KOCHI: The maestro of Malayalam cinema, K G George, holds a special place in my heart. He was my favourite filmmaker. His diverse filmography – with exceptional works like Irakal, Adaminte Variyellu, Yavanika, and Panchavadi Palam – profoundly resonated with me. Among these gems, Mattoral tops the list. I have been fascinated every time I watched it.
Mattoral explores the struggles and friction within marital relationships that seem perfect, peaceful and happy from the outside. The approach was revolutionary. The lead character, Kaimal (Karamana Janadranan Nair), is a prominent government employee and leads what appears to be a serene family life with his wife, Susheela (Seema), and two children. The only close outside relationship they have is with budding writer Balan (Mammootty) and his wife, Veni (Urvashi).
For Kaimal, life is home and office. Sadly, the middle-aged family man forgets romance in life. In a way, his moody Ambassador car is a reflection of Kaimal himself. Kaimal is an authoritarian figure, who expects obedience from his wife and children. His entrenched patriarchal mindset is laid bare as he castigates Balan for letting Veni work in an advertising firm even after marriage.This is when we see a different Susheela. Her response is diametrically different.
One day, without a word to anyone, she leaves her home. When Kaimal returns after work, she is missing – just gone. Even the children do not know where she went. Leaving behind the role of a ‘devoted’ wife, she just drifts away with a car mechanic named Giri.
Kaimal is blindsided. We can see, with clarity, the blow to his ego. However, he does not let go of his pride. ‘Don’t inform Veni that Susheela is missing,’ he tells Balan. Kaimal decides to continue his life amid the huge void Susheela left in his life. For him, prestige is more precious than parternship.
Kaimal gets mocked, quite cruelly, while the ultimate blame falls only on Susheela. However, ‘Mattoral’, never points fingers at anyone. It does not judge the characters. Finally, Veni’s questions highlight Susheela’s perspective. “Who knows what kind of life she will have? Everyone just blames her. And she is the wrongful person in everyone’s eyes. They call her an adulteress,” she speaks out.
In the end, Giri gets tired of Susheela. Her dream escape collapses. There is a moment near the climax, where Kaimal calls Susheela a ‘pavam’. Mattoral clearly spells out that many marital relationships are just like well-concealed volcanoes, with repressed disappointments and disillusionment bubbling beneath, desperately seeking to erupt. There isn’t a moment in the film that allows the grey cells to pause. Every scene pricks, every time one watches it. It’s the maestro’s masterpiece.
Ratheena P T, Filmmaker (Puzhu)
‘Grips like a python’
KOCHI: Yavanika was a mystery thriller that involved complex storytelling and an innovative narrative style. The film pivots around the disappearance of a drama troupe’s tabla player, Ayyappan, portrayed with fanatic intensity by Bharath Gopi.
Inspector Jacob Eeraly (Mammootty) is assigned to investigate the case. The viewer just gets sucked into a grim, labyrinthine layering as the probe proceeds. The use of subterfuge is remarkable. Every character has something to convey. Yell out, rather. From Rohihi (Jalaja) to Vishnu (Ashokan).
With an unconventional narrative structure, the film combines elements of mystery, psychological drama, and character-driven storytelling. It grips like a python, little by little, and drags the viewer into a vortex in an emotional cesspool.
Beyond the thriller aspect, what captivated me was the focus on the lives and emotions of the characters. I often find myself drawn to character development. The psychological exploration fascinates me, especially the way in which the characters and their mental struggles are spooled in. Even the attire of the female lead (Jalaja) symbolises the underlying turmoil.
George uses similar treatment in the police procedural drama Ee Kanni Koode as well. Loading a thriller with such intensity of the emotions is a hallmark he set. And he did it without resorting to dramatics. It is something to learn from.
That said, I will be rewatching Yavanika after this full-stop.
Shahi Kabeer, Filmmaker (Ela Veezha Poonchira)
‘I have drawn inspiration from Panchavadi Palam’
KOCHI: I still remember my first K G George film experience. The memory, now veiled in the mists of time, unfolds like a half-forgotten dream. Once, when I was young, I went with my mother, who had arthritis in her heels, to get her an injection. On the television in the waiting room, I watched Yathrayude Anthyam.
I remember my sister and father engrossed in it, while nothing much happened in my head. However, I clearly remember how it ended. I was too young, but it reminded me of a place in Iruloor (my paternal village), where a road ends and the bus has to take a U-turn. So this place and the film’s name got etched in my memory.
Later, again on television, I saw a film that made me laugh out loud — Panchavadi Palam. My father explained the satire and every scene with nuances. I remember a scene, where Thilakan, after getting drunk and crawling on his knees, compares his ‘alignment’ to the idea of rebuilding a bridge.
And, of course, the last image of a floating ‘wheel board’ in water remains etched in my mind.
Later, while learning communication design at IIT Bombay, I carried a world of cinema with me. While superhero universes were just coming into existence, my professor Sudesh Balan made my friend Renoy and me watch the film Irakal.
I was fascinated, both by the craft and the characters of Ganesh Kumar and Sreevidya. A grey-zone family, toxic childhood and parenting, and the evolution of a criminal mind… After this experience, I rewatched Yathrayude Anthyam and Panchavadi Palam. Also, I dug deep into K G George’s other films: Ee Kannikoodi, Adaminte Variyellu, Mela, Mattoral, Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback.
I was very surprised at how his films were really ahead of his time. But it is not just the aesthetics that set this filmmaker apart; it was the storytelling prowess that truly elevated his cinema. The narratives were rich and layered, exploring the complexities of the human condition.
Whether delving into the intricacies of love and loss, struggles of the common man, or a satire on the system, his films possessed a rare depth and authenticity of the human condition. There are times I tried to reach out to him, and found him to be the most extraordinarily peaceful person. While making Aavasavyuham, the last leg of the film had a circular social satire. Although the crux was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the maze of religion, politics and bystanders was inspired by Panchavadi Palam.
Several films have been made with shades of Panchavadi Palam. Yet, the original shines brighter. It is a film that stood the test of time. It transcends into a conversation far above satire, into a capitalist human drama. I tried to emulate that with my second film (Purusha Pretham). It is high time that we archive his works for future filmmakers to learn and unlearn.
K G Geroge will live longer than the rest of us through his cinema.
Krishand R K Filmmaker (Avasavyuham, Purusha Pretham)
‘He was well aware of his male biases’
KOCHI: Adaminte Variyellu was the third K G George film I watched. From the other two, Panchavadi Palam and Irakal, it was quite evident that the filmmaker was an expert at turning his camera toward the society in which he lived in, and understanding the structures within it.
In the case of Adaminte Variyellu, his camera was not at all objective. He was well aware of his biases as a male filmmaker. Justifying the clever title, the film starts with visuals of several women in a city. As the story progresses, it focuses on a few, mostly in an archetypal way, where the filmmaker does not aim
for any subtlety.
His portrayal of Vasanthi, played by Suhasini, brings back memories of another film from the same era, Is This Just A Story?’ — a social realist film by Deepa Dhanraj. The major difference between these two character portrayals is the gender of the filmmaker.
I was amazed by the details and empathy with which George approached his female characters. His camera did not turn away from the way Vasanthi draped her sari, another character confronting the onset of her menstruation, or a woman giving birth.
While the filmmaker tries to draw parallels between these characters who come from various classes, values, and struggles, some parallels are automatically drawn between their helplessness and the ultimate, inevitable doom that awaits each of them. It becomes even more evident from the frozen frames these characters end up in.
Though the film employs realistic depictions of these women’s lives, for whom we are bound to feel empathy, in a quirky turn of events, it ends with several of them running out of the frame, pushing the camera and even the filmmaker aside.
While this unique stroke is something that can be expected from a filmmaker of his calibre, it immediately reminded me of Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, which came more than a decade and a half later. This particular scene is probably the only part of the film that departs from the straightforward style of the rest of the film and is kept open for interpretation.
In my eyes, this scene has a lot to do with the gender of the filmmaker and his own admission of his unworthiness in telling a story from women’s perspectives.
Don Palathara, Filmmaker (Family)