social media sites has certainly been challenging.

But movies are a gateway to another world, a world or charm or dreams standing the test of time. In a testament to that, is the recent movie ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’ (like a afternoon dream) which I accidently watched and which literally had transported me to a quiet village in southern Tamilnadu.

 

 

The movies provides a brilliant take of two distinct shades of life, a group in a hurry to reach their hometown and another, a laid back village and its members. Mammooty plays to perfection two contrasting characters as James (a Christian from Kerala) and Sundaram (a Hindu from Tamilnadu). James as a grumpy angry person admonishes anything loud or unnecessary around him, while Sundaram is the definition of a happy-go-lucky person.

The movie starts off after James and his extended friends/family return after visiting Velankanni church and is quite grounded in its approach to capture the very essence of human life. As each of the characters crowd into the small van, the journey begins taking us on a ride. As the van meanders through the windy backroads, everyone soon falls asleep after having their lunch. James, suddenly stops the van and ventures into a small, sleepy village and transforms into Sundaram and what happens next forms the crux of the story.

The movie is a beautiful take on humanity and its current situation in the society. Be it James coming through late and then complaining about lack of space in the van or the ladies discussing the lack of restroom facilities on a trip or the men consuming alcohol and sharing hilarious stories, the layers of human emotion are very subtly conveyed. The background music consisting of a hosts of old tamil movies, songs and advertisements is a beautiful ode to yesteryear’s silent movies where one absorbs the full circle of life. My favorite is the old granny with humongous black glasses (perhaps due to cataract), who adds the most poetic touch to the movie, ever-watching the television as well being an active member of the family.

The cinematography, especially in the early morning sunrise shots when Mammotty goes to deliver milk is quite exhiliarting. The wide angle static shots also transport us right into the sleepy village and quite literally transforms us as one of the characters in this story.

 

Theory of how James became Sundaram

Spoilers ahead, so I would recommend you to watch the movie before reading on.

The movie is a little inconclusive on how James ended up becoming Sundaram. Sundaram’s (James) accurate knowledge of people, places and his experiences in the village, portray that he had lived the life of Sundaram, which brings us two possibilities.

1.    Sundaram and James were born as twins and separated at birth. Both grew up in completely different circumstances with accumulated behavioral patterns. Sundaram, who left his village two years back, died in some circumstances. As James’s van approaches the village, the spirit of Sundaram would have entered James and led to the happenings in the movie.

2.    Sundaram and James born as twins, separated at birth, would have both grown up in different places. As James nears Sundaram’s village, the twin telepathy (https://www.livescience.com/45405-twin-telepathy.html) or some type of twin split personality would have showed in James making him act up like Sundaram.

 

Whatever, be the logical explanation, this is one of the best movie I have watched this year and I would highly recommend to watch it on a relaxed weekend afternoon.