Tuesday, 15 April 2025

NARAYANEENTE MOONNAANMAKKAL (MALAYALAM) (2025)

Three estranged brothers reunite with their families after decades in their ancestral home as their mother is drawing her final breaths. Beneath the courteous efforts to forge forgotten connections, unforgotten and unforgiven tensions from the past simmer. Could the siblings succeed in overcoming their differences..? How does the gen-next of the family, in their impressionable years and meeting for the first time connect..?

This is a movie that manages to achieve a difficult balancing act of being subtle and sensitive to the subjects being depicted without being judgmental on any of the characters who are all flawed at some level, as humans tend to be.

Director Sharan Venugopal displays remarkable restraint throughout as he skillfully steers his narrative away from the usual desi pitfalls of getting lewd (exploitative or exposing to titillate) or loud (melodramatic or emotionally manipulative). This is no small achievement in itself and to achieve all this within a crisp running time of less than two hours is a mark of his brilliance.

While the two young leads playing next generation of the family (especially, Garggi Ananthan, playing Athira) are perfectly cast for their respective roles, the seniors - Joju, Suraj & Lopez - are excellent too, carrying all their shades without hitting a wrong note.

The music by Rahul Raj - songs as well as the score - is another highlight.

Overall, it is yet another lovely addition to the ever-growing pantheon of Malayalam cinema that continues to excel in exploring the oft-overlooked dimensions of our collective human coexistence.

A SUBTLE & SENSITIVE MASTERPIECE !

RATING - 4/5



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