Manjumal Boys ~ Friendship

 

"Manjummel boys" is the story of a group of 9 young men from a Kochi suburb (played by Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Deepak Parambol, Balu Varghese, Lal Jr., Ganapathy, Vishnu Reghu, Chandu Salimkumar and Arun Kurian) who go on a trip to Kodaikanal in a Toyota Qualis driven by Prasad (Khalid Rehman).

 Chidambaram made his debut with the blockbuster "Jaan-e-man" that released towards end - 2021.

His second release "Manjummel boys", based on a real event from 2006, has created box office history in cinemas across the world. He is the writer too.

Guna Caves in the picturesque Kodaikanal is back in the limelight 31 years after versatile actor Kamal Haasan’s Guna hit the screens, overshadowing its original name ‘Devil’s Kitchen’.

 The men/boys from Manjummel, Kochi are part of a sports club and are regular participants in local tug-of-war competitions. 

Ahead of the gang beginning their journey, we see Kuttan forcing Subhash to join them. As they are about to leave, Subhash grabs his younger brother's belt from the wall, resulting in a brief verbal spat between the siblings.

They drink and make merry in Kodaikanal and decide to enter the prohibited Guna caves only to have Subhash (Sreenath Bhasi), one of the men, falling into a crevice that is almost 80 feet deep. 

The rest of the group is shocked and aghast and try to take the help of the local police, forest guard, local tea shop owner and finally, the fire brigade. How they manage to save their friend in spite of oppressive weather conditions and the initial apathetic attitude of the authorities, is what the rest of the movie is all about. 

Chidambaram, in a recent media interaction, revealed that this scene originally had more significance to the story than just establishing Subhash's background and reason for Kuttan's moral guilt. It is not just that the family of a single mother and minor brother needs Subhash to get back and that he wouldn't have even reached Guna Caves if not for Kuttan's insistence. 

The belt was crucial to Subhash's survival as it got him stuck somewhere at 180 ft in the pit and stopped him from falling to a certain death. "The belt hooked him to something, that's why he didn't slip further down. In real life, the brothers had fought over Subhash's decision to take the belt to Kodaikanal. If not for it, his life couldn't be saved,"

 

Loud Sixon, the character essayed by Balu Varghese, was crucial in awakening a stuck Subhash. It was Sixon's loud cries that awakened the youth, who had lost consciousness during the fall. This was crucial as it helped the people above confirm that Subhash was alive and stuck somewhere below. "Sixon's loud way of talking often annoyed his friends. In real life, he worked at a metal manufacturing unit. The noisy workplace forced him to talk loudly and it became a habit for him. Incidentally, Subhash got lucky because of this,"

 Ajayan Chalissery is the production designer, National award winner Vivek Harshan is the Editor and the throbbing background score  adds to the tense atmosphere. This is an ode to unbelievable friendship and is also a fitting tribute to Kamal Hassan's "Guna" - especially the placement of the "Kanmani Anbodu Kaadhalan" song in the pre-climax gives you goosebumps 

 All thanks to carelessness and unnecessary daredevilry we get to see such a film.

In an interview Subhash says "I didn’t do anything extraordinary. It was my friends’ actions that saved me. They inspire me. But I will tell this to youngsters: nurture and preserve good friendships. Also, fights between friends are normal. Don’t get hung up on your ego."

Friends/ Friendship in the Malayalam movies these year...