Reminscing the Classics: Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare

The new series of posts to kick off some activity in this blog. I am trying to get hold off some old malayalam movies that I haven't watched in a long time. In the process, reminisce the best our movie industry has to offer to the viewers. First up, Onnu muthal poojyam vare.

Just finished watching this little masterpiece of a movie by Raghunath Palery. The title translates as 'From One to Zero'. It literally points to our old analogue telephone where one came before zero and figuratively points to the story of the characters: From hope to hopelessness.

The movie portrays the story of Aleena, a widow and her 4 year old daughter Deepamol. Aleena lives with her daughter treasuring the memories of her late husband (a western musician, played by Prathap Pothan) in a big house. She repeatedly dismisses the notion of remarriage. She is a painter and works in the advertising industry. Deepamol is a bubbly little girl always playing around with the telephone making random calls. One such call turns their life forever when Deepamol gets in contact with her "Telephone Uncle".
Deepamol gets attached to Telephone Uncle very fast. Though Aleena was on the fence and skeptical of the man's intentions, she eventually falls in love. Telephone uncle resists the coercions from the mother and never reveals his name or whereabouts. Finally, he comes to their place on the night of Deepamol's birthday raising Aleena's hope for a better life, only to put an end to it within a very short time.
The movie explores the loneliness of Aleena and the need of a father figure for her daughter. Wonderfully crafted and scripted. The copy I had with me was quite poor in quality and skipped a lot. I would guess the abrupt cuts I found in the movie is inherent to my copy and not in the actual movie.
Aleena is played by Asha Jayaram (where did she disappear?) and accurately reflects the emotions of a young widow. She emotes well, but does tend to go overboard in certain occasions. She has the perpetual sad face perfect to the role. Geethu Mohandas steals the show as Deepamol. Very childlike unlike most child characters we see in our movies. Does not go overboard with her tantrums or in saccharine high sequences. Hats off to dubbing artist as well! Mohanlal is brilliant as Telephone Uncle. He appears only in the climax (apart from minor glimpses), but maintains a presence throughout the movie as the voice on the telephone. His performance is spellbinding even when he is not making an appearance. His voice modulation is spectacular and we can feel his emotions through the voice itself. Minor characters played by Shari, Nedumudi Venu, and Sukumari are well written and well acted, blending seamlessly in the whole narrative. Suresh Gopi and Mukesh drops in for guest appearances. Somebody else has dubbed for Mukesh and it clearly shows! Feels like an absolute eye(ear?)sore.
All in all, finely crafted movie. Get hold off the movie from Moserbaer and watch it!