Ponthan Mada (1994) :
Brief Review -
TV Chandran affiliates Sreeraman's two short stories in this Classic tale of friendship, love and compassion. One of the greatest performance of Mammootty. Pontham Mada is a slow poison. It tastes bitter, astringent, sometimes spicy but by the time you finish it, you feel blessed to have digested it. It is based on two short stories, Ponthan Mada and Sheema Thampuran by C. V. Sreeraman. Set in the 1940s British India, the film is about the extraordinary, uncanny and touching relationship between the so-called low-caste Ponthan Mada and his colonial landlord Sheema Thampuran, who was expelled to British India from England during his youth for supporting the Irish Republican Army. Crossing the class boundaries, the two communicate through Thampuran's window with Mada hanging from an areca palm tree. There is a lot more in the film which cannot be spoiled here or should i say cannot be explained in words. You have to experience it and understand it. There are slow moments that means something, that makes you feel something and if you get it then your time is worth. Mammootty plays the titular character and believe me he is completely unrecognisable half the time. He has worked so accurately on his accents and expressions for different periods that i wonder how one actor can be so perfect and so versatile at the same time. Naseeruddin Shah adds his experience and he is fantastic. This writing of these two character deserves more credit because the story actually had less space and then these characters provides it enough values. I would say the characters complete it. Chandran sir delivers a realistic cinema with sheer brilliance. Not a single frame, nor any scene looked out of the context and even though few of them looked absurd, they still had reliability because such absurd things has happened in pre-independence era. Overall, a Classic!
RATING - 8/10*
By - #samthebestest.
