Ariyippu Movie Review: Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha Give Admirable Performances in Mahesh Narayanan's Intense Human Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Ariyippu Movie Review: It says a lot about editor-turned-director Mahesh Narayanan's versatility as a filmmaker when I compare CU Soon, a experimental but arresting thriller shown through computer screens, and his latest Ariyippu (Declaration), once again a compelling movie but shot more in a grounded, almost documentary style. Two films coming at two ends of a spectrum of what we can say as the COVID-19 phase, and yet so distinct, and so good. Let's also not forget that he made Malik in between, which was a larger-than-life story told in a way that doesn't feel the excesses of what such films of this genre usually go for. Okay, here's where I would put a pause to my fanboying over Mr Narayanan, who hasn't disappointed me yet as a director since he made Take/Off, his most inspiring film to date. Ariyippu: Kunchacko Boban – Mahesh Narayanan’s Malayalam Film Selected Into International Competition Of The 75th Locarno Film Festival.

In Ariyippu, Mahesh Narayanan teams up with Kunchacko Boban, who serves as both actor and producer here. While Boban has a dominating presence in the film as a Malayali migrant Hareesh who is working as a driver for a rubber factory in UP, he is not the 'hero'. That 'tag' belongs to Divya Prabha's character Reshmi, who is Hareesh's wife and also an employee of the same company, and a far more conscientious and composed person than her prickly husband.

The movie begins with the audience being shown a video of Reshmi checking defects in the gloves made in her factory, which is then shown as a work reel for her to get employment abroad. The same video provides fodder for the two plotlines of the movie.

When Hareesh runs afoul of a fellow employee, the above video mysteriously begins to circulate in the factory circles with an addition clip of a masked, unidentified woman giving oral gratification to an unseen man, that puts the couple's domestic lives in disarray. The other thread that the same video provides is how Reshmi stumbles upon the corrupt practices within her company that involve replacing good rubber gloves with faulty, used ones.

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It is the former that is the stronger of the arcs. Hareesh's descendancy from a self-appointed investigator looking for justice for both his wife and himself after the clip leak, to being a morally weak man with a punctured ego is disturbing to watch. This is effectuated particularly by a very distressing scene of a reluctant love-making that turns into sexual assault. What makes this scene horrifying is it is about a man, a husband here, trying to establish his territory over his wife's body just because he suspects the woman in the video is her and some other man has crossed the barrier here.

Kunchacko Boban has done quite a few grey roles in his career, a subversive change from the usual chocolate boy image that he has been trying to shed over the years. While for many Mallu fans, it is hard not to dissociate him from his breakout character in Aniyathipravu, Kunchacko Boban is fantastic as supremely flawed Hareesh, whose image of a hardworking, wife-loving family man sees cracks that keep widening with every scene.

On the other hand, there is Divya Prabha, who is so good as the moralistic Reshmi that I was little disappointed when Mahesh Narayanan keep wanting the focus be on Hareesh's disintegration rather than on Reshmi's heroism. This is clearly evident in a very intriguing scene when after a bout of violence, a bruised Reshmi - the victim  here - is seen crying on one side of the door, but the focus is more on Hareesh - the perpetrator - who is on the other side, also crying in anguish; only unlike for Reshmi, I hardly felt anything for Hareesh, but mocking amusement.

I love the idea that Ariyippu may want to see Reshmi as a victim of a tasteless prank, but not allow her to be broken over it. Instead it is more interested in seeing Hareesh making himself as the victim here, and going to some extreme lengths to do right unto himself. A scene near the third act has him ask Reshmi what exactly has she suffered in the whole ordeal. I was reminded of the Shane Nigam-starrer Ishq, where the male lead saw himself as a 'victim' in an incident of moral policing, but never bothering to ask his partner what she is going through. Hareesh is even worse, the aforementioned scenes of domestic violence and sexual assault asserting that title on him. Malik Movie Review: Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan’s Powerful Performances Lift Mahesh Narayanan’s Ambitious Political Drama.

But while the marriage plotline is what makes Ariyippu such a strong watch, the other plotline involving Reshmi trying to help her seniors to expose the corruption falls weaker in the process. That said, Ariyippu, after a slow-burn treatment in the first half, is far more engaging when the two storylines meld together, when we are curious to know the mystery behind the clip and what it will do to Hareesh and Reshmi's marriage, and whether Reshmi finally speaks up. Am glad to write that most of the threads are closed satisfyingly as per what the film wants to do with them, but perhaps not in the way that, we, as viewers, are so used to in such cinematic situations.

It also helps that the director, with the help of cinematographer Sanu Varghese, has created a bleak atmosphere for the film's setting. The working class conditions pervaded by a looming COVID-19 fear and the location setting of NCR in Uttar Pradesh, with the themes of migration, job loss, workplace harassment and class disparity all make for a very gloomy concoction. But credit where due, Ariyippu still manages to be subversive otherwise, where characters you expect them to be vile - like Hareesh and Reshmi's employer (Danish Husain, restrained and effective) - fall a lot short behind that yardstick, and it doesn't give up on hope and justice. The movie even manages to give the two lead characters a sense of fulfilment of their goals in the end, though it leaves it to our interpretation if either of them got their happy endings.

Final Thoughts

Ariyippu is perhaps the most meditative work from the director, and despite its slow pacing and grim setting, the movie turns out to be a very investing insight into human nature in face of desperation and distress. With dependable performances from Kunchacko Boban and Divya Prabha, Ariyippu is worth a watch for the lovers of meaningful cinema. Ariyippu (Declaration) is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 15, 2022 03:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).