Father's Day, flawed yet bold

Kalavoor Ravikumar had tried scripting a few not-so-common themes in Malayalam cinema, in his career. Even while adhering to all the melodramatic elements his 'Ishtam' talked about the unusual relationship between a father and son and the son's attempt to bring back the long lost love to his father's life. 'Nammal' had two down-trodden youngsters who aim it big, and
emphasized the dignity of labor. 'Manjupole oru pennkutti' touched upon a taboo-subject that usually our cinema shies away from - incest, though the script falters miserably in the latter half of the cinema. 'Father's day' is the second feature film of this scenarist-turned-director who debuted with a film for children, 'Oridathoru Puzhayund'. This movie also has an uncommon
theme, that of the life of a rape victim, a very realistic portrayal of the wounded and her struggle to keep her sanity.

But being a fairly good script writer is not a guarantee for being a good director. As Auteur theory proposes, cinema is a director's creation and if he cannot master the art and craft of film the backup of a good story line will not save the movie. In 'Father's day', in spite of a realistic theme and good performances from the debutant Shahin (exceptionally good
performance for a newcomer), Revathi and Lal (in a cameo role) the director fails in selecting all the other characters and by over dramatizing many an incidents he loses the grip over the script. His professed love for theatre overshadows the movie maker giving the feel of a theatre performance with the lines clearly drawn out and movement restricted.

This is the story of a victim, her long, worn out struggle to exist in the society where the perpetrators of the crime are let scot- free and are leading a happy life. Seethalakshmi (Revathi) is trying to lead a normal life as a college lecturer enjoying her work and she has her niece (newcomer Indu Thampi) and younger brother (Vineeth) to take solace in. The appearance of
a young stranger (Shahin) topples that calmness creating ripples in her already disturbed mind.

His presence pokes old painful memories and what follows forms the rest of the story. The youngster stirs up a hornet's nest in the lives of the culprits as well. Untimely song sequences, loud performance, ignorance of basic science (the DNA test being
a crucial scene in the movie, the director could have checked the basic facts), mar the joy of watching the film. Still it is a positive move for a few reasons: one, it has a middle aged woman as the protagonist. Second, this movie is not revolving round the star value of superstars or their charisma. And finally it has a relevant story to tell.