Two movies /48 hrs

Recently we watched two movies within a gap of 24 hrs. Both the movies were unique. First one was filled with natural and soft treatment of life. The second was a combination of special effects and race against time. In many ways both had some common ground between them. The movies which we saw were - Loudspeaker (Malayalam) and 2012 (English).

Loudspeaker portrayed the changing face (s)of mankind. The following juxtapositions find place in Loudspeaker- old/new, rural/urban,natural/artificial. The treatment surprisingly is not Loud. There is a human element in the movie and it carries a strong message about our changing lives. The central motif is similar to Rajesh Khanna starrers -Anand and Bawarachi and the copy of copy of all these – Kal ho na ho. Something akin to the saying - He came, he saw and he conquered. Watching a movie with some brilliant snapshots of Kerala is a true nostalgic act for a Gulf Malayalee. Jairaj injects a shot of humanism without the help of Doctor Preacher. In a way it was good to see Jairaj attempting a theme like this which is far removed from his usual misadventures with ‘saffronic’ themes. (Paitherekam, Deshadanam). Even though  Mammoty looks different as the Loud Mike, he lacks a tinge of originality.We felt that he was too glamorous for the role of a ‘farmer/kidney donor from the hills’. Jagathy is wasted with an insignificant character of the apartment secretary . We had heard numerous complaints about the sync technique used ( first time in Malayalam) in the movie but our movie watching experience was complaint free.

2012 is about the end of the world. We all know that the world will end soon and the bad/mad rush has already begun. Copenhagen promoting the theme of hope is one way of creating awareness about the dying earth. ( Sign the petition and become a citizen at www.hopenhagen.com) The world as we know will face death due to either environmental issues, terrorism or an alien attack) Mayans predicted it long back and Indians noticed it and as usual Americans saves the world ( or at least the world of the rich) with the help of hard working China men. A movie filled with American jingoism and propaganda, 2012 is just like Independence Day. The biblical ark is shown in a new avatar. In many ways the movie attempts to yoke Mayan calender with the biblical ark.