MOVIE MAGIC

I have had an overdose of Prithviraj over the weekend. First it was “Classmates”, the movie that is all the rave in Malluland, and then it was “Parijatham,” a Tamil movie.

I know true blue mallu-movie watchers are going to sneer at my selection of movies. I never was a Malayalam movie fan. Possibly because my parents were not avid movie goers. My first taste of a mallu movie was on Doordarshan. Every Sunday afternoon, an award winning movie would be screened. Thank goodness, a lot of mallu movies won awards. Never was a mallu movie more avidly awaited. I belong to the elite few who actually watched “Elipattayam” from start to finish without falling asleep even once.

All that changed once I got into college. Having a bunch of mallu-movie fanatics for friends helped. That was when I got to see movies like Manichitrathazhu, Amaram and Kilukam and they have remained favorites to this day. I labored under the impression that I had seen it all and considered myself quite a connoisseur as far as Malayalam movies were concerned.

My self delusional state lasted until I got married. Hubby dear was aghast at my mallu movie repertoire. He felt my education was sorely lacking and took it upon himself to set things right. He started me off with “Thoovanathumbikal” and I fell hook, line and sinker.

Now most of the arguments at home are about who the better actor is-Mammooty or Mohanlal. Never has the north-south divide been so prominent. I am a Mammooty fan since he looks great and acts even better. And hubby dear is a die-hard Mohanlal fan. He actually tried to name our son after one of the characters in a Mohanlal movie. That was when I had to put my foot down.

Things have come to such a pass that I have hubby dear’s friends trying to convince me that I have to shift to the Mohanlal camp. They consider me a traitor and sneer at hubby dear for failing to make his wife change her mind.

I never realized the seriousness of the issue until I boarded one of the local buses in Kerala. My aunt and I were having a discussion on Mohanlal movies and I happened to comment that he looked like a teddy bear. The sudden pin drop silence in the otherwise noisy bus was deafening. My aunt hissed at me to keep quiet and we hurriedly got off at the next stop!!!