Acting keeps this archetypal drunkard tale afloat

Film: Vellam

Starring: Jayasurya, Samyuktha Menon

Direction: G. Prajesh Sen

Liquor consumes Murali, slightly than the opposite means round, as it’s with most individuals. Every waking hour is spent fascinated about the best way to get his subsequent drink, with out which he simply can’t operate. Once, he sells even his daughter’s research desk to purchase a drink whereas one other time he’s proven consuming a complete bottle of cough syrup to get excessive. Vellam, a colloquial utilization to discuss with drunkards, is this man’s story.

Filmmaker G. Prajesh Sen, who made his debut with Captain, but once more groups up with Jayasurya for Vellam. Said to be impressed from a real-life story, it chronicles how Murali (Jayasurya), who turns into a burden for his household, and the society round him, comes again from the brink and rebuilds his life.

Quite a number of movies have been made on individuals fighting consuming issues, most not too long ago the Pirthviraj-starrer Paavada. Much has been mentioned about it already that there’s little so as to add. Vellam additionally does not likely say something new, however tries to go a lot deeper into the problem, portraying the sheer helplessness of somebody eager to recover from habit, and that of the individuals round him. It doesn’t have any parallel narratives taking the eye away from the drunkard.

Repetitive scenes

But after a degree, the scenes of a drunk Murali mendacity on the street or having a tiff together with his household turns into repetitive. It appeared the director wished to drill within the message and make the viewer really feel the drunkard’s plight. Editing out a few of these would have helped in chopping down the run-time of two-and-a-half hours. If not for Jayasurya’s earnest efficiency, these elements would have develop into much more of a drag. He provides it his all as the person who can’t think about life with out alcohol, even crawling on the ground and licking drops of spilt spirit. For Samyuktha Menon too, the function of Murali’s spouse provides ample scope to carry out.

Some of the scenes, just like the one involving a lacking gold ring throughout a household operate and the suspicion turning to the good-at-heart protagonist, have been harking back to fairly a number of different ones we’ve got watched earlier than. Sequences like these gave the impression to be simply there to take advantage of some emotion. Whether because of the compulsions to stay to the real-life story or a reluctance to stray into uncharted territory, there’s nothing out of the field right here. The movie stays afloat strictly on the power of Jayasurya’s efficiency.