arabikatha - not just an arabian tale

Yesterday, I watched one of the best movies in Malayalam after a long time. "Arabikatha" scripted by Dr Iqbal Kuttipuram and directed by Lal Jose would definitely go down in the history of Malayalam Cinema as one of the best. Atleast in my Malayalam Film Dictionary.

I am not here to review it frame by frame. I am just here to tell you all go and watch the movie, if you haven't seen it.

Why would you love this film ?

It is a serious film, I would say, even though there is comedy in it. But those scenes just add value to the film. The film would make you realize about the ideologies that the opportunistic communist and the actual communist follows. It make you realize that they are totally different and that's exactly what is happening in Kerala now.

The movie would make you understand about the hard life of common men out their in Gulf. It would make you understand how important the world Gulf (and not "Gelf") is to Kerala. You may just say "He/She went to Gulf and made money". This movie will tell you for why they went, and are there, and how they made that money. It is probably the near-to-perfect movie that depicts the Gulf Malayali life in the silver screen.

The screenplay is really outstanding, for one can't identify any flaws in it. Dr. Iqbal Kuttippuram who scripted movies like "Swapnakoodu", "4 The People" has done a really good job. There may be traces of a Sreeni Effect in the screenplay, like in the scene where Sreeni and Nedumudi Venu discuss about "Vettinirathal" where Venu, Sreeni's father and party founder in Chemmannur, questions the party's agenda behind the act. In another scene Sreeni says to the Chinese Heroin that his party was with China, when they attacked India in 1962. All these brings us back the memories of "Sandesham" and Sreeni's character RDP leader Prabhakaran in that. Definitely there would have been a good amount of contribution from him to the screenplay.

Lal Jose is maturing day by day as director. It is really a big leap if you compare this movie against his "Meesha Madhavan" and "Chandran Udikkunna Dikhil".

And then finally there is Sreenivasan, who plays the protagonist "Cuba" Mukundan. I would say there wouldn't be any one in Malayalam film industry today who could do justice to that role other than Sreeni. The "Mukundan", who leaves behind his ideologies and leaves to Gulf to get a job and payback the debt incurred due to the cheating done by his rivals, is safe in Sreenivasan's hands. He brings in the ideologies of a real communist, emotions of a son, and the helplessness of a common man to the perfect.

Last but not the least there are a lot of performances from various actors, seasoned and non seasoned. Nedumudi Venu, Jagathi, Indrajit, Samvrutha, Salim Kumar, Augustine, Sadiq, Zhumin, Minister Karunan, Abdullakka all give spirited performances.

Arabikatha is very much important in today's life as it represents the socio-political atmosphere that is prevailing in Kerala today. And it will be important in the years to come for our social and political atmosphere is going to change. It is definitely a movie to discuss.

Just watch it.