I should admit that 'Urumi' is but
anything that I expected it to
be. For one, it isn't a historical
per se, and this leaves its
makers with plenty of space to
explore into the possibilities of narrating a fictional tale that
could expediently be wedged into
a fixed point along the timeline,
somewhere around 1500 AD.
Its here that we get to see
Chirakkal Kelu Nayanar (Prithviraj) roving the coastal
terrains of Kerala, with a golden
Urumi to severe off Vasco da
Gama's (Robin Pratt) much-prized
head. It's been a couple of
decades since Kelu and his Urumi have been lying in wait; to be
more precise, ever since as a
young boy, he had seen his
courageous dad Chirakkal
Kothuwal (Arya) meeting a
valiant death at the hands of the Portuguese Viceroy.
The cinematic yarn that Sankar
Ramakrishnan has woven across
history and fiction, interspersing
facts and fantasy proves that
the striking debut in 'Island Express' was no flash in the pan.
There is a further link that he
draws up between events
disjointed by a few centuries,
with a subtle implication that
mankind remains in essence the same, even as time races
forward with no intention to
turn back whatsoever. The
screenplay is remarkably taut
and the dialogues crisp and
absolutely crunchy. The warrior saga that is
narrated to a generation that
has just tossed yet another
beer can into the bin, offers a
striking study in contrast, and in
the process does nothing to belittle them. On the contrary,
when Krishnadas (Prithviraj)
appeals to the MNC that has
come up with a lucrative offer to
claim his ancestral property to
give them another chance, we know that Kelu Nayanar can now
rest in peace. Five hundred
years later, the legacy isn't dead
as yet, the heritage is still in
tact.
Santhosh Sivan's Kerala is a swampy land that conceals fine
greenery in all forms beneath its
contours. It's mistier than is
usual, and is soggy throughout.
The coconut palms have given
way to a denser vegetation that makes wading through it an
uphill task. Water pervades
human lives in all forms, be it the
sea that draws alien sailors to
its shores or the rain that
sprouts new lives all over it. The gorgeous design and the finely
tuned quality in imagery should
make 'Urumi' one of the best
stylized visual extravaganzas
ever shot in Malayalam.
This visual panache that is exceptional retains an aura that
could easily be associated with
an unreachable past; a past that
is heartily revered and yet one
that remains so mysteriously
distant. Sankar Ramakrishnan cautiously places the supporting
characters all around Kelu, and
at times the screen looks
flooded with them. Yet there is
an individual streak that runs
through each one of them, that simply doesn't let them stray
away and be a mere
embellishment.
For instance there is Vavvali
(Prabhudeva) who draws young
Kelu away to a fresh start; far away from a shore of corpses.
They remain together through
thick and thin, and soon find
their destinies inseparably
intertwined. And there is the
Muslim warrior princess Arackal Ayesha (Genelia D'Souza) whom
we are told had slain twenty
nine Portuguese men who had
attempted to outrage her
modesty. She had left the
thirtieth one alive, to retell her story to the rest.
The phantasmagorical elements
that creep into the film tantalize
with the slow revelations that
they make. There is Makkom
(Vidya Balan) whom Kelu and Vavvali encounter on their way,
in whom Sankar has seamlessly
merged Greek mythology into a
traditional deity. The Delphian
Orcale finds an expression
through the Devi here; Makkom mystifies the male duo, and
through a dance recital
prophesies the future.
The reins of power politics are
offered to a highly effeminate
Chenichery Kurup (Jagathy Sreekumar), who quite obviously
has the Chirakkal Thampuran
(Amol Gupte) swinging to his
tunes. Kurup later extends his
epicene charms to the
Thampuran's heir Bhanu Vikraman (Ankur Sharma) as well,
before relinquishing his
Brihannala role once and for all.
Prithviraj as Chirakkal Kelu
Nayanar fits the role to a T, and
there is no way in which you could refute the humongous
efforts that he has taken as an
actor to infuse life into the
gallant warrior. He mixes up
heavy doses of clout and
charisma in his depiction of Kelu Nayanar, and comes up with a
feat that is nothing short of
smoldering. The beautiful Genelia
slickly darts daggers from her
expressive eyes, and her
astonishing agility adds on a glittering impudence to her
portrayal of Ayesha. Other
noteworthy performances are
delivered by actors as Jagathy,
Prabhudeva and Amol, and who
could forget the irresistibly attractive Nithya Menon as
Chirakkal Bala?
The musical score by Deepak Dev
is engaging as much as it is
inspiring; it brilliantly becomes
one with the tale being told, never for a moment overriding
it. Anal Arasu deserves a pat on
the back for some very
realistically choreographed action
sequences. Sreekar Prasad has
done a crisp job at the editing table as well.
Urumi is a real massive, sweaty
film that pumps oodles of
testosterone on to the screen.
It's a majestic cinematic
adventure that is entertaining to the core. The story is
timeless, the images magical, the
acting solid, the script first-rate,
the romance delightful, the
action deadly and the energy
raw - in short, the kind of film that one loves to see, and then
animatedly write about
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