This year saw the release of roughly 240 films in Malayalam, and apart from a few select standouts, one can safely say that a majority of them had mediocre, run-of-the-mill content. Even in terms of box office performances, it has been a mixed bag for Malayalam cinema. Even as a few much-hyped films (King of Kotha) nosedived at the box office, mainstream masala films (RDX, Kannur Squad) continue to have a dedicated audience. We had a surprise winner with Romancham early this year, a film headlined mostly by new actors (along with Soubin Shahir). But perhaps the biggest surprise of this year was Jeo Baby’s Kaathal: The Core, featuring Mammootty as a gay man trapped in a heterosexual marriage, which garnered substantial success at the box office.
But now, as we are making that year-end list, we realise there simply weren’t enough great characters to make it to a Top 10 list. Here we have picked a few of our favourite characters of 2023.
Spoilers ahead.
Mathew - Kaathal
Mathew Devassy (Mammootty) would have probably lived the rest of his life hiding, if Omana (Jyothika) hadn’t thrown him out of his self-imposed emotional and carnal exile. If not for that moment of truth that knocked him out of his cautious existence, he would have continued the façade of a devout family man. Mathew is a representation of several such gay men trapped in heterosexual marriages, for fear of being ostracised in society. And director Jeo Baby brought him out of the closet, forcing a society still hung up on heteronormative ideas to acknowledge the existence of love beyond the binary.
Ironically, Mathew has always been around us, like the woman in The Great Indian Kitchen, compelled to smother his desires and needs for the fear of being condemned and mocked. But it took a long time for his story to be told on celluloid. And when a star of Mammootty’s magnitude decides to play Mathew, it spontaneously authenticates the character for an average audience. More so since the film allows us to wade into the character’s emotional arc, letting us feel his pain and longing.
James/Sundaram - Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam
If the Ganga-Nagavally duality of Manichitrathazhu (1993) is a legendary exposition on celluloid, the James-Sundaram (Mammootty) dualism is more ambivalent. James is a Malayali Christian married with a son. He is cranky, stingy, and parochial. While returning from a religious trip with his family, he snaps out of his afternoon siesta and walks into another landscape, which he begins to inhabit as a Tamil villager named Sundaram.
Sundaram is nothing like James — he comes equipped with the histrionics of that region. And then it’s a virtual tussle between Sundaran begging to be accepted by a family who is perplexed by this stranger’s antics, and James’s family patiently waiting for him to come out of this masquerade. That moment when Sundaram stares into the mirror and finds himself staring at James further thickens the plot. Was it all just a daydream?
Thankan - Kaathal
Unlike Mathew, his purported partner Thankan (Sudhi Kozhikode) has a lot more issues to grapple with. He hails from a far less privileged space than Mathew and is helpless to protect himself from society’s condescending smirks and remarks. Thankan is a driving school instructor, who lives with his divorced sister and son. When Mathew’s predicament is revealed, parallelly we are in the know of Thankan’s conflicts. It’s a sensitively etched silent act that eloquently throws light on their unspoken romance.
Anjali - Aattam
In a drama troupe consisting of 12 actors, Anjali is the lone woman. We are told that she has been doing theatre from a very young age, and therefore she can easily blend into the fold. One gets the feeling that the men so far have been immensely protective about her, and Anjali (Zarine Shihab) from her bearing shows that the skewed gender ratio hasn’t been a deterrent for her. She is a postmodern woman, an architect by the day, moonlighting as a drama artist, and is in a relationship with one of the lead actors of the group. Maybe because she always considered herself as one of them, she freely mingles with the bunch.
Anjali’s arc is superbly etched. The shift from a member to a survivor of sexual assault is outlined with sensitivity, yet it’s done in a matter-of-fact manner that catches us off-guard. The realisation that her once happy place was just a sham, a thriving space of misogyny, becomes a shattering blow to her.
But Anjali soon finds her feet and turns it into her triumph. It’s heartwarming to see a woman who stands up for herself, and is unafraid to be herself, that too in a narrative groaning with men of all sizes and shapes.
Hamsadhwani - Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum
Sure, there comes a point in time when the hero gives her a wakeup call, but otherwise it is Hamsadhwani (Anjana Jayaprakash) who steals the show all the way in this Akhil Sathyan directorial. A zesty, no-nonsense single woman with a sharp wit in a city, who looks totally in charge of her life. From the moment she enters the screen, we are drawn towards her. Nothing seems to faze her and yet even during her most vulnerable self, she exudes a quiet strength. Maybe one can call her a modern prototype of the typical Sathyan Anthikad heroine—that beacon of light who facilitates the coming-of-age arc of the hero. But here Hamsadhwani’s journey doesn’t exactly start or end with him. You can even try a spin-off film with her.
Omana - Kaathal
If a brewing storm had a face, then it would be Omana (Jyothika)’s. She has lived in a marriage where her desires are never met, demanding her right to be a mother, with a partner who was powerless to own up to his sexuality fearing society and therefore urged her to stay despite knowing he was being cruel.
For two decades, she did her duties as a wife, mother, and daughter-in-law with clockwork precision, and then one day, she decided to break the chain of her abuse. But even then, she made sure to ensure the safety of her partner, a closeted gay man. She files for divorce only after homosexuality gets decriminalised in the country. Omana’s (Jyothika) story can very well be the story of women trapped in sexless, emotionally abusive heterosexual marriages as well. Life has turned Omana into a force of nature — quietly stirring up a rebellion and standing firm once she makes that decision.
Umma - Kadina Kadoramee Andakadaham
What’s special about this simple homemaker hailing from a middle-income Muslim family who has dutifully tended to her children and Dubai-settled husband? Her ordinariness. The exasperation and worry while handling her children’s conflicts, are all so beautifully brought out by Umma. Even decades after being together, a faint blush stains her cheeks when she talks to her husband.
Sure, Umma lives up to that conservative stereotype of celluloid moms, but what makes her special lies in the detailing. There is nothing cloyingly sweet about her imagery, just a relatable, giving woman who is conditioned by patriarchy but seems content with her life. Hers is evidently a fulfilling marriage despite the distance, and that’s an endearing sight.
Chandran - Falimy
Ever since his failure to bring bread to the table, Chandran (Jagadish) feels less heard and seen in his family. That has strained his relationship with his son, who in turn is doing a job he isn’t too fond of. It’s been a while since they have even spoken to each other. He has a rundown printing press but whiles away his time drinking. Chandran can be seen in various households and his lethargy is brilliantly captured by Jagadish who adds an underlying mirth to him. What’s refreshing about the feel-good narrative is that there are no dramatic reconciliations, just a casual, realistic closure.
Neelima Menon has worked in the newspaper industry for more than a decade. She has covered Hindi and Malayalam cinema for The New Indian Express and has worked briefly with Silverscreen.in. She now writes exclusively about Malayalam cinema, contributing to Fullpicture.in and thenewsminute.com. She is known for her detailed and insightful features on misogyny and the lack of representation of women in Malayalam cinema.
Views expressed are the author's own.
