Imagine you’re casually scrolling social media and coming across a random video of an elderly couple sharing some lighter moments, like holding hands while walking or leaning on the partner’s shoulder. Before you know it, there will be a smile plastered on your face or you might even feel your eyes turning moist. This is the exact feeling that Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu offers throughout its 100-odd-minute runtime.
Gouri Teacher (Leela Samson) is an unhappy resident of an old age home as her son is unwilling to take her in. Apart from his occasional visits, Teacher, as she is fondly called, has nothing much to look forward in life. Until Shivan (Jayarajan Kozhikode), the retirement home’s caretaker, invites her to his home... and, by extension, his life.
Abijith Asokan, who has written, directed and produced the film, picks themes like isolation and companionship to weave a beautiful tale of two elderly people deciding to spend the final lap of life. Shivan and Gouri belong to two strata of the society. While one is an educated teacher from a seemingly affluent background, the other is an unrefined farmer. But these differences are insignificant in the now-overwhelming yearning for company.
Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu shares progressive values, but the progressiveness is not in the face. Both Shivan and Gouri are product of their times; so, it’s natural when Shivan proposes to Gouri saying, “I’d love to have someone make tea for him”. Similarly, Gouri, who has been caged in the retirement home for over three years, is raring to do household chores, like a typical homemaker. After they move in together, she happily cooks and feeds Sivan, while he sweats it out on his farm.
The film is brimmed with wonderful moments that display love in all its splendour. In a fleeting moment, you can see Gouri checking if Shivan ate the food that she packed and realising his love for spicy dishes. Like any newly married couple, their intimacy blossoms gradually, and composer Govind Vasantha augments these sweet moments with his soulful music.
Usually in films exploring old-age romance, it is a norm to show at least one of them with a terrible past relationship. However, in this film, both Gouri and Shivan were deeply in love with their former partners and hold them in high regard even after their passing. They don’t shy away from talking about their past and the fond memories accompanying it. At the same time, they also embrace the present and their beautiful and respectful relationship.
Apart from the lead couple, the film also has some interesting characters like Sudhi, played by Noby Marcose. Though there’s a running joke in the film about him not finding a match, the character is not reduced to a comedy sidekick. He is that go-to-guy for any help in the community. In fact, almost all the villagers of Ezhumanthuruthu are portrayed as warm, welcoming people who strangely are never judgemental of Shivan and Gouri teacher’s unusual choice.
It might look too idealistic a setting, but Abijith also sticks to piercing reality when Sivan casually mentions how he has never been called ‘sir’ his entire life and his misunderstanding that such respectful addressing were reserved only for good-looking people. Jayarajan Kozhikode sells the naivety and genuineness of Shivan effectively. From his dialogue delivery to body language, there’s an effortlessnes to his performance. However, Leela Samson’s portrayal of Gouri, while graceful, is not so fluent. In fact, it comes across as mechanical on few occasions. It is likely that an unfamiliar terrain and language had has an effect on her performance.
Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu is the closest Malayalam cinema has got to the MT Vasudevan Nair classic, Oru Cheru Punchiri. It exudes the same warmth, comfort and hope.
Film: Jananam 1947 Pranayam Thudarunnu
Director: Abijith Asokan
Cast: Leela Samson, Jayarajan Kozhikode, Noby, Irshad Ali, Deepak Parambol
Rating : 3.5/5