Before you enter into the world of Lijo Jose Pellissery you should be well prepared to experience the madness he creates with his fine craft. His creations don’t follow the law books of filmmaking and watching those craziness unfold in the most mystical way gives an amount of rush in us. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam might look less complex outside but the layers it holds within its narrative makes sure it sticks to Lijo’s vision of craftsmanship.
Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam is about James, during a journey he dozes off & wakes up as Sundaram & travels through his life for a day causing trouble among both families. Accompanied by a heavy load of static shots NNM travels inside James and Sundaram’s life diving deep into their head to have an immersive look at their characteristics. Both protagonists are different, stuck inside the same man but differentiated by lots of features. While James seems like a grumpy man, Sundaram is much more relaxed, sensitive, and shares a deep bond with his village people. Lijo treats Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam as a study of the protagonist’s life and meticulously creates the world around both. The shift of James into Sundaram isn’t followed by any thumping music or cinematic tricks. The frame remains static that slowly tracks the hero’s transformation and his families break down without losing the core essence. This time the complexities are more inside the characters while the staging and the writing follows a less convoluted pathway with occasional humour easing the dramatic effect.
Mammootty delivers a knockout performance as James and Sundaram displaying a great range of emotions and helplessness in both. Both the protagonists share different attributes and Mammootty shows no set of similarity and the emotional breakdown will prove to us why he remains the best in show biz for a longtime. The strong supporting casts also adds lots of drama to the proceedings. Though a variety of characters are involved in this drama, NNM focuses primarily on Mammootty and his dilemma. Theni Eeswar’s visuals are organic and they seamlessly blend the Tamil landscape into the chaotic narrative. There’s a lot happening on those frames and with a magnificent shot composition he makes each scene look so compelling. Lijo uses Tamil songs and dialogues to fill the space of music and it neatly blends into the film.
Writer Hareesh and Lijo Jose tunes Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam into a product that raises so many questions and offers space for interpretations. We root for both Sundaram and James and Mammootty makes sure this awe-inspiring act keeps us hooked into this slow paced yet largely captivating turn of events.
©Rahul Babu
