Njanum Ente Familyum: a done to death theme

Indian cinema has always forgiven men who have had extramarital relationships since their wives have always accepted the illegitimate child born out of the liaison. In most cases the wives were lucky to get a son without undergoing the pain of childbirth! Balu Mahendra's 1982 movie 'Olangal' and Shekhar Kapoor's 1983 flick 'Masoom' had the same story line which was broadly based on Erich Segal's 'Man, woman and child'. 'Pavakkooth', 'Sindhubhairavi' 'Chanchattam', and 'Arthana' are a few among a long list of movies based on this particular theme with slight variations. Still K K Rajeev thought this to be a novel theme for his directorial debut. Rajeev ushered in a change in the world of mega serials with his innovative themes and presentation skills giving the audience a handful of quality serials like 'Peythozhiyathe', 'Avicharitham', 'Swapnam' etc. He had used the complications of an extramarital relationship in his 'Avicharitham' and he uses the same theme for his first venture on celluloid. In 'Avicharitham' it was the man who dies (the same idea was repeated in Shaji Kailas' movie segment 'Lalitham Hiranmayam' in Kerala Café, a theme Kieslovsky perfected in his 1993 movie 'Three Colours: Blue') and the film differs in this aspect.

'Njanu ente familyum' is the story of a doctor couple (Jayaram and Mamta Mohandas) with strong family ties. The husband is a dedicated and proficient cardio thoracic surgeon who on one of his missions learns that the patient (Manoj K Jayan) he was to operate is the husband of his college love (Mythili). The death of the patient and the loneliness of the wife lead to an extramarital relationship. The rain-enhanced-physical-proximity leads to an easy pregnancy, as old as the history of Indian cinema! What follows is the dilemma of the family man. Finally all is forgiven and the son born outside the wedlock is accepted by the lawful wife into her family of two daughters! All is well!

The stolen kisses and the bedroom scenes seemed so worn out and simulated, similarly the scene involving Jagathy giving counselling to a couple interspersed with his personal life with a domineering wife arouses nothing but disgust, for this is the umpteenth time the theme gets repeated on screen. Everybody seems to take sides with the doctor; the humiliation and hurt of the betrayed wife never surfaces on screen. The final scene freezing on the jubilation of the three men (Jayaram, Jagathy and Nedumudi Venu) on the acceptance of the illegitimate son into the family was the last nail on the coffin, propagating the age old notion of everything being permissive for men.

The visual grammar of cinema is totally different from that of tear jerker soaps. The small screen calls for more close ups or medium close ups and Rajeev being used to that medium adhere to that format in his first venture on the silver screen. Jarring music foregrounds performance to create a dramatic effect as in serials. The wife waiting anxiously outside the operation theatre in a designer sari is another cut-from-the-soaps scene. The script of Cheriyan Kalpakavadi couldn't get anything out of a veteran actor like Jagathy, nor from Mamta Mohandas whose character is poorly etched, her pathos completely underplayed. The director could have remembered that this is not yet another tele-serial by him.