While driving back after watching the movie, we were discussing why there are no movies like this in Tamil. All I could think of was somehow we've made our Tamil cinema into a fantasy world with the heroes as demi-god and so there is no way we will ever see a slice of life interestingly (or uninterestingly) told as a story.
I was also not sure how to start or write this review. 'Kumbalangi nights' is a slice of life from the story of four estranged brothers or it can be viewed as a love story or as just anything at all.
The movie just tells multiple stories - everyone who comes into the frames - has a short story to tell. You take it in the stride and so in a way, the movie in itself is a collection of stories.
Frankie - the youngest of the four brothers - says at the start of the movie that they live in the worst house in the Kumbalangi panchayat. And that is no exaggeration - there are just openings and no doors or windows in the house and there is no way to approach the house except by boat as the path leading to it is a 'shit-land'.
The story is also about how this house transforms itself into a place of living and a 'home' in its real meaning. The four brothers are more like step-brothers as they have either a father or mother in common. They dont work or earn - just live as they want to mooching off others in the process.
In contrast lies the other home - where Shammy rules over three women - his wife, sister-in-law and his mother-in-law - looking perfect in every way with family dinners and manicured gardens. The imbalance between these homes is what the movie is about.
When one of the brothers - Bobby - falls in love with the girl, Baby, the brothers decide to come together and get him to marry the girl. However the girls brother-in-law, Shammy, stands in-between.
Along the way, life happens to each of them - Saji loses a friend, Bony falls in love with a tourist and Bobby finds a job and all - and things change gradually in their life and house. Each of their struggles with life is given enough space and how they overcome that forms the story.
Soubin as Saji - the elder brother - steals the show, especially the scene at the therapist or when he goes to Shammy asking the hand of his sister-in-law for Bobby. It is easy to come across people like Saji all the time and miss out on the transformation they go through in their life. He finds a way to help his friend's wife and kid and changes a little.
Fahadh Faasil - Shammy - there is nothing but to just watch this guy wreak havoc smiling all around. Probably, there is no equivalent actor today to match his skill in playing these kind of roles.
It is also a commentary on the perceived masculinity of Shammy - which he believes lies with controlling the women of the household - and he does that with both perceived threats of violence and anger.
Whereas the men from the women-less household of Saji and brothers actually go through changes and they yield space as and when women appear in the frame.
And the women were all self-aware and in control of what they need - like Baby who right from the first moment of seeing Bobby is determined to get her way and plans eloping as soon as she hears Shammy's refusal for marriage. She is so sure of herself and in a way on her decision to marry Bobby, she never falters - it is Bobby who falters and ready to let go at the first sign of trouble.
It is rarely possible for a movie to get close to one's heart and provide a little soothing faith in humanity - that everyone has the potential to be good - it is just a matter of finding that goodness in one's person that needs work.
'Kumbalangi Nights' just re-iterates that strongly.
I was also not sure how to start or write this review. 'Kumbalangi nights' is a slice of life from the story of four estranged brothers or it can be viewed as a love story or as just anything at all.
The movie just tells multiple stories - everyone who comes into the frames - has a short story to tell. You take it in the stride and so in a way, the movie in itself is a collection of stories.
Frankie - the youngest of the four brothers - says at the start of the movie that they live in the worst house in the Kumbalangi panchayat. And that is no exaggeration - there are just openings and no doors or windows in the house and there is no way to approach the house except by boat as the path leading to it is a 'shit-land'.
The story is also about how this house transforms itself into a place of living and a 'home' in its real meaning. The four brothers are more like step-brothers as they have either a father or mother in common. They dont work or earn - just live as they want to mooching off others in the process.
In contrast lies the other home - where Shammy rules over three women - his wife, sister-in-law and his mother-in-law - looking perfect in every way with family dinners and manicured gardens. The imbalance between these homes is what the movie is about.
When one of the brothers - Bobby - falls in love with the girl, Baby, the brothers decide to come together and get him to marry the girl. However the girls brother-in-law, Shammy, stands in-between.
Along the way, life happens to each of them - Saji loses a friend, Bony falls in love with a tourist and Bobby finds a job and all - and things change gradually in their life and house. Each of their struggles with life is given enough space and how they overcome that forms the story.
Soubin as Saji - the elder brother - steals the show, especially the scene at the therapist or when he goes to Shammy asking the hand of his sister-in-law for Bobby. It is easy to come across people like Saji all the time and miss out on the transformation they go through in their life. He finds a way to help his friend's wife and kid and changes a little.
Fahadh Faasil - Shammy - there is nothing but to just watch this guy wreak havoc smiling all around. Probably, there is no equivalent actor today to match his skill in playing these kind of roles.
It is also a commentary on the perceived masculinity of Shammy - which he believes lies with controlling the women of the household - and he does that with both perceived threats of violence and anger.
Whereas the men from the women-less household of Saji and brothers actually go through changes and they yield space as and when women appear in the frame.
And the women were all self-aware and in control of what they need - like Baby who right from the first moment of seeing Bobby is determined to get her way and plans eloping as soon as she hears Shammy's refusal for marriage. She is so sure of herself and in a way on her decision to marry Bobby, she never falters - it is Bobby who falters and ready to let go at the first sign of trouble.
It is rarely possible for a movie to get close to one's heart and provide a little soothing faith in humanity - that everyone has the potential to be good - it is just a matter of finding that goodness in one's person that needs work.
'Kumbalangi Nights' just re-iterates that strongly.
