Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Malayalam cinema did just that in 2021, producing some great films under the stringent restrictions induced by Covid-19.
Biju Menon and Joju George shared the Best Actor award at the 52nd Kerala State Film Awards, while veteran actor Revathy won the Best Actress award for her performance in Boothakaalam.
Parvathy Thiruvothu, the Malayalam actor who was last seen in 2021 film Aarkkariyam, on Monday apologised on social media for ‘liking’ rapper Vedan’s post in which he issued an apology after sexual misconduct allegations were levelled against him by several women.
Aarkkariyam comes close on the heels of another riveting work, Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), directed by the late director and his close friend Sachy, a drama centred on a clash of machismo. “It was only recently that I started taking my craft seriously,” says Menon. “When I realised the audience liked seeing me on screen and were paying close attention to my performances, I had to rise to their expectations.
The opening sequence of Aarkkariyaam (Who knows! ) moves between this grim scene of home-leaving and warmer vignettes of a patriarch preparing to welcome the couple into his lonely yet strangely content existence in an old house with a sprawling green backyard.Sanu has the methodical approach of a film school student, staying away from mainstream tendencies, even in places that call for dramatic intervention of camera and sound.