Ooruku Nooruper
Now
Showing
Cast:
Hans Kaushik, G M Sundher, Julie, Archana, Bharatimani, Gypsy
Rajkumar.
Director: B Lenin
 The film opens with Balan in solitary confinement waiting for his death at the gallows. Balan had been sentenced to death for murdering a priest. Balan’s wife Saroja, a simple woman for whom her family was the world, could never come to terms with her husband’s ideologies and the world-is-my-family outlook. Saroja remains unforgiving till the end, but solace comes in the form of the priest’s widow who, taking her husband’s death philosophically, forgives Balan, even expressing her anguish at his death sentence.
There is Anandan, the revolutionary editor of a newspaper, who uses his pen to draw attention to the ills of society.
Sympathetic to Balan’s plight and a strong advocate against capital punishment, Anandan attempts to
mobilise public opinion against it. Though his writing creates a bonding between the two, Anandan’s plea to Balan to consent to a mercy petition is turned down by
him.
As Balan stoically awaits his death, memories of the past haunt him. Like his interaction with the priest of the temple, his disillusionment with the system, his joining a revolutionary
organisation called 'Ooruku Nooruper', their trying to rob the temple jewels, and the inadvertent killing of the priest by Balan. In the final scene, Anandan goes to claim the body, but Balan had pre-empted him there!
It’s a thought-provoking film that works at different levels. It’s about the issue of capital punishment; about the
repercussion of the acts of violence of the families of the perpetrator and of the victim; of the might of the pen versus the sword; of violence versus a collective, bloodless revolution; and of the need to have a more humane approach in solving the ills of society. The dialogues are thoughtfully penned, the re-recording effective, with Alfonse Roy’s camera splendidly capturing the mood of the film.
It’s an impressive performance from Hans Kaushik (from the Magic Lantern
theatre group) in his first major screen role as Balan the revolutionary. G M Sundher as Anandan, performs his role with a quiet
sobriety. There is adequate support from Julie (as Saroja), Bharathimani (as Balan`s
father-in-law), and Archana (as Anandhan`s colleague).
Coming to the theatres after a
two-year gap since its completion, Ooruku Nooruper is a not-to-be-missed film, socially relevant and thought- provoking.
MORE ABOUT OORUKU NOORUPER
-
It's the first production venture of L Suresh of Ananda Movies, distributors since 1948.
-
It won for Lenin the National Award, the Golden Lotus, for Best Director.
-
It won the Silver Lotus award for the Best Regional Film in Tamil (2001)
-
It's been entered at five
international film festivals
-
It was selected for the Indian panorama, and was the
inaugural film at the international film festival-2001.
-
The film was released on Dec
12 at Studio 5, commemorating great poet Subramania Bharati's birthday,
which falls on Dec 11.
Malini Mannath
Published on 13th Dec, 2003
|
