Vinodayathra: Sathyan Anthikad's serious journey

By John Cheeran
Sathyan Anthikad’s films have a mellow quality that charms us in the darkness of a theatre. Though Sathyan comes from a revolutionary hamlet in central Kerala, in his filmmaking, Sathyan shies away from confrontations and assaults, visually and verbally. Sathyan, however, is keen to make what one may call the socially relevant movies, especially since the days of Sandesham.
Sathyan Anthikad’s latest film Vinodayathra, is full of such messages and eventually director’s obsessions with social pills almost chokes the film.
Sathyan begins Vinodayathra with a message meant for Keralites when he makes Mukesh (Shaji) give an earful to the ‘revolutionary’ bureaucrats who wear the badge of officially apathy with pride.
Sathyan’s message obsession, in turn, possesses actress Meera Jasmine, who though totters in only at the end of the first half of the movie, then supplies spine to the movie.
Sathyan is quite right in telling us to take a micro view at life rather than the macro one. It is important to know what affects our bone, rather than be aware of global warming and other distant rumbles in Cuba, Baghdad and Washington.
Price of 100 grams of coconut oil is important when you are running the household engine, especially if your palms are not greased by bribery or if you are working in private sector and not belong to the software society.
My main quarrel with director Sathyan Anthikaad is the way he has chosen to deliver his messages – whether it is against pirated CDs or the need for the micro view of day-to-day life.
It would be impertinent on my part if I remind a celebrated movie maker such as Sathyan, the need for subtlety while delivering a message to spectators. Ways could have certainly found if Meera Jasmine had to tell Dileep that there are no free lunches out there.
And where are our Vinods?
In today’s Kerala there are no more idle fools. Yes, there are many who line their stomachs with free lunches from their parents, but none of them are naïve as Sathyan’s Vinod.
All those guys and girls know the price of a Wills cigarette or a lipstick. So I wonder about the impact of the micro view advocated by Sathyan.
Apart from such stuff, Sathyan has brought out the best from Dileep, who often had to resort to abnormal characters to keep alive his career. Here is a refreshing Dileep, and with a touch of elegance, giving out his best.
And I should say that Parvathy, who acts as Mukesh’s (Shaji) sister Rashmi, is another Asin in the making.
She has charmed me to the core. Parvathy's name is going to be in every director's notebook now.