Release date:
|
August 19, 2016
|
Director:
|
Midhun Manuel
Thomas
|
Cast:
Language:
|
Sara Arjun, Sunny Wayne, Aju
Varghese, Siddique, John Kaippallil, Shine Tom Chacko, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Leona
Lishoy, Saiju Kurup
Malayalam
|
On the face of it, Ann Maria Kalippilaanu is a light-hearted
romp through an episode in a pre-teen’s life. Ann Maria (played by Sara Arjun) lives in Kerala with
her doctor mother (Leona
Lishoy)
while her father – also a medico, played by Saiju Kurup – has taken
off to a Red Cross camp in Syria. Clearly he is a nice guy, which is why he voluntarily
works in a war-torn
country – he just forgot to make his own daughter his priority.
Ann is a lively girl with
a sunny disposition, dearly loved by both Mum and Dad. He, however, constantly
disappoints her by reneging on his promises to be there for the next big day in
her life then the next and the next. Her troubled mind combined with her acute powers of
observation and fertile imagination set off a chain of events as a result of
which she ends up crossing swords with the school’s villainous physical
training instructor David (John Kaippallil) and becoming buddies with a small-time crook called
Poombatta i.e. Butterfly Gireesh (Sunny Wayne), a nickname earned from the lore
that he strikes so hard, his victims see butterflies and not stars.
It is all sweetly
child-like until this point. Kids tend to say and do the darnedest things. We
know too that they are quick to imitate and imbibe the worst of what adults say
and do, often the very things we hope they did not see or hear us do or say, so
it is both amusing and believable that Ann goes off in search of a “vaadaka goonda” (hired hooligan) when
she overhears her mother telling another adult that that is the only way to set
some people right. What is strange though is a Mum who is portrayed as an
otherwise sensible parent, allowing a minor daughter to constantly hang out with
this particular vaadaka goonda because
someone happened to tell her he is a harmless fraud. Err… he is a petty
criminal and a drunken lout.
Would a responsible parent
not conduct some sort of investigation on discovering the unlikely friendship? Would
she, should she assume that such a person is “harmless” to an under-age girl? Not
only is this parental behaviour improbable considering what we otherwise see of
Ann’s mother, but it is also risky, foolish and certainly not something a
children’s film should endorse. This is hardly the best way to teach young
viewers an anti-classist lesson.
Midhun Manuel
Thomas
– who earlier directed Aadu Oru Bheegara
Jeevi Aanu – clearly means well. The old dictum about the road to hell
being paved with good intentions is worth remembering here though. Because over
and above the charms of the principal cast and the film’s frothy veneer, lies a
bizarre – perhaps unwittingly made – point: that since every child needs a
father figure to look up to, if the father is not available then any man will
do. Seriously, anybody! Daddy illengil,
vaadaka goonda engilum. Pita nahin
toh acchhe dil waala goonda hi sahi – koi toh mard hona chahiye har bachche ki
zindagi mein. This is as silly and dangerous as the wicked-stepmother
stereotype perpetuated by children’s literature down the ages.
When faced with
demands for accountability, many film folk respond with: this is just a film … c’mon
chill … it’s only entertainment. Actually, no film is ever “just a film” and
there is no genre in the world that requires closer attention than films
directed at the very young. At a time when Hollywood appears to have turned
over a new leaf, and is turning stereotypes on their head in films so
beautifully relatable to children such as Maleficent,
Frozen and Inside Out, it is disappointing that Malayalam cinema would churn
out such tosh.
More’s the pity because Ann Maria K has so much potential and several
endearing elements. Such as the blossoming bond between Gireesh and his new
employer played by Siddique – now there
is a lesson about ignoring class boundaries that is well worth offering
children. Likewise, it is lovely to see Gireesh’s transformation in the face of
Ann’s innocence and innate goodness.
Writer-director Thomas
displays some panache in the narration of two versions of Gireesh’s back story.
The use of animation in one is both adventurous and apt. The later trip to a fantastical
realm with Ann’s ‘angel’ (and a neat overturning of gender assumptions in that sub-plot)
is also evidence that Thomas is not as casual a filmmaker as one might assume
from the less-well-thought-out aspects of this film.
The cast is a roll call of fine talents. Arjun – who earlier starred in
Deiva Thirumagal with acting stalwart Vikram and in a small role as
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s daughter in Jazbaa just last year – is a sturdy performer, self-assured beyond her
years. She is just 11.
Gireesh is played by the unassumingly attractive Sunny
Wayne who manages to give his character both a brooding intensity and a comic
appeal. Wayne’s Gireesh finds a perfect foil in his partner-in-criminal-laziness,
Ambrose played by Aju Varghese. Varghese and Dharmajan Bolgatty in small roles
are fun to watch.
The pick of the
supporting cast though is Siddique who enters the picture late into the story,
yet owns Ann Maria K as much as Arjun
and Wayne. This is
the sort of film in which care has been taken in the casting of even the
tiniest roles (including one of the most handsome men in this country in a
cameo) and it shows.
Similar finesse was required in
the subtitles though. While occasionally glancing at the subs for this review,
I did not see any grammatical or spelling errors (what a relief!) but I noticed
a couple of places where the words on screen were different from what was being
said. I distinctly remember one point at which a child refers to someone called
“Alex C Chacko” whereas the line flashing on screen
mentions a “Jose C Kurian”. Wonder what that was about.
Nice music, nice
visuals, pretty art design – the packaging is all in place. If Thomas and his
co-writer John Manthrickal had not been so nonchalant about certain aspects of their
screenplay, this could have been a significant film. Their good intentions and
the allure of the cast, however, are not reason enough to ignore Ann Maria Kalippilaanu’s mindless, oddball
messaging.
Rating
(out of five): **
CBFC Rating (India):
|
U
|
Running time:
|
128 minutes
|
This
review has also been published on Firstpost:
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