Some punch lines actually work. Despite the helping of music in the background, the camera looking sideways at two men holding onto a rail, it does not feel dramatic when one man says to the other, “Didn’t you ask me if this is all humans are? This is how much humans are.” Saudi Vellakka is a sweet film, risking a lot by putting an adamant and adorable old woman to lead the game. Devi Varma, playing this character, is something of a novelty, her almost plain expressions conveying much. But then again, the film comes from Tharun Moorthy, a director who does not seem to believe in relying on market strategies that are supposed to bring success. He gave us Operation Java, a marked debut, and now Saudi Vellakka, a film that seems slightly stretched, but nevertheless manages to pat your back as you leave the theatre.
Like in Operation Java, Tharun, also the scriptwriter of the film, sets the story in a smaller neighbourhood of Kochi, called Saudi. The houses are closely placed and the neighbours know each other so well that they are all inside one’s home at the first sight of trouble. Trouble, in this case, comes from a very unexpected, seemingly silly incident, but blows up way beyond anyone’s imagination. Devi Varma plays the stubborn Aisha Rawuthar, picking fights with the man next door and with her daughter-in-law. When she is introduced, you’d brush her character off as a one-off incident in the background and wait for Lukman Lukku, a known actor, to take the story ahead. But he remains somewhat in the periphery, reminiscing a tale from his childhood where Aisha Rawuthar played a huge role.
Aisha is at first the bitter old woman, apparently angry with everyone, and for some reason, it is in Pauly Wilson’s very familiar voice you hear her speak. It comes as a hindrance in embracing this character because you expect to see Pauly’s face. You let that slide as the story goes on, because Aisha barely speaks after the incident involving Kunjumon (Lukman’s character). She turns into a much subdued woman, but with a sternness about her. To most questions she offers silence, contrasting the loudness all around her.
Her daughter-in-law, Naseema (Dhanya Ananya in another wonderful performance), is hardly ever quiet and becomes somewhat of a nagging character to the textbook example of a meek and helpless husband, who is the son of Aisha. Sujith Shanker, who played the tough villain in Maheshinte Prathikaram, is almost unrecognisable as this paavam character, his hand continuously shivering when he is anxious. In sharp contrast is Binu Pappu, playing the neighbour who goes out of his way to help a family for years on end.
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The troublesome incident brought on by Aisha ends up in a court case that she then begins to fight. After Nna Thaan Case Kodu, here is another film which looks at the courtroom in a lighter vein and pulls it off smoothly. Through the drama involving the old woman, Tharun’s script takes a critical look at the long wait of cases that remain pending in courts for years. He used a similar approach in his first film, Operation Java, to throw light at the unemployment rates in the country.
Occasionally the script shakes itself off all the heaviness and pours delicate bits of humour around, in the form of a sleepy advocate (Siddhartha Siva), a chiding rickshaw driver, an unhappy marriage broker, and the like. Nearly all the women characters, barring Aisha, effortlessly add to the lighter mood of the film, just by enacting the daily affairs of a commoner’s life. Remya Suresh, a very talented actor appearing in varied older woman roles, plays the mother with a foul mouth to Kunjumon, and Nilja, a typical older sister squabbling with the mother. Vincy Aloshious and Sminu Sino, two proven actors, make their short presence lively.
Perhaps the success of the script is in making nearly all of its characters so ordinary, full with their daily plate of issues. Aisha is also the same, except that circumstances push her to stand out. It is comforting to not see her take the easy way out, and make do with the situations she ends up in – alone, but not self-pitying. No one acts lost. And kindness coming from the most unexpected corners is treated with a sobering BGM (Palee Francis) — a rickshaw driver who ran for hours in the night for an emergency and rode away without taking a pie, an advocate with financial troubles of his own taking on an old woman’s fight for years on end, and so on. Gokul and Riah Sarah, playing lawyers, also deserve mention for their endearing performances.
It is always nice to see a filmmaker pay attention to the little details: two names crossed out in a game of ‘flames’ are later shown married, but on the side, only if you notice. Also nice is the way the religious differences are not bellowed out loud, just exhibited in the names and the small ways of custom.
Only, the film does seem stretched out a little, perhaps intentionally to show the lapse of 14 years that the story takes place in. If that too could have been tucked in unnoticeably, Saudi Vellakka would be even sweeter.