Big B

I always had nothing but detest for perpetual fans of Malayalam cinema. It arose from the total neglect or ignorance that they have exhibited towards world cinema over the years. It’s because they continue to live in a world of entertainment that the filmmakers of the state have created with substantial help from them. Since the '90s movies made in this part of the world have become overtly burdened with disgustingly stereotypical characters, situations and dialogues. With considerable support from people who choose to have zero access to movies made in languages other than Malayalam, the people who churn out such movies have succeeded in etching certain symbols into the minds of unsuspecting viewers so that these are supposed to be the ingredients of any movie to be made in the local lingo. So we have an array of movies made in the Unni-thatravadu-kindi-montha-dhoti-ma in law-daughter in law-kids-tears-sambar template and we can expect more to follow suit. Therefore, anything different from this framework is expected to evoke wrath in these narrow-minded thick heads and it's in this context that i attempt to review the most sophisticatedly made Malayalam movie of all time-Big B.
I had always found it very difficult to sit through the credits at the beginning of movies made in Malayalam. It always comes up in white against a black or dark blue background (with few variety in the font used) instead of a prologue of the story. Apart from an alteration to this routine, the opening sequence of Big B is so typical that I was prompted to wonder if I had been wrong in my estimation.
But all that was to change with the introduction of the protagonist, played by Mammootty. From then on, debutant director Amal Neerad makes sure that his maiden venture looks like nothing that have ever been made in the movie industry of the State. He might have worked alongside the man who changed the way Bollywood used to make movies, Ram Gopal Varma, for years, but his movie bears an unmistakable stamp of none other than John Woo.An acclaimed cinematographer himself, Neerad uses his camera with such finesse that it brings forth a unique viewing experience in Malayalam cinema. He has drawn inspiration from movies like Hard Target and the resulting super slow motion sequences are so different from those in the rest of the locally made films. The background score is a treat to the ears of those who are fed up with the obscurely monotonous sounds that usually accompany those typical visuals and is the best ever as far as Malayalam films are considered.
Followers of the afore mentioned typical movies may find it hard to digest it but the fact is that Big B is the most stylish movie ever to be made in Malayalam. They may claim that the movie doesn't have a story to tell. And I sincerely don’t know what a story is and as long as a movie is visually stunning the story is what I care about the least. Maybe the hangover of our epics, the Ramayana and The Mahabharata is lingering in these people so that they expect every movie to have such lengthy storyline. I would suggest that they watch a movie like 'Don’t Say a Word’. My mind drew a blank as I tried to imagine the last time i saw a keralite super hero cock a shotgun single-handedly la Schwarzenegger in T2. Mammootty does that in Big B and I couldn't help being elated as I watched it. And I feel that this is the movie that we should show others so that it will speak for itself that this is what we are capable of doing.
Though it is set in Kochi, Big B is not in the league of the cult movie 'Stop Violence' and it's not entirely on the underworld. But it could be rated alongside 'Keerthichakra' for its offbeat treatment.