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Life’s message made loud and clear

In contemporary Malayalam cinema, filmmakers Jayaraj and Blessy arguably bridge the fissure between movies that are arty and commercial flicks. Interestingly, both were protégés of Bharathan who gave a few gems to Malayalam movie-goers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jayaraj’s latest offering, ‘Loudspeaker’ is an endearing attempt at rediscovering the emotional connect among individuals, and between individuals and their surroundings. Philipose, a humble man from the countryside Thopramkudy in mountainous Idukki, pledges a kidney to an ailing astrophysicist in a quest to reclaim a piece of mortgaged land wherein his father lay buried in a massive landslip.

Philipose, played by Mammootty, loves life to the fullest: he revels at being one with the things around him; makes friends with strangers, even involving himself in their lives with enormous ease; refuses to give in when many impoverished farmers resorted to suicide; and is singularly capable of calling a huge apartment complex a concrete ‘erumadam’ (tree top house).

A Marcovaldo-like geniality endears him to the apartment dwellers and even the morbid environs where despite being severely uncomfortable, he seeks out pleasure in the company of children and the unwatered plants on the balcony.

His amplified speech has earned Philipose a nickname, Mike. A standalone shack in his native Thopramkudy is recognised as the heart of “Mike city’. Mike’s company helps the ailing, desolate astrophysicist, played by media personality Sasikumar, reinvent life in its poignant characteristics.

Unlike in some of his previous movies, the director has shown remarkable restraint in not letting the element of nostalgia boil over the narrative. “The character of Philipose is modelled upon my father’s one-time companion Mike Gopalan who would take a mofussil town like Kottayam for a big city,” he says. “Such characters still exist. They have their own simple style, and principles of living. A trijunction with four shacks forms their city where they gather, after a whole day’s toil, in the evenings to talk life. No problem is serious enough to rattle them as life is one spontaneous flow,” says Jayaraj.

Perhaps it is this ingredient—its presentation of the intrinsic ease with which life could (should) be lived—that sets ‘Loudspeaker’ apart from the run of the mill.

S. Anandan

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