Popular culture changes form with the evolution of its audiences and cinema in India has been no exception to it. While some film industries in the country have and are still struggling with audience evolution and adherence to the same, in the past decade, Malayalam cinema has best captured the evolution of the Indian film audience from its preference of hyperrealism to inclination towards realism.
How far ahead the line of mundane could a movie possibly go in the quest of keeping it real and relatable? How relatable or natural after all could popular culture get? And when a skeleton of realism is materialized to the extent of great success, how does a film maker incorporate elements that can elevate the foundation to make it a ‘movie’ and not perhaps a visually documented journal?
The ‘feel good’ genre of modern Malayalam cinema has experimented with all the facets of life from romance to rivalry, feminism to psychology in the most simplistic backdrops in its tryst with realism. Malayalam film makers have now successfully convinced a considerable audience that even the most ordinary can make for a compelling storyline, sometimes with an important social message, and the regularly overlooked can surprise you with an incredible story, enough for an entire climax to eventuate from it. Like Oliver Twist does, in Rojin Thomas’ ‘Home’.
The man with the interesting literary name in ‘Home’ is a character so commonplace to the sight that hardly anyone would spare a second glance at him. He’s a rather frail, balding man who opens the movie squinting into his old, basic mobile phone that only ever lights up when his childhood best friend calls him. He has caught on the idea that the world of cell phones and technology has a lot to offer because his sons cannot as much as put their phones aside and even his childhood best friend face times his daughter who lives abroad. He innocently explores the doorway to this incredible world of virtual possibilities – a smart phone – and we already know he is a character who will end up warming our hearts towards the end of the movie. It is easy to guess that the subtlety of this character will, in the long run, manifest into the strongest part of the movie; but in what ways Rojin Thomas chooses to tap into the subtlety and keep it intact through challenging elements is supremely interesting.
Plunged into the virtual world of possibilities beyond any hope for redemption are Oliver’s two sons, Anthony Oliver Twist and Charles Oliver Twist; typical boys full of flaws but somewhere, invisibly grounded in Oliver’s homely values. Anthony is a successful film maker with a massive debut film to his name but now drowning in a bottomless creative block walled by his producer’s restless deadlines; that drives him back home to his family in search of inspiration to write. Oliver’s innocent heart’s ability to feel joy knows no bounds when he sees his older son’s red car parked at home after so long, but quite obviously Anthony is to let him down a couple of times because that’s how relationships work at home.
Rojin Thomas’ approach to a plotline as simplistic as a home life of an aging protagonist obliged him to introduce elements that can compel a storyline – as would be the mandate for any film choosing the plot of everyday routine – such as addiction to technology, a writer’s block, a professional approach to psychological well being of the elderly, and majorly an idea that everyone comes with a story no matter how simple he/she seems. It almost steers in the direction of insensitivity or mockery for comic effect when mental health is introduced into the picture but Thomas quickly drives it back into its place of importance by transforming Oliver from a technologically challenged father trying too hard to blend into his sons’ digital world, to someone who understands and reprimands smart phone addiction. It takes Oliver a threatening stumble on the threshold of the social media world that is scripted and presented to induce a moment of anxiety – post which event both Oliver and Anthony are given a disguised epiphany. Anthony’s realization of the epiphany arrives much later, but it is bigger and more significant, enough to arrive at a simple and telling climax that accentuates his imperfection among many other things, but deems it okay for it is all a natural way of being at home. The writer’s block fades away as he puts up a hand-written social media post towards the end describing his epiphany of his innate way of life and his grounding at home.
Creative visualization of realism is challenging because it easily gets mundane; and there is no scope for romanticising of little things that constitute everyday life – something that a lot of successful Bollywood movies have sworn by. Rojin Thomas has tackled this challenge with simplicity. The forgiving nature of inter personal relationships within homes where two grown brothers can fight and mock each other all day long and end up falling asleep on each others’ shoulders, where a son’s fingers pointed at a father’s sense of worth in life can question his entire existence and yet he can be thrilled at his son sending him a kissing emoji, the mother bickering at the father’s seeming incompetence all day long and yet lashing out when one of the sons is rude to him; Thomas has incorporated it all without it seeming just like a mandatory addition to increase the warmth of the movie. The natural elements are not stressed upon – they instead form an aura of underlying familiarity and ease that is meant to be taken for granted in a family setup. Every few minutes, ‘Home’ has a shot/sequence that brings the viewer back to the basic idea of a typical family setup such as a fish in a broken aquarium, a terrace garden ardently nurtured by Oliver, posters on the walls in the boys’ rooms, house plants, a messy teenager’s room, a rickety and overloaded shoe rack, a power outage on a rainy day and so on. These elements do not compel the story forward as such, nor are they evidently symbolic of some deep hidden meaning but they’re intently placed – because it is after all a home and a home has elements that are just present for the sake of it. To not be scared of keeping things at face value is a feat Rojin Thomas has achieved in this movie, which is why ‘Home’ can be bookmarked as one of the most successful experiments with realism. Sure, there are dreams and subtle motifs but none that a common viewer uninterested in symbolic imagery couldn’t relate to. The only ‘extraordinary’ thing that Oliver narrates to his son in an attempt to enhance his worth in his eyes in competition to his father in law, is made convincing in a rather unexpected way towards the end.
Oliver, played ever so wonderfully by Indrans, carries the slowly unfolding movie on his shoulders with an impeccable chemistry with his co-actors but even for a man of such innocently nondescript stature, he has a competitor who unwillingly hogs the only limelight he aims for in life – his son’s attention, and perhaps some reverence on a subconscious level. Anthony’s father in law to-be, Joseph Lopez is an accomplished man whose autobiography Anthony reads before it is published and his own father’s life is not even worth consideration in comparison. Indrans’ portrayal of Oliver who is deeply hurt by his son’s inconsiderate words about his worth but has to hide it for days, might easily be one of his best performances. A good duration of the movie is spent as Oliver and his best friend, Sooryan, contemplate on what makes their simple lives extraordinary until they recall some event buried in their memories and dwell on it until Anthony has heard it. This attempt at conveying that no mundane life is unworthy, unfolds heart-warmingly and validates that simplistic plots can still be kept interesting without romanticism.
Simplicity of the plotline does not overpower the strength of characters in ‘Home’. Oliver as the protagonist gets a distinctive storyline laden with exploration of technology, a notable back story, subtle talents he recollects, conflicts and a psychological recovery through a very unconventional technique of Tai Chi; and Anthony’s directorial adventures are inspiringly written as well. He’s a shabby young man with a creative mind that often goes out of control. He loves a girl who he gives a tough time to but holds on to nonetheless. Charles, the younger lad is the spitting image of a ‘teenage boy’ stereotype with a spoilt demeanour, but one that is endearing at the same time. Both Shreenath Bhasi and Nasleen Gafoor playing Anthony and Charles have poured every ounce of authenticity they can muster into their roles. One flaw that could be pin-picked is the lacklustre portrayal of women in the ensemble – both Kuttiyamma and Priya – the mother of the household and Anthony’s girlfriend. They are vital elements of the flow, but Thomas seemed a little laid back in equating their spaces with the men. They’re more of complimentary characters that elevate the emotional vulnerability of their male counterparts than their own individual selves steering the plotline; which could be called a low point.
Rojin Thomas, however, keeps it all deliberately aesthetic throughout. For a plotline with such great claim on realism, aesthetic appeal is uncompromised and there are a handful of avoidable desperate comic attempts through the way. At the end, it all adds to the ‘feel good’ factor and works out for ‘Home’, despite thrusting the movie to the borderline of the ‘realistic’ club.
Taking it completely easy on the conventional aspects of movie making that distinguish ‘great/notable cinema’ such as symbolism, imagery, technicality or open ended climaxes is arguably a bold choice for a film maker catering to the educated audiences. On the level of cinematography Thomas has directed a balance in close up and mid shots and has made ample inclusions of suggestive homely elements even in a slow paced movie. Other than that, ‘Home’ does not attempt a revolution, nor does it throw a viewer in a psychological fit. What it does is it leaves a ‘feel-good’ sense, exactly what it promised; through a plotline perhaps most relatable of all. Movies shifting their centre from out-worldly/extraordinary experiences to the closest of routines are a defining aspect of modern cinema, confidently pioneered by Mollywood. Rojin Thomas has mastered the art of sustaining maximum authenticity of a simple character which is in fact a challenge bigger than drawing a complex character on screen, for a character driven cinema. For its success in presenting what could easily be a non-story in a way compelling enough to keep a viewer hooked for two hours and forty minutes, ‘Home’ carves for itself a spot in the diverse Malayalam plethora of defining movies, especially ones with resonating plots.
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