ARM

Jithin Laal makes his directorial debut with "Ajayante Randaam Moshanam" ("ARM"), a fantasy movie, toplining Tovino Thomas, that released in theaters few weeks back, is still continuing in theatres and seems to have amassed 100 CR+ in theatrical collections. A very promising story idea that could have been a great fantasy at the hands of Vijayendra Prasad - S S Rajamouli is reduced to a whimper at the inexperienced hands of Sujith Nambiar (Writing) and Jithin Laal (Direction). Spanning multiple generations and timelines, ARM oscillates between the lives of Kunjikkelu, a warrior, Maniyan, a thief who could be related to Kunjikkelu (not that we care...) and Ajayan, an electrician and Maniyan's grandson (All 3 characters played by Tovino Thomas who tries to make them as different from each other as possible with different looks, body language, voice modulation etc. but the script fails him...). In the now, Ajayan is ridiculed in his village for being a thief's grandson. It does not help that he is born into a lower caste. He has a permanently weepy mother (Rohini) for company and is romancing Lakshmi (Kriti Shetty showing off 2.5 expressions in a finite cycle), the daughter of Chathutti Nambiar (Nisthar Sait, always flaring his nostrils), an aristocrat in the village. Ajayan has a dimwitted friend in Suresh (Basil Joseph) whose loyalties keep shifting faster than the timelines in the narrative. 

Together they need to hunt for the idol of the local deity based on the instructions of Sudev, a descendant of the Edakkal royal family (played by a lackluster Harish Uthaman who does not bring even an iota of terror to his villainous act). Whether they succeed or not is what the rest of the narrative is all about. 

The premise is innovative. A sacred lamp called Chothivilakku  made from the "star stuff" from an asteroid, and is the property of the Edakkal Kingdom, is gifted by the king to the great warrior Kunjikkelu in recognition for his services in rescuing his nephew, the heir apparent, from brigands. Kelu is progressive, and wants the lamp to be installed in a temple in his village, which is accessible to everyone irrespective of caste, creed or colour. However, he dies from smallpox contracted from his Dalit lady love who leaves the country, possibly carrying his child in her womb.

The lamp is installed in a temple, but the "lower" castes are not allowed inside. Years later, a robber named Maniyan appears in the village. This guy, it is hinted, is the son of Kelu. He is a mix of Arsene Lupin, Robin Hood and Superman: virtually undefeatable, he carries out daring robberies. He steals the lamp one day and apparently meets his end, diving into a waterfall to escape his pursuers.

Now we come to the present. Maniyan's grandson Ajayan is trying to live a peaceful life, but he is branded a thief by heredity. To complicate matters, he is in love with Lakshmi, a girl from Kelu's family. But things take a real dark turn when Sudev, a member of the Edakkal Royal family comes to the village, ostensibly to make a documentary but with more sinister designs in mind...

Cinematography by Jomon T John is good and the night shots have been imaginatively lit and captured. Art department does a good job with creating authentic backdrop for the multiple periods depicted in the narrative and CGI is quite good. 

There are some sequences where the fantasy element works top class - Ajayan getting into the cave, Maniyan and the ironsmith (Jagadeesh) trying to get the lamp - are examples. The action sequences too are well choreographed - right from the introductory sequence featuring Kunjikkelu to the climatic kalari sequence featuring Ajayan. Dhibu Ninan Thomas works up a good soundtrack and the songs "Angu Vaana Konilu" (Vaikom Vijayalakshmi) and "Kooriruttile Kaalakulambadi" (Charu Hariharan) are impressive. Manu Manjith does a good job with the song lyrics and most of the dialogues in the North Kerala dialect retain the authenticity.

One thing I noticed about the movie was its extreme political correctness. The good guys are all Dalits and the bad guys, Savarnas. Kshatriyas are the worst, followed by Nairs, and so on, the evilness decreasing proportionately along with the caste pedigree. The central theme is the entry of the Dalits to the temple, which the hero achieves. The scripwriter has taken extra pains to show us that he is writing one progressive movie, leaving nothing to the imagination. It's all black and white. (I am sort of surprised that he did not bung in a wily Brahmin too, for good measure!)

But ultimately, the Chothivilakku made from Star Stuff is sacrosanct and above caste considerations - we all know that the evils of caste are man-made, don't we? Especially when God speaks with Mohanlal's voice!

'What we seek is what we get.'