The Damage We Do to Ourselves

Kaathal–The Core | Cast: Mammootty, Jyothika | Director: Jeo Baby | Malayalam | Prime Video

Among many outstanding scenes in Kaathal (which premiered on streaming on January 5 after its theatrical run), one is particularly heartbreaking. Femi tells her father Mathew that she knows his secret and that she understands. His eyes well up, and he turns away, leaving altogether, unable to stand the compassion in her eyes. In another poignant scene towards the end of the film, you understand why. Mathew (played by Mammootty) tells his father: “You raised me, giving me all freedoms. You understood all my needs. But when it came to this, you didn’t understand me.” “This” is his homosexuality, which follows him like a dark shadow, blighting his life and that of those around him. When after 20 years of marriage his wife Omana finally seeks a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty, it coincides with his contesting a ward by-election. “Why now?” is a question everyone in the village asks Omana (a sedate Jyothika who refuses to bow down to her circumstances). And that is the movie’s greatest triumph. In rescuing herself from years of injustice, Omana is also giving Mathew the right to live his own truth, to acknowledge his own identity. She will not back down, and as her lawyer says, “On Article 377, when Supreme Court Justice Indu Malhotra said history owes an apology to members of the homosexual community, the same should have been extended to their families, especially the partners they were forced to marry.” Much is said through words in the movie, but so much more is expressed by tender glances and subtle gestures. When Omana congratulates Mathew, she does so by shaking his hand, almost as if she were a colleague. When Mathew’s father breaks down, it is the son who comforts his father. When Mathew is serving breakfast to his father and daughter, his glance goes to the kitchen and stove where Omana worked quietly and ceaselessly, when not writing her latest work. And when Thankan, Mathew’s long time lover, sees him in the rear view mirror of his car, his gaze lingers with longing.

Why watch it: To see why it is never too late to stand up for yourself and why sometimes a work of art gives you the courage to do so

A Little Light Movie

Hi Nanna| Cast: Nani, Mrunal Thakur, Kiara Khanna | Director: Shouryuv | Telugu | Netflix

Nani is called Natural Star for a reason. He slips into any role effortlessly, and uses the maxim of seemingly minimum effort for maximum impact. This is an old-fashioned theatrical romance (now streaming) with all the required ingredients: a child who may be dying, a woman who has a mysterious connection with her, a disapproving mother, and a long-suffering man who is wronged for being poor. Nani plays a photographer who becomes a big shot in Mumbai and Mrunal Thakur plays the woman who develops a strange bond with his daughter. Of course, there is an accident, amnesia, and possibly another husband on the horizon. It’s visually beautiful, Thakur is increasingly at home in Telugu movies, which give her much more to do than Hindi cinema, and there is a surprise cameo from Angad Bedi who gets to play far outside his field, as a neurologist.

Why watch it: Love stories without axes drenched in blood and machine guns mounted on stilts are hard to find these days. Makes sense to enjoy a dying breed

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