Official Trailer:

[SPOILERS AHEAD …]

There are lots of similarities between The Great Indian Kitchen (TGIK) and Kaathal – The Core. Other than the fact that both are from the same director, Jeo Baby. Focus of these two movies is about love and freedom, but TGIK is an angrier version about lack of love and oppression in a marriage. There is more love in Kaathal, there is no anger, and no one raises their voice, even in the courtroom. After a series of masculine movies filled with violence and high decibel, Kaathal feels like we are seated on a bench at a riverfront with cool air caressing our face. This doesn’t mean this is a feel-good movie about happy people. No, far from that. There is hurt and suppressed feelings. Coverup of feelings that are natural. Feelings locked up in the closet. There is love in a marriage of 20 years, but few key elements are missing. No, there is no domestic violence. There is no visible silencing of the other. But there is no personal fulfillment. Omana and Mathew Devassy are those married couple. Mathew is a gay. He agrees to marriage under the compulsion of his dad, with a hope that things will change (everything will be alright after a marriage, we hear this all the time, right?) but they don’t. 20 years pass by. When Mathew reluctantly enters politics for a by-election, Omana initiates divorce proceedings alleging that her husband is a homosexual. The fact, Mathew is a gay. that has been hidden in the closet comes out in the open in a slow reveal. The story navigates through marriage dynamics, loves lost, personal struggles, unforgiving social expectations, slowly changing times, justice, and freedom. Kaathal isn’t just a movie about gay and LGBTQ+, it is about nature, society, choice, sacrifices, accommodation, freedom, and love.

Story doesn’t vilify any particular group, beliefs, or the society. There is no vindictiveness. It takes a compassionate view. This approach may come across as unrealistic, but that is what the director wants us to imagine and give a thought. Why can’t things be like this? Movie makes an argument for understanding, equality, freedom to express, and harmonious coexistence. Can we break free without hurting others? Setting them free too? Is it possible to hit that kind of an outcome? Those are the questions Jeo Baby and the writers, Adarsh Sukumaran, and Paulson Skaria, pose and try to answer in Kaathal. What we get is a beautiful movie that handles the core issue sensitively, wonderfully written, directed, staged, and performed.

Director Jeo Baby narrates the story in a leisurely pace. Sequences are given breathing time to sink in. Scenes are wonderfully staged with just enough dialogues with lots of silence. Scene composition and actors’ expressions fill in for what is not said, leave room for interpretation. Campaign is in progress with the opposition party banking on Mathew’s orientation – then the rain pours, and the campaigners take shelter under the banner of Mathew. At the interval point, movie cuts between key characters in deep thought in different locations with rain in the background. The silence that befalls the courtroom when Omana says 4 times in last 20 years. Mathew holding Omana’s bag standing still when she goes through the cross-examination in the courtroom – visually conveys a lot about their relationship. Scene where both the son and the father breakdown with their emotions. Thankan’s encounter with Mathew’s father in the shop. When Omana says to Mathew, with divorce proceedings Omana isn’t seeking only her freedom, she is arguing the case for Mathew too. There are multiple scenes with religious imageries and the cross. We see characters framed behind open doors – kind of asking not just the characters in the move but us also to keep our minds open. Be open minded about people who are different. The final poetic shot where Mathew and Thankan drives towards a rainbow at the horizon with the poster of Mathew claiming a historic victory 👌🏼 One will observe more in repeat viewings.

Additional scenes covering how Thankan felt being dragged into the divorce case without his consent would have helped. Characters are wonderfully portrayed by everyone. Mammooty, Jyotika, Sudhi Kozhikode (as Thankan) and R.S.Panicker (as Mathew’s father) have given exceptional performances. Kaathal – The Core is a film that stays with you long after the lights dim, leaving us with hope and a lot to think about love, and freedom.