'Moothon' review: Treading uncharted waters in Malayalam cinema

Geetu Mohandas's second directorial, Moothon (The Elder One), released on the OTT platform, ZEE5, after doing it's rounds in the festival circuit, including the acclaimed Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Mohandas returned to the director's chair after National Award-winning 2013 film, Liar's Dice, which starred Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Moothon had a fine and talented crop of technicians behind the camera, including the likes of Rajeev Ravi, who handled the cinematography, B. Ajithkumar, who was in charge of editing, and most of all, Anurag Kashyap, who penned the Hindi dialogues in Moothon. 

The film is currently streaming on ZEE5.

Moothon tells the tale of Mulla, a teenager in Lakshadweep, who travels to Mumbai in search of her elder brother, Akbar, whom she calls Moothon, who, in turn, had left for the city many years ago. Mulla's journey takes her to the dark, sordid underbelly of the city, where she has to fight several odds to find her brother. We also witness the story behind Akbar aka Bhai, a fearsome gangster, the reason behind his running off to Mumbai, his battles with his own demons and struggles in the chaotic underworld thriving in the city of Mumbai. 

In it's new wave of brave, brilliant and defining filmmaking and cinematic narratives, Moothon is an exemplary picture. It is a film that dared to go into territories never before depicted or represented in the regional film industry. This is a film where such industry-set conventions are broken and a new benchmark is set for future films, made with the same ambitious spirit. Let it be the career-defining performances of it's talent, the technical finesse, or it's cinematic ambience, Moothon is truly a daring film.

Of all it's technicalities, Rajeev Ravi's camera work is simply breathtaking. It's wonderful how this man juggles, and wonderfully at that, two subsequent locations, imbibing it's mood, the emotions, it's beauty and often, the dark realities. There's the remote, less-depicted yet serene, breathtakingly beautiful island of Lakshadweep, where Mohandas sets her protagonist's romantic ordeal. Ravi's frames, coupled with a symphonic score by Sagar Desai, help Mohandas to deftly sketch a tragic, yet poetic flashback sequence. 

The gritty setting and ambience of Moothon, however, belongs to it's Mumbai-based sequences. The shift to this dark backdrop from the tranquil locale of Lakshadweep is beautifully pulled off. As a fan of films belonging to the genre of Mumbai noir, made popular by the works of Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap, the very realistic and, not to mention, grisly portrayal of Mumbai excited me, as this was a never before attempted feat in Malayalam cinema. Mumbai noir became a favorite of mine, because it redefined the way the port city was depicted in movies. Unlike the sprawling, posh city of the elite-class which became an oft-sought locale for the commercial stream of Bollywood filmmakers, Mumbai, in this genre, became a place where lived experiences of many people, not before depicted, began to be represented- the unemployed who resort to crime and peddling in order to make ends meet, the children born and brought up in the recesses of the city, the corrupt politicos that rendered the city a breeding ground of crime, poverty and survival. Moothon becomes one such movie in this unique genre. There is the austere lives of the sex workers in Kamathipura, the troubled lives of the transgenders, who find happiness and solace within their community, the children who survive and live by partaking in petty crimes, and the dark reality of child trafficking, the one in many heinous activities functioning in the wide expanse of the city's underworld. 

What accentuates these varying moods is the wonderful combination of Ravi's detailed cinematography, Desai's melancholic, artsy music, that is, luckily, devoid of the cliched elements of melodrama, and the laudable production design by Abid T.P; these are instrumental as Mohandas attempts to pull us into her world where the grim, sombre lives of her characters are narrated. 

Nivin Pauly, when he made his debut a decade ago, was deemed by many to be a promise for an industry which was witnessing a resurgence of a talented posse of young actors. But never would have anyone imagined that Pauly would go on to bravely portray the complex character of Bhai/Akbar/Moothon. He is highly believable as this fearsome gangster, who is a well-intentioned, charming man at heart, whose circumstances and realities forced him to take on this facade. He is surprisingly fluent in the Hindi he speaks, he is charming as the Akbar in the flashback, and body language, in many scenes, is impeccable. Pauly, indeed, delivers a raw and surreal performance to be remembered for the ages. 

Matching Pauly's performance is Sanjana Dipu, who innocently portrays the vicissitudes in the life of Mulla, in all her simplicity. Shashank Arora and Sobhita Dhulipalia, who have been currently making their presence felt in Hindi cinema, also deliver some stunning performances as Salim and Rosie. Arora is wonderful in portraying Salim in the most spine-chilling way possible. The character is utterly gruesome, and Arora is brilliant in communicating it. Dhulipalia also makes Rosie, the kind-hearted, caring yet fierce leader of Kamathipura, memorable on screen. Roshan Matthews is elegant as Ameer, another complex yet well-written character, and he excels in the way he portrays the intricate life of his character. Matthews impressively plays Ameer's struggles, one, of his mute nature, and second, of his ostracized and frowned-upon relationship with Akbar. 

What deserves applause is how Geetu Mohandas writes these characters and their lived experiences in the most humane way possible, making these individuals highly memorable and connected with it's viewers. She is also brilliant in combining the best aspects of her technical departments, and this is why, I would vouch for Moothon to be, apart from being a well-acted film, a technically remarkable picture, filled with finesse. 

However, Moothon's pace seems a bit rushed in the beginning minutes of the film and in parts towards the end. This renders many of the characters and events in the film lacking depth. While the narrative's hastiness was clearly evident in the start, as I said, the performances and it's sheer making quality hooked me from them on.

Mohandas has also been brilliant in weaving in complex yet delicately portrayed, bittersweet relationships in this 2 hour affair. There's the brother-sister relation between Mulla and Akbar, where both come to terms with the sudden appearance of their sibling and their efforts to ensure no harm falls on either of them. There's the intensely portrayed romantic affair between Akbar and Ameer, where they are left to fend off on their own against a largely conservative community, hostile to their relationship. It is the backdrop against which their relation is set that adds to the beauty of this intimate affair. We know things may not end well, but we can't help but root for these lovers. This is a ground into which mainstream filmmakers have never ventured before. Even subtle relations, those between Mulla and Rosie, between Mulla and Akbar's transgender friend, and the close connections between the children that Mulla befriends, are depicted as intense and meaningful. 

Deeming Moothon an experimental or unconventional film would be to undermine this daring film, brimming with ambition. This is cinema. This is filmmaking. Hopefully, Moothon could be a harbinger of change for Malayalam cinema, where previously untold narratives are explored and the lives and experiences of previously unrepresented personalities are portrayed. 

Moothon excels as a cinematic achievement, considering it's perfection in terms of performances and technicalities. Geetu Mohandas beautifully combines these well-executed facets, despite being bogged down by a partly rushed narration, into shaping what should be a benchmark for future films and budding directors in the regional cinema industry to emulate, as far as it's brave depiction of lives and realities is concerned.

Reviewer^© rating: 4.5 stars 

Run time: 110 minutes

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