As long as I can remember, I have been influenced by cinema. Ironically not in the way cinema shows people being enamored by itself but in a quieter way, more hopeful and more grim at the same time.
This day, I decided to watch a movie called Kumbalangi Nights. Just to qualify this, I do not speak or understand Malayalam and I watched this with English subtitles but audio in the original language. Secondly, this is not a review. As you read this, you’ll realize it doesn’t follow a certain structure. As with all my pieces, I follow the thread of what I feel and put it on the page.
There is a quick establishment of four brothers in a very dysfunctional family getting by on various means. All four of them have their own lives and aspirations (or the lack of them). Of course, as it goes with family, these attributes are intertwined with each other. The younger one has gotten himself into a school outside of Kumbalangi, the place he is not very proud of (especially his own house). Bobby, the second youngest, does practically nothing, his days passing by under the sun. Bonny and Saji, the older ones, are two very different individuals, the former staying away from the family and the latter in a constant feud with Bobby, spending his time (barely) co-running an ironing shop and engaging in his drinking and smoking.
Another arc has a slightly different lens. Shammy lives with his wife, her mother and her sister (called Baby). The reason I needed to start the sentence with Shammy’s name is because that defines the tone of this situation. It is unflinchingly patriarchal and power-laden. I don’t even think they really mention the wife’s name much (if at all). With the first few exposition scenes, you understand that there is a dangerous dominance bubbling in Shammy and it is more subtle than you would imagine. That makes it all the more threatening. Suffice it to say, even with the tragedy in this movie, Shammy’s smile is the thing that will give you nightmares. The connection between these arcs comes in when Bobby and Baby fall in love with each other.
As I mentioned, this is not a review. If you have not watched this, I highly recommend you do. If you read the next part after doing that, we’ll be connecting at a much deeper level as reader and writer. Either way, if you love exploring the human condition through art, this is still a place for you.
There are some moments in this film that move me to no end. In one of the initial scenes, Bobby is playing really peppy music with the soulful background of the village. It juxtaposes the setting and theme of the ideas in this work beautifully, while being simplistic in its nature.
Another thing I noticed as I journeyed is that I felt like an outsider, a voyeur peeking into lives I have no business looking at. At that point, a few scenes show tourists taking a brisk boat ride and looking at a couple of these brothers laying out their nets (I don’t even know if “laying out nets” is the correct phrase, that is how far removed from this world I am). One of these tourists later becomes a character of their own, full of romance and kindness, progressively even making me feel less of a stranger, holding my hand and welcoming me into the village.
One of the major plot points is the slow, lazy love story between Baby and Bobby. Some great scenes here, where Bobby learns consent when Baby denies him a kiss while they were watching a movie in a theatre. Even though she has to say no multiple times and he pouts and runs away, he subsequently always asks for permission every time once they make up. He is denied again and it is awkward and tense. But even then, something is very comfortable about it, like an unspoken language, a dance. When that kiss comes, it is nothing that you see in cinema, a gentle peck, very subtle and meaningful at the same time. I love that it was not a magnificent romp-in-the-rains moment. Little things is what it is all about. While there is still a lot of conversation about lack of agency that this film evokes in me, I still think there are a lot of interesting things happening around it.
Even though change is a constant here, the youngest one (Frankie) doesn’t go through a lot. He is a quiet anchor to all. It is his eyes that we look through a lot of the times and it is in his eyes that everyone changes. Bobby’s disapproval of the house is apparent as he wants to marry Baby and mentions he will move out. Saji, exasperated by facts and Bobby’s brazen nature, suffers another tragedy right after. This sends him into a spiral. This is where the movie does things slightly differently than a masala movie. He goes to a professional for help. Let me repeat that. He goes to his youngest brother and asks to be taken to a doctor because he can’t cry and emote in response to a tragedy. It was a refreshing thing to watch, especially knowing where he has come from and where he is now.
There are a couple of glowing connective threads that run through the movie. The shot of Baby through the fishing nets is one of them, clearly biting into the theme and even more so because the net becomes an important plot device later on. There’s another scene where Shammy slowly pulls the dining table chair to the head’s position and you can see that the dead father’s portrait lies on the table right beside him, clearly establishing how he looks at himself and his relationship with the women in the house. The more interesting thing about this lies in another shot though. This shot fleetingly shows a woman with a new-born infant at the head of the table in the brothers’ very cramped space. The nature of the shot tells us things are different but the quick panning reminds us how much distance we still have to cover.
All of these subjects come together like an intricately woven fishing net, and as the creators throw this net at us, we do not feel trapped. Instead, there is a sense of freedom, closure and deep gratitude. It is almost meditative. I know I could have talked about more things, but I wanted this to be as raw as possible, capturing the powerful effect a piece of art has right after it has hit you with full force.
As time goes, I know my thoughts will evolve, as will my being and I happily look forward to it. Till then, I live with this feeling of melancholy and the aftertaste of warm honey this has left me with.
I hope you have the chance to believe in the world for a moment as I did.
The Kaleidoscope Of Words And Sensations 