His protagonists are all middle-aged, middle class, speak the local dialect, have a family to tend to and are passionately emotional. They don’t mouth platitudes, are politically incorrect and fantastically ordinary. Yet they have a disarming correlation with the audience. It can be partly or wholly attributed to the fact that the creator comes from a cinematic milieu often described as the golden age of Malayalam cinema.
Assistant director-turned-script writer-turned-director Blessy has blossomed under the tutelage of Bharatan and Padmarajan, so it is expected that his cinema follows their way— raw, understated and poignant. Even his latest offering, ‘Pranayam’, depicts sensible romance between a middle-aged couple. We bring you a few of his notable works...
In Blessy’s directorial debut ‘Kazhcha’, Madhavan (Mammootty) is in his mid-40s and makes a living screening old movie classics in villages. His life takes a turn when an orphaned Gujarati boy who got lost during the earthquake trails Madhavan around town. Set in the rustic landscape of Kuttanad, the story is well narrated and touches upon issues like child abuse and the judicial system, without being too preachy.
His second film ‘Thanmatra’ once again had a middle class, middle-aged protagonist (Mohanlal), who gets affected by Alzheimer’s disease and the film portrays the effects of the disease on his life and family. Apart from being a typical Blessy package, the film managed to be a well-researched guide on Alzheimer’s disease. On the downside, it had an elementary sadness, with far too depressing frames.
A year later came the Mammootty-starrer Palunku that depicted the travails of a small town farmer and his family, and their journey from village to city where they succumb to the temptations of a modern lifestyle. Again, it’s been said that the second half was too contrived and complicated. But like his earlier films, actors got ample scope to perform. The movie that followed this emotional drama, ‘Calcutta News’ (2008), turned out to be a damp squib.
‘Bhramaram’ was a pathos-filled revenge saga appreciated by critics and fellow directors, but wasn’t really a commercial success. Incidentally, the movie had an uncanny similarity to his mentor’s 1990 film, ‘Thazhvaram’, scripted by MT Vasudevan Nair.
Currently running in theatres, ‘Pranayam’ is an intense emotional drama, a subject the director says he has been carrying for years, journeying with it as visuals and words. “I have now transferred that to the characters. It’s like letting go of something that was your own till now,” he says.
It’s a mature love story about a woman, Gracy (Jayaprada), who meets the two men in her life (Mohanlal in a cameo and Anupam Kher), who have known her completely—physically as well as emotionally—at two different phases of her life. Its box-office returns notwithstanding, for Blessy it’s a laudable effort at a time when youth themes and multi-starrers are ruling the roost.
Here’s a man who believes in the innate goodness of cinema, in the magic of ageing gracefully and in just being an original. Again very like his masters.