It is also when Alice starts weaning from their relationship that Thomas loses it - he barges into her house at night in a drunken stupor and hurls abuses at a shaken Alice. He flaunts his Achayan machismo frequently, taking it as an excuse to exert his dominance in their relationship.Īlice, despite her conventional upbringing does not take things lying down and figures out soon enough that Thomas is not really the man she first met. He resents Ravi’s closeness to Alice and humiliates the young man at every opportunity, much to her bewilderment. Thomas not only has a myopic opinion of a woman’s role in the society, he is not comfortable with the idea of Alice taking a decision in their relationship. In fact, he is a more rounded version of Uyare’s Govind - considered to be one of the rare instances of toxic masculinity depictions done right in Malayalam cinema in the recent past.
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He is disagreeable, chauvinistic, rude and has already taken proprietary rights of Alice. But unlike the glorified ones that came later, Thomas gets a more realistic depiction. Thomas is a precursor to the archetypal Achayan characters in Malayalam cinema. When they bump into her school music teacher, he is as crude, advising him to have a session under the tree with his violin to raise money. When she tells him about Ravi’s girlfriend, Thomas slyly queries -“That curvaceous girl?” He also shows little sensitivity when he visits after her brother’s funeral, talking casually about his death. Maybe Alice never really noticed these obviously alarming toxic traits in Thomas, which he gave hints of right from the start. In hindsight, they seem to be a perfect match - the conventional Alice and the entitled sexist Thomas, who soon displays his claws once their marriage is fixed by the elders. The choreography is impromptu where subdued conversations hold a multitude of emotions and warmth. There is something about the montage songs in a Padmarajan film (this film is shot by Shaji N Karun), which have a very Balu Mahendran framing to them - the faces are stripped off pancake, the interiors look lived-in and the nature shots hold their colours, the trees, flowers and green leaves, with sunlight pouring in. Padmarajan paces the narrative without much fuss, the writing is excellent, with characters gradually evolving in front of you. It does not take much time for Ravi to find his groove under her care, as he blossoms into a confident young man. It is also the school management’s hostility towards the boy that makes her determined to take up Ravi’s case.Īlice takes him under her wing, like how a mother bird plucks the baby bird that has fallen from its nest. But Alice is quick to recognise that behind that languid frame (with the saddest eyes) is an abandoned, lonely boy who misses his deceased mother. Everything about him spells trouble - he is laidback, gets into trouble often and would rather turn his back on the teacher and chat with his friend in class.
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When Ravi Puthooran (a charming Rahman making his debut), the prodigal son of a Minister (Jose Prakash) enrolls at their school, Alice like the rest of the staff is skeptical. She is the kind of teacher who believes that there are only bad teachers, no bad students.Īfter handling yet another crisis calmly, she is joined by her brother Captain George and his friend Captain Thomas (Mammootty, earnest but undercooked) and we are witness to their warm camaraderie. She is well-liked and the principal (Sukumari) dotes on her. Just as casually the leading characters walk in-Alice (Suhasini), the English teacher in Good Shepherd’s school, unmistakable in an emerald sari, efficiently monitoring the proceedings. The camera unhurriedly eyeing animated children in uniforms, some in stage costumes dabbing makeup, teachers running amok, readying for the annual day, and parents sitting impatiently in their chairs for the events to unfold.
1983 MALAYALAM MOVIE REVIEW SERIES
The film opens almost like a televised documentary series of a school, set in a hill station.