T
he name Santosh Sivan is
synonymous to visual
extravaganza. The
cinematographer-director makes
everything visually enticing whether working only as a
cameraman or as a director and
both.
Urumi, his latest Malayalam film
starring Prithviraj, is a historical
mythological film, where everything is woven together
seamlessly by scriptwriter
Shankar Ramakrishnan (of Island
Express in Kerala [ Images ] Café fame), a long time associate of
director Ranjith.
Every film buff worth his salt is
by now aware of the one line
plot of this film -- a youngster
prepares to assassinate the first European explorer to touch
the shores of Kerala in search of
its spices, Vasco da Gama.
This film is not a historically
accurate depiction of events.
Folklores and legends are liberally used to make up the
story. The narrative device of
the characters of this era living
their past lives as the historical
characters gets us sucked into
the whirlwind of a plot.
So the story
begins with a
pauper Krishna
Das (Prithviraj)
making an
effort to eke out a living by
running a
music troupe in Goa [ Images ]. He comes to know that his ancestral
property in Kerala leased out to
a NGO by his late mother is rich
in minerals and is free to be sold
as the lease period has lapsed. A multi-national mining company
offers him an unimaginable sum
as advance. The only hurdle is
that he has to convince the
people running the NGO and the
tribal community living there to vacate. When he reaches the venue, he
is made aware of his heritage.
Thus we go back to the 15th
century and the story of
Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar, the
youngster who had vowed to eliminate Vasco da Gama and
free his land of foreign
occupation. There are elements that are
typical of a historical story; let it
be secularist ideals or the 'unity
in diversity' utopia aspired for.
But they are not overplayed to
hinder the flow of narrative in any way. The dialogues have
minimal jingoism and are crisp.
The only grouse we can have at
the script level is the fact that
some characters are
underdeveloped or left in a lurch, especially Vidya Balan's [ Images ] much-hyped cameo and item song. Or did the editor
Sreekar Prasad prune it to
manage reel time better?
Technically,
Urumi has
the
Santosh
Sivan
stamp all over it; not only angles of shots but
even the gait of every actor is
peculiarly choreographed so as
to give the performer an
individual style, sometimes
stretched to the extent that we feel that they are striking a
pose for a still photograph. Prithviraj is masculinity
personified with an opportunity
to show off his bulging biceps
throughout. Prabhu Deva's [ Images ] bony physique (who plays his childhood chum Vavvali)
acts as contrast, as is Jagathy
Sreekumar's effeminate villainous
Chenichery kurup. Genelia [ Images ] D'Souza, as the warrior princess Aysha,
impresses. Nithya Menon as flirtatious and
childlike. Paired with Prabhu
Deva, she has her moments of
glory. Only Vidya Balan's
presence is not justified by the
story. Urumi may have been influenced
by some international films in
this genre. Still, it is highly
watchable for the effort that
has gone into making it.
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