Nadan - Malayalam Movie Review

 Directed by     Kamal
Produced by     Anilkumar Ambalakkara
Written by     S. Suresh Babu
Music by     Ouseppachan
Cinematography     Madhu Neelakandan
Editing by     K.Rajagopal
Studio     Ambalakkara Global Films
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Jayaram as Devadas Sargavedi
    Remya Nambeesan as Jyothi
    Sajitha Madathil
    Joy Mathew
    K. P. A. C. Lalitha
    P. Balachandran
    Hareesh Peradi
    M.Mukundan
    Jayaraj Warrier
    Shankar Ramakrishnan
    Balaji Sarma

Kamal is one such among the bunch of legendary directors on 90-2000's who has still got his strong grip in the changing tides of Malayalm cinema. After the much appreciated, National/state award winning 'Celluloid' he is back with his next. Kamal usually balances commercial and non-commercial movies with each of his release, but by doing Nadan & Celluloid back to back, he has broken that pattern.

If 'Celluloid' told us the story about the birth of Malayalam cinema and the struggles its first director had to go through, this time Kamal deals with 'Drama' & Theater Artists. The film through the title character Devadas Sargavedi portrays the current fate of the once immensely popular art form, in Kerala. 

Devadas Sargavedi belongs to the 3rd generation of theater artists in his family, who also owns the troupe 'Sargavedi' which his father found after a split in Communist party & KPAC [

Kerala People's Arts Club]. The struggles that Devadas had to face to keep the troupe going and make two ends meet forms the crux of the story.

The major plus point of the movie is the incredible performances that every artist associated with the movie had to offer. Leading the pack is Jayaram, who undoubtedly gave his career best performance as Devadas, especially in the later half. Equally good was KPAC Lalitha, she was living as the character with many of the dialogues that we can very much connect with her real life too. The movie features many of the state's best drama artists, which was a great tribute in itself to them. 

The story, because is a fiction [even though based on reality] may find a normal one, but its the skill full direction, dialogues and performances that makes the movie an engaging watch. The movie do get bit of over melodramatic towards climax and gets to drag a bit. where the focus shifts to love, infidelity etc. There is nothing much for mass audience in the movie and is a must watch for all others and especially those who have enjoyed, at least once, the experience of watching a dram in an open stage surrounded by charged up crowd.

Kamal the director once again showed how one can make a class movie, without art house narration., that is equally entertaining and enlightening with out depending upon commercial elements. Kamal once again prooved that when it comes to real life stories, he is master class. Equally supported by  his efficient crew, with pleasing cinematography by Madhu Neelakandan, smooth editing by Rajagopal, Soothing music & apt back ground score by Ouseppachan [think he did both]. The art, costumes and make-up department also deserves a pat on their back for their work, especially in the drama portions.

'Drama' was one of the most celebrated art forms of Kerala and many of them had such huge impact that Govt. were forced to ban them [as explained in the movie]. With the onslaught of new-age entertainment art forms like Mimicry, Serials, Ganamela etc Drama lost its significance and going through a pretty low phase now. But still there are many who consider this as their life and ready to even die on the stage for the art form they love. 'Nadan' is a dedication to such people and a homage to the golden period of Drama & theater artists.

'Nadan' may not be a perfect film, but is definitely one of the best of 2013. 

Rating 3.5/5

Last Word: For the noble intentions and excellent acting, just give it a try