Falimy: Malayalam Cinema’s Art of Contradictions and Comedy

2024-02-19 13:46:00

Malayalam cinema’s art of finding contradictions, intensifying them, breaking them down and relaxing them. The films that handle that language perfectly and subtly speak to human feelings through it never fail to entertain. In addition to that, when comedy is added, Adipoli! The film ‘Home’ can be subsumed under this category. One such film ‘Falimy’ is available on Hotstar OTT.

Anoop (Basil Joseph) is a dubbing artist from a middle-class family. He spends his life in despair as his attempts at marriage fail. Father Chandran (Jagadees) is a former printing press owner. Now that he is in lockdown, he spends his time at home instead of going to work. Younger son Sandeep (Abhijit) is studying in college. Mother Rema (Manju Pillai) works in a printing press.

Grandfather Janardhanan (Meenaraj) in such a family has long wished to go to Kashi. Every time he tries to leave the house without telling anyone, his attempts end in failure. One day, grandfather Janardhanan gets lost while leaving for Kashi. The film is about restoring the lost family bond and happiness with him.

Debutant director Nitish Sahadev gives the experience of seeing their lives from the side without any hesitation in the story of traveling in a linear line. A conflicted father-son relationship that doesn’t talk much, Anoop in desperation who is not married, Janardhanan in his last wish to go to Kashi, Sandeep, the youngest son, who wants to go to America for studies.

Chandran, crippled by a failed career, and the way the 5 characters are shaped as the mother who unites them, the contradictions and unfulfilled desires in it, everyone can connect in some way. This connection leads to the next stage of the film. The soul of the film is the writing, which has made the scenes of their road trip interesting and humorous.

The plight of the northern states where there are no bus facilities and the places where Basil Joseph speaks as “Hindi thaana…athu nam rashtra pasha” (national language) is enjoyable. The pressure points of the father-son relationship add to the beauty. Basil Joseph asked his father, “Do you know what medicine your father is taking?” To which he replies, “What do you know about your innocence?” The film conveys the problem of the father-son relationship in a few verses. The way the emotional and comedy are perfectly written at the right places helps to get through effortlessly.

Basil Joseph is an actor who suits the black comedy genre. He emotes the necessary emotions in heartbreaking scenes and scores with an assault with an innocent face in comedy scenes. Jagathees’ father character and Manju Pillai’s mother characters are perfect match. The younger brother Abhijith and Meenraj as the grandfather give a solid performance to the characters.

The choice of actors is also a strength of the film. Bablu’s camera perfectly captures Varanasi and the outlying dry land of Uttar Pradesh. Vishnu Vijay’s background music adds strength to the comedy and emotional scenes. ‘Falimy’ is a good choice if you want to watch a sentimental film with humor without any overdose.