“Ariyippu” / Declaration

Put this next on your must-watch list!

Did not know that this was from Mahesh Narayanan whose “C U Soon” I had bashed severely some reviews ago. However, this one deserves a must-watch if you haven't seen it yet.

For a first time, I was in agreement with both the reviewers (both positive) on the article on Wikipedia of this film, one who even praised this film as the best Malayalam film of 2022 and I couldn’t agree more.

The travails and struggles of a young couple who have left Kerala and struggling in a small and stressful job in Delhi, living in a shanty home with the hope of making it abroad for a better life has been accurately captured.

Though you empathize with the helplessness of the character played by Kunchacko Boban it is the character played by Divya Prabha that steals our hearts. The ordeal that the woman in India has to go through in a society as ours, patriarchy, violence, sexual aggression against her will, slander and maligning, despite her honest and hard work, is accurately but not overly done. Her silent tears were louder than agonizing cries.

The way Hindi is handled with the characters (actors from both the South and the North) is to be seen to be believed. It was almost done to a perfection and that too with actors I have been watching for the first time.

The production line, the work, workers and the manufacturing process at the factory were also captured very well.

Another highlight is the excellent music by Sushin Shyam.

Highly recommended. Go for it! This is a movie that WILL move you!