Parayan Marannathu Malayalam Movie
There is a faint flicker of passion in Parayaan Marannthu that becomes very much evident on at least a few junctures. The spark that attempts to diverge away and leave an avowal of its own, the spark that gently tries to create a stir, the spark that strives to be slightly above the middling motion picture landscape. But the spark appears a bit too late into the film, and fizzles out as hurriedly as it had made an appearance.
Parayaan Marannathu chronicles the adolescence of Gauri (Vidya), a plus-two student brought up by a single parent (Kalaranjini). Struggling against a harsh life, she aspires to become a doctor some day. However, she falls in love with a much married Chandran (Biju Menon) and ruins a few lives beyond repair.
Infidelity as a cinematic theme has been tried out a zillion times by different film makers, and often the focus gradually shifts from the original act of unfaithfulness to a sense of the guilt that at least one or at times both of the individuals involved experience. It remains the same in Arun Bhaskar's film too, and it offers no surprises when it comes to the treatment either.
There is apparently a conspiracy at work, that makes us take the most devastating of decisions at the most unfortunate of moments. Vidya is not merely the victim of circumstances here; she often seems to be a mere ploy in the hands of some bigger mechanism that has already set its plans straight.
The girl in question appears to be no femme fatale; she is just a harrowed soul who has just messed up her life and is clueless as to how to get it back in shape. The man in question is unable to stand the pangs of guilt anymore, and tries to move as far away from her as possible. There is no love bonding them together here, as is evident when Chandran lustfully moves his fingers along the contours of a model that he shapes out of clay, as Vidya looks on. These are just desires of the body at work, that have nothing to do with love as such, or anything remotely associated with it.
That Vidya mistakes her feelings of infatuation for love is understandable, and yet the climax of the film is the weakest with several questions remaining unanswered. The only moment that is compelling in an otherwise extremely confusing finale, is when the words that had remained unsaid in a lover's heart finally make their way out to serve no reason.
If there is one thing that Parayan Marannathu makes us wish for, it's the desire to see more of Biju Menon on screen. Biju is effortlessly brilliant in the film, and is a treat to watch in scenes that insist on his acting prowess. I wish there were more opportunities for this amazing actor whom we get to see ever so rarely these days. Debutante Vidya is surprisingly sprightly, and she matches up to Biju with her genuine performance.
Parayan Marannathu is an extremely modest film that might have worked out better on stage than on film. It has exploited none of the potentials that cinema as a medium offers it.
