Sandesam - A message for each of us...

Sandesam is a rib tickling hilarious movie we watched last night. I was watching Taarangalin Taaram (Asianet Plus 7-7.30 IST I guess..)yesterday and encountered this movie name. Since Srinivasan was also present I had a strong conviction that the movie would be a worth a watch. Thankfully Capital Videos in passport road abudhabi had this VCD and we hired it.

It was only during viewing the titles we realized that this is a work of Sathyan Anthikad and Sreenivasan.The Script is written by Sreenivasan and the movie is directed by sathyan anthikad. No wonder the product was so realistic, humourous, and mirroring the present scenario. This movie was released in 1991 and it is shameful to say that it fits even the present scenario. The political trend seems to be everlasting in India. Since I am not interested in political affairs I initially thought this movie might not have much for me as a viewer. But I was wrong. Many scenes were clearly obvious fun for me. I could make out that it is a political mockery.

The story is about Raghavan Nair (Thilakan) who retires from the Indian Railways and returns from Tamilnadu to his hometown in kerala with so many dreams. He has three sons and two daughters. His wife bhanumathi (kaviyoor ponnamma) and daughter Lathika(Mathu) are only excited upon his return. Raghavan Nair’s loyal friend Achudhan (oduvil unni Krishnan) lives with his wife nearby.

Raghavan Nair’s eldest son Sreenivasan is a BA LLB but is not practicing law. His brother Jayaram is a graduate and he is also not working anywhere. Both of them are into politics and are very dedicated followers of two different opposition parties. It is ultimate fun to watch the brothers fight over the dining table. They argue about the conditions prevailing in different nations and Thilakan is a proud father thinking that his sons are ingenious and know more than what he or his wife does.

The third son is a school going teenager who plays a tape recorder every evening to show off that he is studying.

The other daughter KPAC Lalitha is married to a police sub inspector who keeps on being transferred due to the ruling party’s atrocity. The fun reaches it maximum when KPAC shifts her house to the new place her husband comes yelling that he has been transferred within 4 days of joining the new place. So they have to move elsewhere now.

The brothers are like two enemies dwelling in the same house. We can feel the pain in thilakan’s acting as a father. Both the brothers seem to be more concerned about the principles of their respective parties and inconsiderate about the family responsibilities

A very interesting character I bumped across in this movie was of the passionate Agriculturalist Udhaya bhanu played effectively by Siddique. He even tastes the soil to explain the potassium and magnesium content of the same. His style of communication was really superb. He keeps talking all about soil, contents of soil and kinds of vegetables pulses that can be grown on that soil.

The movie forces us to introspect in many scenes other than the political mockery. Though it has a happy ending, this movie applies in real life to a large extent. People of kerala will find it more relevant due to the communistic flavor sprinkled all over by srinivasan.

As a point to mention I disliked the mockery of eating styles of tamil nadu. Bhanumathi says, please eat food like humans when Raghavan nair expects to have lemon rice or puliyodharai. It was offending me as a tamilian. Such dialogues could have been avoided in the movie.

We start getting worried for Raghavan Nair after the first half and start treating the story as if it is happening in our house. We think”When is he going to take action against these ruthless sons ?” But nevertheless, Raghavan Nair waits patiently until climax and teaches his sons a lesson. We feel sad when Thilakan is put in lock up due to srinivasan and has to fall at the feet of a north Indian politician Yashwant Sahai (Innocent ) due to the ridiculous behavior of Jayaram.

The best part is no kuthu paatu, no punch dialogues, no weird so called comic scenes, no unwanted fight sequences and speed breaking songs, yet a filling, thought provoking movie from sathyan anthikad. Sreenivasan makes his presence throughout the movie with his quick witted dialogues.The moral of this movie is first serve the house before serving the society. A must watch for comedy lovers. I strongly recommend this movie for everyone.