Little Master Malayalam Movie
I remember having seen Rahul Dholakia's 'Parzania' some time back, and walking out of the theatre all shaken up. A spellbinding account as to how caste and creed assumes monster proportions to eat up the very masses that believe in it, it was one film that had me in its grip for a long time.
'Little Master' aspires to make a similar pertinent statement, but the heavy handed plotting lets it down totally. Nandu (Shamal) has lost his dad (Madhupal) in the communal riots in North India, and relocates to Kerala along with his mother (Lakshmi Gopalaswami). As the mother and son start life afresh, they realize that Kerala is in no way different from its northern counterparts when it comes to communal hatred.
The characterization in the film is extremely tricky, with Hindu and Muslim characters occupying both sides of the spectrum. There are extremists in both factions, and while the paanwaala outside the school sports a crimson thilak on his forehead and gathers the Hindu kids around, the PA to the Principal exhorts the Muslim children to realize their 'true identity'.
As is expected, the first hand to reach out to Nandu in the new school is that of a Muslim girl Ummukolusu (Malavika), who later loses a leg in a blast. She is also the one who teaches his lessons in positivism and good will. The way forward from there is ridden with cliches.
What is sad is that sometimes a good intention is simply not enough. 'Little Master' does speak of a noble theme, but on screen it looks quite amateurish. For one, this is a theme that has been done to death in Indian films, and we have watched several versions of the same idea, expressed as distinctly as they possibly can.
Hence, if a film is to deal with this very same idea again, it better have something new to offer. It's probably for this reason that the makers have brought in sports as a medium through which communal harmony could perhaps be established. And as a miniature representation of an entire society that has been threatened to be ripped apart by caste violence, a school where the seeds of animosity are sown serves as a backdrop.
As much as the theme itself stands ground, the dialogues are woefully plastic. Some of the conversational pieces especially between children, sound quite unfit in a kid's mouth. The climax too is way too dramatic, and the transformation of Feroz, the antagonist quite unconvincing.
Performances of the children are fine, and the senior actors like Lal and Lakshmi Gopalaswami, along with Indrans offer ample support. Technically, the film holds no surprises in store.
Somehow, at the end of it all, the film remains a very mediocre attempt at bringing home some very pertinent truths that exist in our society. But I really wish, they had done something much better to keep you focused on what they had to say.
