Kerala - Kochi   

Rustic bend to a football tale

Kisan

Remember the Hindi film Lagaan which presented the story of the British challenging Indian peasants to play cricket to get their land tax reduced.

Kisan directed by Sibi Malayil too has almost a similar theme.

A landlord challenges his son to arrange a football match and take whatever he desires if his team wins or relinquish everything if he loses.

Though the idea to win the end result through a game has some coincidence, the charm of Lagaan is clearly missing in Kisan.

Stage is set for a battle against a rural background where a barrister who returns from London fights against an avaricious landowner to protect the rights of the poor villagers.

It also brings to mind the public concern over the shrinking wetlands, green patches and groves that are being sacrificed to build concrete buildings to house luxury hotels and resorts.

The storyline has a convincing flow till the football match begins. Devan (Biju Menon), a barrister, returns to a village from London and plans to start practice and also marry Ambili (Geethu Mohandas), whom he loves.

Her father Balaraman (Risa Bava) turns against him on seeing his love and affection for Velu (Kalabhavan Mani).

Devan shares a warm friendship with Velu and also has a concern for the poor in the village.

Valia Thampuran (Thilakan), father of Balaraman, proposes to conduct a football match to sort out the differences.

The talkative young girl who has a brotherly affection for Velu played by Bhavana is one of the main characters in the story.

Kalabhavan Mani has done justice to his role as a representative of the daring youth.

The performance of Biju Menon too is quite notable. Bhavana is the personification of innocence and joyfulness.

Geethu Mohandas also excels in her role.

Risabava has shown his skill in portraying the role with awe.

The songs of Kaithpram Damodaran Nambodiri, Girish Puthencherry and Sachidanandan Kulangara set by Johnson are a treat. They have the real rustic charm.

R.R.S.

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