Language: Malayalam

Starring: Asif Ali, Veena Nandhakumar

Cinematography: Abhilash Shankar

Editing: Noufal Abdullah

Sex education in Kerala has always been a taboo. Kerala’s school curriculum and most of the parents hesitate to enlighten their children on it. Biology textbooks do include a chapter on human reproduction. However, it covers only the biological aspect. The emotional aspect is out of the question. And even the biological aspect is skipped by most of the teachers who are too shy to teach. So most boys/men look at porn films to get some education on it. 90% of them objectify women in a way where the man dominates and the woman screams. To top it up they make one feel as though the woman loves to scream. This movie is a good eye-opener to all the unreported marital rapes out there.

Storyline:

The movie narrates the story of Sleevachan’s wife Rincy, who transforms his life and changes his perspective.

Sleevachan’s life is confined to his family, his rubber plantation and his local friend’s circle. He is married at a ripe age of 35 so his wife could take care of his elderly mother.

His life is depicted without any love and minus the smartphone. He has no idea about the significance of sexual relation in married life. He does not know how the partner should be treated. Initial days after marriage he avoids any contact with his wife. Eventually based on the influence from friends and all the knowledge given by them he finally decides to have sex with his wife. Result is a brutal marital rape. The movie goes about to show the physical and mental torture faced by Rincy. The doctor who treated her explains to the family the need of enlightening him.

Must watch scenes:

Two scenes from the movie which have stayed with me-

Scene 1:

Sleevachan’s mother apologizes and takes care of Rincy after she gets raped by her son. This scene was filmed really well, Rincy and Sleevachan’s mother were able to convey their emotions to the audience. You have to see it to feel it!

Scene 2:

Enlightened Sleevachan explains to kids who maintain aquarium that the mate should be placed in a closed container in the aquarium so that the two fishes get time to see, interact and know each other before they mate. It shows how enlightened he is and how reproduction in nature and creatures should be an elegant process.

Script:

A topic which is very hard to be presented and accepted by the Malayalee audience was scripted by Aji Peter Thankam in an absolutely intelligent and touching manner. The filmmaker has conveyed the transformation of Sleevachan from a man who raped his wife to a man who started understanding the beauty of love and sex.

Direction:

Nissam Basheer casting of characters was brilliant from lead roles to other characters flashing in a few shots. Nissam has presented the theme very carefully ensuring that the film does not turn vulgar at any point. He has left open ended thoughts for the audience to think and develop an individual perspective.

Location:

You can experience the scenic beauty of the high altitude places of Idukki.

Cast:

The whole cast did well, but Asif Ali, who played Sleevachan and Veena Nandakumar who played Rincy did an amazing job. (I literally had a crush on Veena after watching the movie :-))

Final:

If you haven’t seen it at the theatres do watch it on Prime Video or Netflix.

Review By:

The Local Fellow