Moothon Review - Tender, Gut-Wrenching and Heartbreaking

Suhansid Srikanth

The first shot of Moothon opens with a lullaby like song that a brother sings to his sibling. The stretch extends into that sibling trying to trace his brother. His uncle hardly gives him any hints. There is no way out to find where he is. And one night, he decides to leave his island (Lakshadeep) and go to Bombay in order to find his brother. And from a closeted little island, he is now in a jarringly terrifying Mumbai. The sluggish city crumbles him with its dark hands. And he ends up under the capture of Kamathipura's underworld Kingpin, Bhai. 


Moothon is a brutally wild outing where every character comes out in their all grey shades. An unapologetically ruthless sex worker, Rosy, played by Sobhita Dhulipala. A crooked small time helper, Salim, played by Shashank Arora. The rusty, edgy kids of the streets. They all get it going with what they had to do everyday. Survive! The kid goes from place to place, hands to hands in his journey to find his brother. And until his identity is revealed, the film expresses its canvas in length and sets up its mood.

The crux of Moothon beneath all the ruggedness and rusticity lies in the story that is revealed in the latter half of the film. One that lets you connect the dots and fill the blanks about Bhai. The love story which gets opened in the island not only surprises you for the theme but also leaves you in awe as you imagine how bold of a mainstream actor of Nivin's stature to portray a nuanced portrayal this sensitively. The scenes involving Akbar and Ameer (played by heartbreakingly beautiful Roshan Mathew) are poetry soaked in moonlight. The tenderness chokes you. Throughout this episode, the unsure smile in Nivin's face in exploring a quest that both fascinates and frightens him solidly stamps the underrated, mostly unused side of an actor in the star.

The scene where Ameer leans towards Akbar's ears to utter his name is probably the most tragically poignant moments I've come across on screen in years. All the romantic scenes involving them are tenderly portrayed. The religion plays part of their love. They lock their eyes as Ameer comes to see Akbar playing Kuthu Ratheeb. The first time, Ameer finds Akbar close to him is when the latter chants near his lips as he falls unconscious. The tragedy is bathed by the hauntingly serene moonlight. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography effortlessly translates the sea-sick lousiness of the island and the grumpy, crookedness that runs into the shaded nooks of Mumbai. 

 

The climax action stretch and how the film ends the character of Bhai goes hand in hand with being mainstream or cinematic. I would have perfectly settled with that shot where he takes the kid in his bike and it rains. The redemption he was seeking for is here. But, the story unfolds for the worse. And Geetu, ends the film on a weirdly strange situation where you feel happy that there is hope and shattered for where it comes. 

The film does stand alienated. One, for the setup and the language. Two, for the ecstaticly eccentric set of characters and world it exposes. But nevertheless, the mood of a torn apart life which could have been good comes alive amidst all the flaws. There is this scene where Akbar enquires Ameer about what it feels like to be in Bombay. Ameer, in his sign language, signs about how pigeons visits his windows, waves are heard and how sunrises and sunsets could be seen. When destiny pulls them apart, he pleads him to come with him to see those pigeons and sunsets. And, what life really affords him is a dark, dirty room with no windows where sun never sneaks in or pigeons never visit.

 

Bottomline : Geetu Mohandas's directorial MOOTHON is a tragic tale of a man who gives up on life and starts merely surviving. The love story that breathes beneath the rugged shell of blood and gore is heartwrenching, delicately real and makes the film to be remembered for years to come.

Rating : 4 / 5