Kerala Cafe  - Review
By Cine Critic | 9th november, 2009| 4:30:48

It is time to think differently, act differently and of course react differently. Yes, finally we have got an entirely different and refreshingly approaching movie from writer director Ranjith. Kerala Café is a new offering which consist 10 short films from 10 different directors having a 140 minutes running time offering a new experience of movie watching.Though it is a combination of 10 different movies, all talks about a basic concept, journey, and the journey of life.

Movie starts with short film Nostalgia, written and directed by Padmakumar. It is telling a story about a rich expat he likes to live in Gulf savoring in the glory of our country and not able to stop complaining about each and everything when he comes to homeland. Dileep has done the lead role, Johnykutty which is not making big impact among viewers.His character can be termed as the ultimate fence-sitter -one who will not use his power to change things but go on complaining -a self-centered and money-minded person.

The other the me that stands out in some of the stories is economic recession which has made life miserable for some people. We see it discussed in stories like Nostalgia, B Unnikrishnan's Aviramam and Shyamaprasad's Off Season. Off Season is the only story that uses full on humor to convey the sufferings of people around the world due to economic recession. Kunjapai (Suraj Venjaramood) survives by doing odd jobs in Kovalam beach. He befriends a Portuguese couple expecting a windfall but later realizes that they too are penniless backpackers who are in search of a job.

Meanwhile, the other stories like debutant Shankar Ramakrishnan's Island Express, Shaji Kailas' Lalthiam hiranmayam and Lal Jose's Puram Kazchakal are more personal narratives, which do not seem to have any connection with the happenings in the world.

Island Express deals with the survivors of a train accident while Shaji Kailas' story starring Suresh Gopi, Jyothirmayee and Dhanya, deals with the emotional upheavals of a person entangled in a extra marital affair.

Anjali Menon's Happy Journey on the other hand, talks about the fear of terrorism in the mind of a common man. The movie stars Jagathy Sreekumar as a flirtatious insurance surveyor who is scared to death by a young girl (Nithya Menon) travelling  with him in a bus. She pretends to be a terrorist carrying a bomb with her.

Makal directed by Revathy talks about the plight of a girl child born into an extremely poor family. It shows how she lands up in flesh trade on the pretence of  being adopted by a rich couple.

Anwar Rasheed's Bridge is striking as it draws parallels between street animals and the aged. This simple story shows the love of a small boy for a kitten that he has found on the road, and the struggle of a slum dweller who finds it difficult to take care of his mother.

Mrityunjayam, Uday Ananthan's horror story which supposedly deals with the recklessness of youth, cannot find any link with the other stories. It seems to be there only because it comes under the horror genre, so as to show that Kerala Cafe covers every theme.

But on the whole, Kerala Cafe proves to be a worthwhile experiment deserving a watch.

Verdict: Good Attempt