Elippathayam(1981)

Director: Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Language:Malayalam
Cast: Jalaja,Karamana Janardanan Nair ,Sharada

Elippathayam ( Rat Trap) is the third film by Adoor and is supposed to be the first one to bring him international acclaim.
However, this is first time I saw any of his films and I was taken aback at the way the movie begins. A household of three - a brother and two sisters are disturbed from their sleep as a rat bites the brother. Immediately followed one of the most OTT scenes I've ever witnessed in a movie. The three of them run to and fro in the house trying to catch the rat. We see only their legs and we hear a weird background score. I was shocked at all this. I had taken considerable pains to come to watch this movie at NFAI and I was like WTF!. Is this a film by the Great Adoor , the director who's supposed to have made 9 PERFECT films in his 43 year career, the man considered to be the heir of Satyajit Ray in the Indian Cinema?
But soon my fears were put to rest as the film seemed to have come to senses and everything was shown perfectly. It was as if I was a member of this small family and am watching whats going on the lives of Rajamma ,an over aged unmarried girl who does all the household chores, a college going sridevi and their brother Unni.
The film looks at Unni, played brilliantly by Karamana Janardhan Nair, who's the head of this family and is stubborn, narcisstic,feudalistic and an escapist to the core. And much more. According to the director the film is a "a detailed study of a character at many levels -- psychological, physical, social, even genetic, based on his roots. I gave primary colours to the characters' clothes and a predominant gray to the background. "

Through various incidents that happen in this family, we get to know the contrasting personalities of the three siblings. We see an old family relative bringing up a match of a widower for Rajamma (played brilliantly by Sharada), a stray cow eating the leaves of the banana tree in their yard, Unni trimming his moustache with utmost concentration, thieves stealing away their coconuts, some relatives who drop in on them,the love story of Sridevi, Rajamma falling sick and so on.
Amidst all these, we notice that the rat trap set by the younger sister is working and that it catches quite a few rats. And everytime a rat is trapped, Sridevi takes the trap with the trapped rat to a pond situated a li'l away from the house and drowns it there. This scene is infact a motif and occurs quite regularly - and each time we notice that the camera is located in a particular position vis-a-vis the road , and that Sridevi always walks in a particular style and speed, and a background music composed mainly of the drums used in folk music.And always the scene ends with a shot of a ripple in the pond and a crow singing in the background. Later in the movie, when we see the same scene sans the rat and the trap, we learn what exactly the rat trap Adoor is talking about.
However the best is kept for the climax - when we see various people moving to and fro in a
house , as we see only their legs and we hear the same weird music which we hear in the first scene, providing us with a brilliant insight.
One of the interesting points about the movie is that except in the above mentioned scenes, there's no background music at all. About it, Adoor says "The music was also much more than a mere background score; it was employed as a significant constituent of the film in its thematic development."
A GREAT movie. 10/10.

Navarasa ( 2005)

Director: Santosh Sivan
Language: Tamil

This movie is about the mother of all identity crises - that about one's sexuality. The film is about people from the third gender and the aravan festival in koovagam, told through the eyes of an innocent, emotionally mature and fearless little girl.

The movie begins with a mere-khwaaboin-mein-jo-aaye style dance number by a little girl who soon realises, that she's entering adulthood. And before she could come to terms with this new status, she notices strange behaviour in her beloved uncle( her fathers younger brother), who till then, had appeared only as a typical 'loser'. Soon she has the first shock , when she learns about 'his' predicament - that he is a wanna-be she. And he leaves home to go to koovagam and get married to Aravan. This little girl then goes in search of him, to bring him back - for she sincerely believes that a good doctor can solve the problem.
And the rest of the movie is like a documentary about koovagam festival and about the life of people from the third gender.
And we also have glimpses of the innerworld of all these people. Think of it - they dont worry about their religion, they dont bother about careers or fame or money or any ultimate goals in life.... The fuzzyness in their gender gives them an identity crisis of such an intensity that it takes a lot to accept their own sexuality. And for those who come to accept it, the goal is automatic - to live a dignified life in this bi-polar society - an almost impossible battle.
The effect of showing it all through the eyes of a girl (who's just entered adolesence) is brilliant. Her naive optimism and her innocent acceptance of the third gender is hard hitting, to say the least.
Through out the movie, something I picked from Spinoza's - "On the improvement of Understanding" kept running in my mind - This is relativism to the core. I probably will never look at a person from the third gender the same way again. ( somehow the word 'eunuch' seems very derogatory).

And yeah all other minor aspects - music, editing etc are all good.
With Santosh sivan at the helm, it goes without saying that cinematography ise brilliant. A few shots stand out - the one showing lots of broken bangles in different colours, and the ones depicting the scale of the festival etc.
There are a few theatrical scenes and a couple of hackneyed characters, the movie could have done without which, probably to emphasise how society deals women/sex. Otherwise , it is a perfect movie.
9/10.

Mandi (1983)

Director: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah,Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda,Ompuri,Amrish Puri,Neena Gupta and many more.

The film, a comedy, set in a semi urban locality in Andhra Pradesh, has a wonderful plot revolving around a brothel house and its inmates.
It has a casting that includes every worthwhile actor in Indian cinema... well almost. We have Shabana azmi, Smita patil, Naseeruddin shah, saaed jaffrey , kulbhushan kharbanda , neena gupta, ompuri, amrish puri, Ila arun - all play more or less important roles.
And yes, there's Pankaj kapur in a GREAT cameo.. Easily the best cameo in the history of cinema - and one of the highlights of the movie.

Other highlights are:

• Shabana azmi as Rukminibai , a lady who runs a brothel house- her acting , her character, her accent, her attire, her bindi, her chemistry with other characters, the way she walks,the way she looks in a mirror everytime she passes one, her singing(!!) - AMAZING!!!!
• Naseeruddin shah - SOLID performance as "Tungroos", a faithful, multipurpose servant in the rukminibai household and ofcourse, mostly, drunk
• Smita patil - she acted like a dream - to use a cliche. The way she giggles, her expression while singing, her romances, her relationships with the male characters,the chase involving her in the climax.... Movie is a must watch , just for her.
• Sayed jaffrey - wonderful as usual.... His expressions as the chairman of some municipality board are fantastic.
• Music : Music by vanraaj Bhatia , with a lot of classical touch, is great to say the least. And there a few ghazals placed wonderfully in the plot.
• Ila Arun and her labour pains
• Ompuri and his photography..
• Amrishpuri and his philosophy
• Kilbhushan kharbanda ,his business negotiations and those with a parrot in the rukminibai's place.
• Yeah that parrot is another highlight...
• the way each character is written ( and the role each character plays in the story)

and I missed a few others - each of them, by itself , a reason to watch the movie.
( But what are a few hundred reasons between friends?)

PS: Don't decide upon the best indian movie ever before watching this one..