Bharya Swantham Suhruthu Malayalam Movie

Despite all the shortcomings, Venu Nagavally's 'Bharya Swantham Suhruthu' comes off as a rather well made movie, and deserves to be appreciated. Mar 2, 2009 By Thomas T

'Bharya Swantham Suhruthu' may seem to be an incongruous title for a film these days. And actor-writer-director Venu Nagavally and scenarist Cheriyan Kalpakavadi may not make it to the who's who list of present-day film goers. The storyline and the theme of the film may seem to be 'old wine'. The treatment and the narrative may not keep pace with today's slick productions. Despite all these, Venu Nagavally's 'Bharya Swantham Suhruthu' comes off as a rather well made movie, and deserves to be appreciated.

Zachariah, called Kariyaachan by people close to him, is a Gulf returnee. He is well settled and runs a finance company by the name of Kuttiparambil Financiers. Kariyaachan has a contented life, living with his wife Moly and daughter Neetu, a plus-two student. He is nearing fifty and his business is doing well.

Girijavallabhan, known to all as Girija, runs a textile shop called Sreelakshmi Silks after his wife Sreelakshmi. Girija is a flirt and has many women in his life. Girija's Casanova lifestyle slowly starts influencing Kariyaachan, who begins to feel fed up of his wife and desires to have the company of new women. Girija fans this feeling and helps Kariyaachan transform himself into a new man. Girija even tells him how to get close with women using the Internet. It is thus that Kariyaachan gets intimate with a young girl named Urmila, whose husband Sajan is working abroad. From here Kariyaachan's life takes a new twist.

Jagathy Sreekumar does the role of Kariyaachan with characteristic ease. Urvashi renders a very controlled performance as Moly. Mukesh is good as Girija. And so is Padmapriya as Sreelakshmi. Jyothirmayi fits well into the role of Urmila, but hasn't got much to do. The others in the cast are passable.

Today's generation might find the film to be technically outdated. The script, the cinematography etc may seem to belong to the 1980s and the 1990s. The songs are far from being sizzling. Many of the sequences could give you the feeling you have seen it before. Still 'Bharya Swantham Suhruthu' has something that appeals. It's old wine perhaps, but it certainly is not tasteless. And it can be enjoyed with the family. A bit of spit and polish would have made it slicker and even trendy. But as it is, 'Bharya Swantham Suhruthu' is an OK kind of movie.