Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (U)
Synopsis
The film is about two youngsters who go on a bike a trip and how it transforms them.Critic's Review
Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi is charming, not just by its stunning array of visuals by Gireesh Gangadharan but also by a rare flamboyance. While going into his second film Sameer Thahir has pulled off a beauty. The scenes are marked by a fluidity, the result of a painful effort tracking two youths who are on a long ride on their bikes.Working with a beautifully crafted script by Hashir Mohamed, the film is immensely helped by two actors gifted with a flair for behaving naturally. Dulquer Salman and Sunny Wayne play Kasi and Suni who spell magic on screen assisted by the rhythmic rumble of their bullets.
Perhaps the only thing that stretches out in this film would be its title. Everything else just happens, much like how Kasi decides to go for a trip across the length of the country. He doesn't know why or where. All he hopes is that a trip would transform him without leaving traces of certain memories. Even the romance is played out at a secondary level, essayed in crisp, beautiful flourishes with minimal exchange of words. Any slightest inclination to liken this film to a classic is deftly nipped right from the outset.
If the protagonist of Motorcycle diaries is emboldened by a new found idealism, Kasi undergoes bouts of vacillation, recurring moments where he strives to stabilise himself leading up to a self-realisation of being a protector to being protected.
The lead characters are not besotted with a wild, churlish streak. In fact they appear sublimely calm most often, their tranquillity rarely diffusing into any sort of tension. The film discusses politics at its own level despite overt reference to Left-politics. There is a scene where an old Bengali Leftist stammers with bits of a feted Malayalam revolutionary song. The scene doesn't linger on. It is more obsessed with the politics of life; intriguing and sometimes plain as Kasi puts it: My fate is determined by my decisions.
Dulquer has a charismatic way of expressing himself and his portrayal of Kasi demonstrates how much he holds for the future. His voice-over is vibrant, evocative and brilliantly expressive. The script might throw up a few inconsistencies like the way the two characters move on completely safe and unharmed even as they stand witness to a man being slain in a land of riot.
A proclaimed communist youth riding a bike with a sign that celebrates an American fictional character might be jarring for his persona. It could even be contended by accounting for his varying impulses. Yet this is a film that is too luring to be chided, because of its immense scope and the sheer energy and the way it carries off a pure air of freedom.
