Shyamaprasad, who had won wide acclaim with Agnisakshi and had made some poor stuff in the name of cinema with Kallukondoru Pennu and Bokshu the Myth and the not-so-good Akale, comes up now with a brilliantly crafted Ore Kadal, based on the novel Heerak Deepthi, written by Bengali novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay. The film has been brilliantly made, but would anyhow make no impact whatsoever at the box office.
Ore Kadal explores the realm of human relationships in a very subtle and sensitive manner, with three characters forming the basis for the narration. There is the eminent economist S.R.Nathan (Mammootty), there is a housewife Deepthi (Meera Jasmine) who is torn between loyalty to her husband and her family on the one side and a kind of infidelity on the other side. There is Jayakumar (Naren), Deepthi’s husband who has to bear the strange vicissitudes of fate.
Nathan, who is immersed in the study of economics and how it affects life, especially in third world countries is rather indifferent to the society around him and doesn’t like to care a whit about relationships at all. That he doesn’t care at all about relationships is what he tells to Bela (Ramya Krishnan), one of the many women in his life, with whom he believes in maintaining a purely physical relationship, sans commitments, obligations and any kind of ties. Of course Bela, who is a high-class prostitute catering to the elite, holds him in high esteem and discusses grave matters in a very reasonable manner.
In the meantime, Nathan and Deepthi, till then total strangers, are brought incidentally close to each other and they move on to a physical relationship, which Nathan sees in his usual detached manner. But things are not going to be that smooth then onwards for Nathan, Deepthi or even for Jayakumar, who is quite oblivious of the budding of such a relationship.
Mammootty is superb as Nathan while Meera Jasmine delivers an electrifying performance as Deepthi. Naren presents the plight of Jayakumar in his usual style and has done a good job. We see Ramya Krishnan in a totally new light as Bela, a character that she handles with élan.
Alagappan’s camerawork, with a perfect balance achieved between light and shades, helps a lot in creating the right kind of atmosphere. Editing by Vinod Sukumaran and costume designing by Cuckoo Parameswaran too deserves mention.
The songs, all composed in the same Raga go well with the narrative and even serve as sort of background score at places, heightening the emotional turmoil of the characters and at times highlighting their dilemma quite perfectly. Of course the songs don’t sound like typical Malayalam songs and the lyrics are not that outstanding, but the music definitely matches the mood of the film - a realistic urban drama reflecting the characteristic features of our age - and that is what works out.
Scripted by Shyamaprasad himself, Ore Kadal anyhow wouldn’t prove to be a crowd-puller, even in the Onam season and it is to be seen whether the film bags any awards or not. And coming out of the cinema, don’t you feel like having watched a tele-film rather than a story on the big screen?! Anyhow, good work, Shyamaprasad and team!
