Sundari Gardens Movie Review & Rating: Aparna has brought to the screen a character who sees life as brave and extremely insecure at the same time.
Sundari Gardens Movie Review & Rating: ‘Sundari Gardens’ is the first release of this Onam season when OTT platforms and theaters alike are active. Aparna Balamurali is the highlight of the movie which will reach the audience through Sony Live. After winning the National Award for Best Actress, Aparna is coming to the Malayalam screen for the first time. Directed by Charlie Davis, the film also stars Neeraj Madhav, Binu Pappu, Shruti Suresh, Vijayaraghavan, Smija and Lali PM along with Aparna Balamurali.
‘Sundari Gardens’ is completely a ‘feel good’ movie as the trailer and songs suggest. Sundari Gardens is the story of 32-year-old Sara Mathews. A beautiful girl nicknamed Zuma is the school librarian. Zuma carries with him severe emotional insecurities, with the ability to see all tragedies in a comical way, at the same time surviving tremendous conflicts. ‘Sundari Gardens’ revolves around the bond that develops between Victor, a new teacher at the school, and Zuma.
Feel-good romantic comedies have always been said to be ‘safe investments’ in literature and cinema. Such films often provide viewers with a light, relaxed level of enjoyment. It is such a possibility that ‘Sunduri Gardens’ was primarily tried to exploit. At many points, it seemed that director Charlie David was trying to follow the path Jis Joy is currently following in Malayalam in this film.
Aparna Balamurali’s Sundari is a meticulously crafted character. Aparna has brought that character who sees life bravely and extremely insecure at the same time on screen. In the film, other characters often have the task of supporting Aparna’s character. They have done it beautifully. ‘Sunduri Gardens’ has also taken care not to go with the trend and make politically correct statements, despite having a lot of possibilities. It is a sight rarely seen in Malayalam cinema these days. In Hindi movies like ‘Dear Zindagi’ and ‘Tamasha’, this type of bowl design has been seen before.
After the OTT era, there were constant discussions about the declining commercial success of Malayalam films in various ways. The reason for such low commercial success is the release of films that do not know the difference between a film and a telefilm. Whether such an argument is valid or not is entirely relative. Some scenes and songs in ‘Sundari Gardens’ will remind us again of the same argument. It may seem that a musical is enough and songs are needed for a film like this. The finesse in character development is often lacking in the film’s story and screenplay.
Another Malayalam ‘feel-good entertainer’ that has given opportunities for close readings can be described as ‘Sundari Gardens’. It can be summed up as one built for those who enjoy those two possibilities.
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