A woman obsessed with her first love. A hapless husband who tries to make her move on. And a romantic hero, who is torn between his social standing and love. We’ve seen these characters and storyline before. Remember Who Saath Din, Anil Kapoor’s debut as a hero, which was a remake of K Bhagyaraj’s Antha Ezhu Naatkal. Sufiyum Sujathayum rehashes this storyline with a dash of mysticism that echoes Njan Gandharvan. The film, touted as Malayalam’s first OTT release, makes history with the pre-release controversies, but as a film it leaves much to desire.
Sujatha (
) a doe-eyed mute woman falls hard for a handsome young mystic who is only known as Sufi (Dev Mohan), the disciple of the village’s resident mystic Aboobaker (Swami Shoonya) . Her affections are reciprocated by the man whose mellifluous azaan, attracts Muslims and non-Muslims alike. And his ability to twirl on a single toe in spiritual ecstasy adds to the qualities that attracts her to Sufi. Her family meanwhile is pursuing a proposal from a Dubai-based man Rajeev (Jayasurya), who was so smitten by Sujatha after a chance meeting and was willing to look beyond her disability. With looming societal backlash and familial pressures, the lovers part ways. Sujatha gets married to Rajeev and moves to Dubai. Despite having a child together, she never loves her husband and pines for her lover. An incident with Sufi, ten years later, sets new things in motion and film revolves around how this relationship matrix is solved.
Covid 19 pandemic has disrupted everything in the world. From daily lives and livelihoods to every business sector, including movies. When Friday Films’ Vijay Babu announced the OTT release of this film, it led to a furore in the Malayalam film industry. Every organisation took offense, others stood in support of the producer. This move has its share of good and bad outcomes. But good seems to overweigh the bad ones. A major benefit is that film-makers are no longer dependent on exhibitors and distributors to get their film to the masses. Producers are assured getting their production costs back and perhaps a little profit too, which is great considering industry standards. Audience get to watch films when ever and wherever they want to, without spending a fortune on tickets and snacks. The flipside is that this could hit theatres hard, mostly single screens, which in turn will impact a lot of jobs and livelihoods. But change cannot be stopped. Only way out is to find ways to surmount the challenge at hand.
That being said, the fact remains that this film would not have gained any profits for the distributor or the producer if it had gone for a conventional release. It seems like Babu the businessman played a deft hand and emerged a winner.
Naranipuzha Shanavas makes his debut as a director here. He also wrote this film. Now, Shanavas has a great visual sense and he has his heart in the right place. But the film meanders like the CGI feather that we see floating during the opening credits. The characters lack depth, the drama lacks edge and the romance is flaky. The writer-director takes a few liberties and the bravest move was adding a choreography to azaan. It takes guts to envision such a scene and bring it on screen, especially in these times. There are a few scenes that does hold our attention, but sadly it does translate to a wholesome film.
There are a few instances of unintentional humour. Sujatha’s cycle tumbling down a flight of stairs into the stream is an example. The story is also influenced by Padmarajan’s swan song Njaan Gandharvan. There is a even a scene where the grandma tells the granddaughter about the beauty and artistic talents of the mystic being.
The highlight of this film is the camerawork by Anu Moothedath. The visuals are gorgeous, and he brings out the beauty of the protagonists. The lighting, the angles and the poetic movements do justice to the director’s ambition. M Jayachandran’s score set the mood well. Though repetition of ‘Roohe…’ throughout the film was a tad overwhelming. The songs are good, but not catchy enough to earn a classic tag.
Aditi is a sight to behold. She balances sensitivity and a subtle sensuality in the way she moves and emotes. Her sign language looks like mudras. Her performance in the scene where Sujatha’s grandmother dies is excellent. Aditi does her best with what she was given, which was not enough. Dev is handsome and looks good for the part. But his acting needs work. Jayasurya’s role is an extended cameo. And he plays the disgruntled yet devoted husband Rajeev well. Rest of the cast including Siddique and Kalaranjini were good in their parts.
Though it lacks enough depth and rooh to become a classic, Sufiyum Sujathayum is ambitious, artistic and visually pleasing.
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