Official Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KqZoyBQo7c

We would have come across security guards in malls, corporates, gated communities. We would have come across delivery boys. We would have seen cleaners in hotels. We know most of them have moved from other places. Migrants from far away states. Unlike us who migrate to dreamlands for a better living, this segment of population moves out of their native villages to get a job, any job, for their survival. Sometimes they migrate to get out of oppression, which is different from moving to US, UK, Canada, or Australia where it is an upward mobility from one privileged layer to another privileged layer. Have we ever stopped to give a thought about their living conditions? Their struggles? Conditions that force them to move out of their homeland. Insults they endure. Sacrifices they make day in and out. With high probability I can say no, considering the busy lives we lead.

Veyilmarangal, a movie by Bijukumar Damodaran, gives us a view of the life a scheduled caste family from Kerala who migrate to Himachal Pradesh when the island they live in submerges due to heavy rains. If you are game for a no-nonsense, no dumbing down, no hyped-up drama, no shoving of messages down your throat, no outbursts, this is the movie for you. There are no musical cues to manipulate our emotions. Veyilmarangal avoids devious camera movements like slow-motion, or extreme close-ups. This doesn’t mean Veyilmarangal is a slow stereotypical art movie. Movie is well paced, superbly staged, visually narrated with just required dialogues. What I greatly appreciated about Veyilmarangal is how effortlessly with minimalistic approach it conveys the emotions the protagonists go through with biting reality. The pain. The insults. The helplessness. The suppressed anger. The uncertainty about future. When I say uncertainty about future, it is relative – when our, the fortunate ones, worry is about have we saved enough for early retirement, theirs is about next meal, a job for tomorrow, a place to sleep tonight.

Even though the movie was released in 2019, hit upon the movie only few weeks back on Amazon Prime, thanks to the suggestion from my friend. Veyilmarangal is a hidden gem. Excellent cinematography along with flawless performances from all the actors. Indrans as father, Sarita as mother, and Govardhan as son get into the skin of their characters. Indrans just mesmerizes us with his brilliant performance – his portrayal of father character looks so natural – after few minutes into the movie you see only the father and not Indrans.

When the families in the island are forced to leave their homes due to flood, they take shelter in a school. District collector tells them they need to move out after a week and for any further help they need to have the aadhar card. Collector conveys his helplessness when the families tell him they don’t have anywhere to go and don’t have the card. At that time the national anthem starts playing in the background at the school and they all stand in attention for the anthem. This is just one sample gem of a scene from the movie that conveys the stupidity and absurdity of the situation we live in where false symbolism takes precedence over human life. All this done without any cues. A big applause to the creative team for giving us a pure cinema 👍🏽👏