ariyippu movie review malayalam

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User production 508 days ago

Sanjay visavadia 511 days ago.

Very good movie. The subject is unusual. Movie shows reality of factory workers and victim of viral videos of those women.

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webExclusive Report --> സമൂഹത്തിനുള്ള ‘അറിയിപ്പ്’; റിവ്യു

Published: November 25 , 2022 12:37 PM IST

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മലയാളത്തിൽ കലാമൂല്യമുള്ള സിനിമകളുമായി തന്റേതായ ഇടം സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്ന സംവിധായകനാണ് മഹേഷ് നാരായണൻ. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ കഥ പറച്ചിലിനു സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യന്റെ വിയർപ്പിന്റെ മണമുണ്ട്. ‘ടേക് ഓഫ്’ ആയാലും ‘സീ യൂ സൂൺ’ ആയാലും തന്റെ കാഴ്ചപ്പാടുകളോട് ഒരു വിട്ടുവീഴ്ചയും ചെയ്യാത്ത ചലച്ചിത്രകാരനായി മഹേഷ് നാരായണൻ നട്ടെല്ലുയർത്തി നിൽക്കുകയാണ്. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ഏറ്റവും പുതിയ സിനിമയായ ‘അറിയിപ്പും’ സമാനമായ ഒരു പ്രസ്താവനയാണ്. എന്താണ് സമൂഹം തന്റെ സിനിമയിലുടെ ഏറ്റെടുക്കേണ്ട സാമൂഹിക പ്രതിബദ്ധത എന്ന കൃത്യമായ ബോധ്യമുള്ള ഒരു സംവിധായകന്റെ സൃഷ്ടിയായി അറിയിപ്പിനെ അടയാളപ്പെടുത്താം. ഡിക്ലറേഷൻ എന്ന വാക്കിന്റെ മലയാളമാണ് അറിയിപ്പ്. ഐഎഫ്എഫ്ഐയിൽ പനോരമ വിഭാഗത്തിൽ പ്രദർശിപ്പിച്ച ചിത്രം ഐഎഫ്എഫ്കെയിലും വരുന്നുണ്ട്.

വടക്കേ ഇന്ത്യയിൽ ജീവിക്കാനായി ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുന്ന രണ്ടു മലയാളികൾ. പുകമഞ്ഞു നിറഞ്ഞ ഡൽഹിയിൽ അതിജീവനത്തിനായി പോരാടുന്ന ഹരീഷും രശ്മിയും. കുഞ്ചാക്കോ ബാബനാണ് നായകനായെത്തുന്നത്. ദിവ്യപ്രഭയാണ് രശ്മി. ഗ്ലൗസ് നിർമിക്കുന്ന ഫാക്ടറിയിലെ ഇടുങ്ങിയ ജീവിതസാഹചര്യം. ജീവിതത്തിൽ രക്ഷപ്പെടാനായി ഇരുവരും വിദേശത്തേക്കു ചേക്കേറാനുള്ള അധ്വാനം നടത്തിവരികയാണ്. കോവിഡ് കാലത്ത് മാസ്കണിഞ്ഞ ജീവിതം, ഗ്ലൗസ് നിർമാണ ഫാക്ടറി തുടങ്ങി സമകാലിക സാഹചര്യങ്ങളിലൂടെ ഒരു പരിധി വരെ യഥാതഥമായാണ് കഥ മുന്നോട്ടുപോവുന്നത്. തന്റെ അസ്തിത്വം നഷ്ടമാവാതിരിക്കാൻ പൊരുതുന്ന സ്ത്രീത്വത്തിന്റെ കഥയിലേക്കാണ് സിനിമ ലാൻഡ് ചെയ്യുന്നത്. 

മെഡിക്കൽ ആവശ്യങ്ങൾക്കായി ഗ്ലൗസ് നിർമിക്കുന്ന ഡൽഹിയിലെ ഒരു കമ്പനിയിലെ തൊഴിലാളികളാണ് ദമ്പതിമാരായ ഹരീഷും രശ്മിയും. വിദേശത്തേക്കുള്ള വീസ ലഭിക്കുന്നതിനായി വർക്ക് സ്കിൽ തെളിയിക്കാനുള്ള വിഡിയോ എടുക്കുന്നിടത്താണ് ചിത്രം ആരംഭിക്കുന്നത്. ഒരു ദിവസം ഫാക്ടറി തൊഴിലാളികളുടെ വാട്സാപ് ഗ്രൂപ്പിൽ രശ്മിയുടെ പേരിൽ ഒരു അശ്ലീല വിഡിയോ ആരോ പോസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യുകയാണ്. 

ഇത്തരമൊരു സന്ദർഭത്തിൽ മിണ്ടാതിരുന്ന് എല്ലാംസഹിക്കാനാണ് സമൂഹം ഏതു സ്ത്രീയോടും പറയുക. ഇവിടെ രശ്മി തല കുനിക്കാൻ തയാറാവുന്നില്ല.

കെട്ടുറപ്പുള്ള തിരക്കഥയും ശക്തമായ കഥാപാത്ര നിർമിതിയുമാണ് സിനിമയെ ശ്രദ്ധേയമാക്കുന്നത്. ഉയർത്തുകയും താഴ്ത്തുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന മാസ്കുകൾ സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യജീവിതത്തിന്റെ കാഴ്ചയായി മാറുകയാണ് അറിയിപ്പിൽ.

ഇൻഡിപെന്റന്റ് ഫിലിംമെയ്ക്കിങ് രീതികളോട് അടുത്തുനിൽക്കുന്ന ചലച്ചിത്രഭാഷയാണ് സിനിമാട്ടോഗ്രഫിയിൽ മഹേഷ് നാരായണൻ പിൻതുടരുന്നത്. എങ്കിലും കാഴ്ചക്കാർക്ക് വൈകാരികമായി സിനിമയോട് അടുപ്പം തോന്നുമോയെന്ന സംശയം ബാക്കിയാണ്. തന്റേതെന്ന പേരിൽ പ്രചരിപ്പിക്കപ്പെട്ട അശ്ലീല വിഡിയോക്കെതിരെ ഒറ്റയ്ക്കുപോരാടി ജയിച്ച ഒരു വനിതയുടെ ജീവിതം സമീപകാലത്ത് മാധ്യമങ്ങളിൽ ചർച്ചയായതാണ്. കുടുംബവും ബന്ധുക്കളും കൈവിട്ടിട്ടും ഒറ്റയ്ക്ക് പോരാടുന്ന ആ വനിതയുടെ കഥയോടാണ് സിനിമയ്ക്ക് ഏറെ അടുപ്പം.

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Ariyippu Review: An Understated But Telling Gem

Ariyuppu review: informed with disarming simplicity, narayanan's screenplay is also marked by psychological depth..

A still from Ariyippu .(courtesy: YouTube )

Cast : Kunchacko Boban, Faisal Malik, Danish Husain, Kannan Arunachalam, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Lovleen Mishra and Divya Prabha

Director: Mahesh Narayanan

Ratin g: Four stars (out of 5)

Mahesh Narayanan's fourth directorial venture, Ariyippu (Declaration), a Malayalam film with a liberal smattering of Hindi, opens with a video on a mobile phone. The face in the recorded footage - that of a woman employee of a medical gloves factory near Delhi - is hidden behind a surgical mask. Uncovering the identity of this woman is the focal point of a plot centred on a migrant couple placed under severe duress by an unfortunate turn of events.

This prelude to the story points to two facts. The obvious one is that Covid-19 is still raging and parts of the world are still under partial lockdowns. The not so obvious one is what the masks, real and figurative, conceal. Ariyippu , which has an array of characters whose masks disguise the truth that lie buried in their souls, lets the opacities and ambiguities linger until the very end.

Ariyippu , competing for the Suvarna Chakoram at the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala, is now streaming on Netflix. It is a tale of a moral crisis and its consequences on a Malayali couple who work in the medical gloves factory that serves as the film's principal setting.

The man, Hareesh (Kunchacko Boban, who is also a producer of the film along with Shebin Backer and Mahesh Narayanan), does night shifts at Neelam Rubber Factory, where his wife Reshmi (Divyaprabha), too, works. They hope to be in Delhi temporarily. They have applied for visas for jobs abroad. The pandemic intervenes and scuttles their plans.

To make matters worse, an old video surfaces and circulates quickly among the employees of the factory. It puts Hareesh and Reshmi's jobs and marriage on the line. They file a police complaint at the risk of overturning many apple carts, including their own.

Tension and intrigue abound in Ariyippu as a can of worms is opened. The unsuspecting couple tries to wriggle out of the tight spot that they are in. As they dig deeper into the mystery of the video, the more dirt and distress they unearth.

Narayanan builds up the tale one layer at a time, detailing the causes and fallouts of Reshmi and Hareesh's troubles. With their jobs under a cloud, recriminations multiply between the two. Cornered and assailed by confusion, Hareesh resorts to desperate steps only to aggravate matters for himself and his wife.

Neither speaks enough Hindi to be able to make their feelings clear to those that run the factory. Being migrants grappling with a serious language barrier is actually the least of their problems. The mess caused by the emergence of the video is infinitely more irksome. It threatens to stymie their plans for good.

The factory has a couple Malayalam-speaking senior employees, including the avuncular Suresh (Kannan Arunachalam), who double up as their interpreters and sounding boards when the need arises, but so intractable is the problem that it triggers anxiety and impulsive acts.

The masks that people wear not only conceal faces, but also disguise the realities of a workplace where much is amiss. Supervisor Smita (Lovleen Mishra) strives to uncover activities that appear to be at odds with the factory's quality control procedures.

As the story unfolds, Ariyippu brings to light the yawning gap between what is visible and what lies beneath the surface. Informed with disarming simplicity, Narayanan's screenplay is also marked by psychological depth, which aids in sustaining audience interest in the plight of the couple.

Besides extracting unwaveringly solid performances from Kunchacko Boban and Divyaprabha, Narayanan uses actors like Danish Husain, Faisal Malik, Saifudheen and Sidharth Bhardwaj (playing a cop) in impactful supporting roles. Lovleen Mishra fleshes out her part without having to overstretch herself.

The technicians at Narayanan's disposal are all their best in a film that allows them the scope to demonstrate their craft without taking recourse to self-conscious methods. The technical and visual vim and vigour of Narayanan's Take Off, C U Soon and Malik are replaced here with craftsmanship of a less flashy but no less effective kind.

Among the principal technicians is, of course, the director himself performing editing duties with Rahul Radhakrishnan. The cutting gives Ariyippu a sense of pace and a pulsating rhythm even when what is happening on the screen tilts towards the minimalistic.

Cinematographer Sanu John Varughese lights and shoots both the interiors and the external settings with an eye on what is particularly productive in highlighting the morally dodgy, emotionally stifling ambience. The roar of the factory machines, the wails of the factory siren, and other variegated ambient sounds accentuate the visual and aural atmospherics.

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Thanks to an approach that rests more on the inconspicuous than on the obtrusive, the backdrop - the badlands of Delhi NCR - is not just a convenient backdrop. It has a germane purpose - showing the audience the core of the shadowy environs that breed sleaze and skulduggery on one hand and despair and agony on the other.

Ariyippu is an understated but telling gem from a director at the top of his game. An absolute must watch.

Kunchacko Boban, Faisal Malik, Danish Husain, Kannan Arunachalam, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Lovleen Mishra and Divya Prabha

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Ariyippu Movie Review: Mahesh Narayanan documents a volatile situation in his finest film yet

Rating: ( 4 / 5).

There is a scene in Ariyippu (English: Declaration) where Kunchacko Boban slaps himself a few times and breaks down after doing something he shouldn't have done. It occurs at a crucial point in the film when he is overwhelmed by a palpable degree of frustration which propelled him to the above situation. It is just a minor description of what I find to be Kunchacko Boban's boldest performance yet. And director Mahesh Narayanan and cinematographer Sanu John Varghese frame this moment without music. It's raw emotions, pure and simple. This is, of course, a quality that can be said of the rest of the film, too. In Ariyippu , we find Mahesh Narayanan at his most liberated, operating in a terrain he hasn't explored before. Ariyippu is his purest film, devoid of adulteration from commercial cinema trappings. It's a film for grown-up, serious-minded filmgoers. 

Director: Mahesh Narayanan

Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Divyaprabha, Loveleen Mishra, Faisal Malik, Kannan Arunachalam, Sidharth Bhardwaj

Ariyippu , which just premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, begins at a glove factory in Delhi where a husband and wife, Hareesh (Kunchacko Boban) and Reshmi (Divyaprabha), are blue-collar workers under the watch of -- and at the mercy of -- their superiors. Strangely enough, the stifling work atmosphere of the factory that Mahesh and Sanu depict reminded me of George Orwell's 1984 , even though Ariyippu has nothing to do with dystopia. It has a slightly dystopian bent, though, with a few characters constantly feeling a sense of oppression around potentially murky individuals who have them under their scanner. Some interactions occur inside locked doors, with all the blinds drawn. Hareesh and Reshmi have different responsibilities at the factory, and, like any blue-collar worker, they hope for a better future. The couple's higher aspirations come under threat after an unforeseen incident proves to be humiliating for both of them. In a place where mobile phones are strictly forbidden, technology somehow manages to be a spoilsport. 

When things get beyond their control, Hareesh and Reshmi become desperate. An attempt to lodge a police complaint doesn't do much to alleviate their troubles. It only makes matters more awkward. I find it interesting that Mahesh placed his Malayalam-speaking characters in a Hindi-speaking locality because language and geographical differences bring their own set of alienating and anxiety-inducing moments. There is always the threat of hostile behaviour from someone who is not, as they say, 'one of our own.' There is always a scope for discrimination-based decision-making. Who to turn to—and who to turn away from? Would someone take pity and lend a helping hand instead of making one increasingly uncomfortable? And Ariyippu puts both Hareesh and Reshmi through a fair amount of squirm-inducing moments. 

I liked how the women in this film seem better equipped than the men. This is not a film where they do something rash after utterly feeling devastated. No, this is a film where they wish to move on and hope the men in their lives are reasonable enough to do the same. Reshmi, for instance, is capable of getting a grip on herself, but Hareesh finds that too challenging. Divyaprabha plays Reshmi with the right balance of vulnerability and steely resolve. We also see a little bit of daring in her female colleague (Athulya, who played Nithya Menen's lunch companion in 19(1)(a) ). 

In his recent interview with us, Mahesh expressed his adoration for the films of Asghar Farhadi. If Ariyippu is Mahesh's attempt at recreating the tone of a Farhadi mystery, I would say he has hit it out of the park. In terms of mood and themes, it comes close to Farhadi's The Salesman (2016). Like in that film, we get a husband tormented by the seeds of mistrust planted by his own imagination and the wife burdened by her husband's suspicious demeanour and whatever adverse side-effects it might engender. I would say the two would make a great double feature.

Ariyippu is also a bit of an investigative procedural that endeavours to get to the bottom of malpractice pertaining to a consignment. Sanu John Varghese absorbs all this through a handheld, fly-on-the-wall approach. At times, the cold, post-pandemic Delhi exteriors assume, in my eyes, a graphic novel-like texture. While journeying with the characters, we don't always get a peek into their emotions. Sometimes they let us in, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they keep us at a distance and we only know as much as the other characters. I liked how some things, such as the couple's background, are left vague. A lot of things remain unsaid—a storytelling approach that also characterised, to a certain extent, Mahesh's last script, Malayankunju . 

Okay, now let me get back to how great Kunchacko Boban is in Ariyippu . Are we going through a Kunchacko Boban renaissance? I think so. In his last film, Bheemante Vazhi , we saw him take on a character that's diametrically opposite to everything he had played at the very start of his career. In Ariyippu , he goes one step further as a flawed, selfish character who uses his torment to do some unsettlingly objectionable things. It's a performance that lies somewhere between Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut and Richard Gere in Unfaithful . This is Kunchacko Boban at his most unglamorous and uninhibited. I can't imagine Hareesh having a bright future with that attitude. But I can very much imagine Kunchacko Boban having a brighter one. 

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Ariyippu Movie Review (2022)

Mahesh narayanan’s ‘ariyippu’ (malayalam) is a wonderful “thriller” that strips away all thrills to present a realistic portrait of a migrant couple.

Ariyippu Movie Cast & Crew

The first stretch of Mahesh Narayanan’s Ariyippu is set in a glove-making factory in Noida. Reshmi (Divya Prabha) is testing gloves, and despite it being an assembly line, she seems to be alone. This is due to the framing. Reshmi is in the centre, in a vertical strip, and the parts to her left and right are blacked out – it’s like Cinemascope, but in a vertical format. A little later, we see why Reshmi has been singled out this way. The next sequence fills the whole screen, and it shows Reshmi and her husband Harish (Kunchako Boban) signing papers to get a visa to go someplace with better prospects. Harish works in the factory, too. They are migrant labourers, from Kerala, and they work in an environment that’s filled with the sounds of Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. 

It’s COVID time. Everyone’s wearing masks. And then we have the gloves, which are another form of protection. Slowly, these devices come to form a sort of irony – because the story is about people who do not have any kind of protection against the iron hand of an uncaring System, which includes cops and higher-ups in the factory. Reshmi and Hrish are helpless in every way. Even the man who’s getting them the visa is exploiting their helplessness, their lack of protection. The film sets us amidst this unfeeling atmosphere, this robotic factory where even the workers are like robots. Occasionally, there is a human touch, like when a woman flirts with a man in the hope that she can get a smartphone in return. Or when Harish sees old pictures of him and Reshmi by the Taj Mahal. Or when we see Reshmi’s wedding ring, which just won’t come off. It’s a symbol of the relationship she’s stuck in.

Harish is not a bad man, exactly – he’s just desperate, and desperation has a way of making people do bad things. After laying out the milieu and the lives of these people, the plot kicks in. Harish gets a video of a sex tape, and the couple’s life is shattered. At the factory, too, something goes terribly wrong. Let’s just call it a kind of corruption: it involves the gloves as well as an incident of sexual harassment. And Ariyippu splits into two strands of investigation: the first about the sex tape, the second about the corruption in the factory. They’re linked somehow, and that’s the film’s primary source of drama. Now, “drama” may not be the right word to use for this film, which Sanu John Varughese shoots with zero frills and a keen documentarian’s eye. The events may sound “dramatic”, like other conspiracy/whistleblower films like Silkwood or The China Syndrome – but the treatment is so lifelike, so real that we seem to be in the midst of these people, as opposed to seeing what happens to them from the outside.

In Harish and Reshmi, Mahesh creates two very believable and very vulnerable characters. Reshmi wants to return to Kerala, but Harish wants to get out. Reshmi seems the bolder of the two, and also the more conscientious. Again, it’s not that Harish does not possess a conscience. But his desperation does not allow us to see his inner workings, his moral code – because all he wants is escape. And these things that are happening are holding him back, adding to his frustration. Even his most despicable act, when he forces Reshmi to perform sex on him a certain way, has the whiff of desperation. Divya Prabha and Kunchacko Boban are wonderful. She carries with her (and within her) a quiet strength. Someone tells Reshmi not to suppress everything within her, but she is not the kind who acts out. Harish, meanwhile, is an entirely external person. You see him and you know exactly what he is thinking, what he is going to do, what kind of man he is.

In the end, Ariyippu also becomes the story of a marriage. As the story goes on, Reshmi and Harish bear little resemblance to the happy faces we saw in those Taj Mahal pictures. In a superb scene, Reshmi walks on as Harish stops in his tracks, looking after her, as a street dog ambles into the frame. At that moment, man and animal seem one – creatures with no “address”, making do with scraps. As in Mahesh’s C U Soon , we see how technology affects interpersonal relationships, and how trust can so easily be eroded. Mahesh employs an understated style that serves this material beautifully, and the film convinces us that, to some people, life may be as much a product of the assembly line as in a factory. The only escape is perhaps to possess a degree of humanity.

About Author

Baradwaj Rangan

National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, former deputy editor of The Hindu and senior editor of Film Companion, has carved a niche for himself over the years as a powerful voice in cinema, especially the Tamil film industry, with his reviews of films. While he was pursuing his chemical engineering degree, he was fascinated with the writing and analysis of world cinema by American critics. Baradwaj completed his Master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations through scholarship. His first review was for the Hindi film Dum, published on January 30, 2003, in the Madras Plus supplement of The Economic Times. He then started critiquing Tamil films in 2014 and did a review on the film Subramaniapuram, while also debuting as a writer in the unreleased rom-com Kadhal 2 Kalyanam. Furthermore, Baradwaj has authored two books - Conversations with Mani Ratnam, 2012, and A Journey Through Indian Cinema, 2014. In 2017, he joined Film Companion South and continued to show his prowess in critiquing for the next five years garnering a wide viewership and a fan following of his own before announcing to be a part of Galatta Media in March 2022.

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Ariyippu review: Mahesh Narayanan employs a “less is more” approach

Kunjacko Boban and Divya Prabha deliver some fine acting moments

Migration and the struggles associated with it are recurring themes in Mahesh Narayanan's films. His films Take Off and C U Soon were built directly on the plight of migrant Indians in the Gulf. Meanwhile in Malik , one would find his protagonists migrating from their land to Lakshadweep, which initiates a chain of happenings that will have far-reaching repercussions on multiple generations. Coming to his latest film Declaration (Ariyippu) , which has become a favourite in the festival circles, the theme of migration again becomes the bedrock of the storyline.

Hareesh (Kunjacko Boban) and Reshmi (Divya Prabha), a Malayali couple working in two different departments of a gloves factory in Noida, are the central characters of Declaration. The couple wants to migrate abroad, but the pandemic play spoilsport. The film starts with a scene where Hareesh shoots a “skill video” of Reshmi (she working at the factory). The couple would give this secretly shot video to a VISA consultancy to show Reshmi’s work experience. But things would take a murkier turn when this video gets leaked in a doctored form. To make things more complex, the couple becomes witnesses of corruption and secrets in the factory.

Narayanan uses this conflict to explore a wide range of emotions, gender dynamics and power balance. There is an effort to see the conflict from multiple eyes. The audience is given the freedom to choose, analyse and follow the perspective they wish to pick from the characters. Narayanan employs a “less is more” minimalistic filmmaking approach in Ariyippu. There is an effective use of locations and location sounds. The crew is limited. There is no background score in the festival version of the film. But in the upcoming OTT version, there will be a background score.

The delusional jealousy of Hareesh and the violence he directs towards Reshmi change everything between the couple forever. Narayanan effectively uses the marriage ring of Reshmi as an interesting motif to convey the fracturing of their marriage of convenience.

Boban delivers some fine acting moments while portraying his highly complex and unpredictable character. Prabha is also natural on screen; her dialogue delivery is unique. The themes and conflicts that Ariyippu explores are universal. But the film does make some very serious observations about the reach of corruption, the failures in policing system as well how workplace sexual harassment is handled in the Indian context. The film is remarkably deft in capturing the cumulative frustrations of families living in the holes and burrows of industrial cities.

Ariyippu had its Indian premiere today at the International Film Festival of Kerala. The film is competing in the International Competition section of IFFK. The film had its international premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Movie: Declaration (Ariyippu)

Cast: Kunjacko Boban and Divya Prabha

Director: Mahesh Narayanan

Rating: 4/5

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Ariyippu (Declaration) movie review: Misogyny collides with corruption and alienation in a compelling COVID-time saga

In his fourth film as a director, Mahesh Narayanan depicts the oppression of women, including physical violence, at home and at work without ever seeking to titillate. Ariyippu features stellar performances by Divya Prabha and Kunchacko Boban.

Language: Malayalam and Hindi with Tamil

On a cold December morning in gray, wintry Uttar Pradesh, a worker from Kerala learns that someone has mixed footage of her with visuals of a woman whose face is partially camouflaged while performing a sexual act. Her husband discovers the doctored video being circulated in a WhatsApp group of a factory that produces medical gloves where they are both employed.

Hareesh (played by Kunchacko Boban ) seems confident that his wife Reshmi ( Divya Prabha ) is not the unidentifiable woman in the video. She is gutted because she knows she is not.

The setting is a suburban edge of Delhi in end-2020 when COVID had emptied out India’s streets and masks on human faces were the norm. In Mahesh Narayanan ’s new film Ariyippu (Declaration), masks fall off and true colours are revealed as Hareesh decides to fight for justice and Reshmi becomes embroiled in a battle not of her making.

Ariyippu is being premiered at the ongoing Locarno Film Festival. It is Mahesh’s fourth film as a director. He has also written, co-produced and co-edited it. The veteran editor turned to direction in 2017 with Take-Off , an account of Malayali nurses in ISIS captivity in Iraq. He has explored thorny political subjects in each of his films so far. C U Soon – a pioneering pandemic-time creation that was conceived and made entirely during lockdowns in 2020 – was about online strangers and offline exploitation. Malik dealt with inter-community relations and the games the establishment plays. Ariyippu initially appears to be a saga of Reshmi and Hareesh’s desperation to leave India for jobs abroad, but ends up being about the effect the fake video has on their marriage and work. Along the way, it explores multiple themes including the sense of alienation that blue-collar personnel experience when they cross borders even within the country, varying definitions of “greener pastures”, the manner in which India’s justice system is designed to be easily flipped against complainants, the constraints that age and poverty place on individuals, corruption in business and the casual moral corruption of the rich. At its heart, though, Ariyippu is about patriarchy and misogyny.

Kunchacko Boban has a disarming personality that he taps here, so it’s a while before we see that Hareesh’s outrage over the fake video is about his own ego and not concern for Reshmi. More than one man in Ariyippu , while referring to the exploitation of a woman, makes it about himself and his pain, relegating the woman to the margins. Hareesh openly trivialises Reshmi’s trauma and denies her agency every step of the way.

Ariyippu acknowledges the existence of women enablers, as any accurate representation of patriarchy would, but unlike the public discourse that focuses inexorably on such women and exaggerates their numbers, this film firmly spotlights female solidarity. Ariyippu overturns stereotypes in the way The Great Indian Kitchen did with its rare portrayal of a lonely daughter-in-law turning to her mother-in-law for advice. We hear that a woman in this plot was unjust to a woman in the past, but within the frames of this film, Reshmi receives nothing but kindness from women colleagues and in turn becomes a willing ally in a crusade undertaken by a senior factory staffer (Lovleen Mishra). Both women are the moral compass of the world they inhabit.

Women in Ariyippu are sources of consolation, inspiration and strength to each other. Reshmi’s friendship with her colleague Sujaya ( Athulya Ashadam ) is marked by a moving, unspoken understanding of mutual suffering. And when one woman digs her heels in over an important issue, she spurs Reshmi to stand her ground against Hareesh.

Among Ariyippu ’s acute observations of gender relations are truths we all know but shrug off: that when men clash, they exact revenge by degrading each other’s female relatives (as happens in this storyline) and community members; that patriarchy weaponises even innocuous actions and objects. A visit to a toilet is misunderstood in Ariyippu , a woman covering her face for her protection becomes a tool to shame another woman in a fake video.

No man in Ariyippu bears the grotesque markers of villainy that commercial cinema often resorts to. Here, we have sweet-looking Hareesh, the avuncular manager Suresh (Kannan Arunachalam) and the merciful factory owner ( Danish Husain ) – the sort of benign-looking chaps whose grievous acts of omission or commission society would gladly forgive. The film, however, is clear that it stands with the persecuted, not the persecutors or their facilitators.

Ariyippu depicts women’s oppression including physical abuse without ever seeking to titillate. Even in the video that sparks the pivotal conflict, sex is implied, not shown. In the film’s most shocking scene, when a man commits rape, we barely see the violence with our eyes.

It has taken a Kerala-based filmmaker to replicate the heterogeneity in language usage in the north in a way that northern filmmakers do not. Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil are efficiently knitted into  Ariyippu’s dialogues since these are the languages naturally spoken by the principal players. One of the film’s most charming scenes features four characters in a room conversing with each other in three languages, not all of which they all understand. Communication is possible because the person in the position of greatest socio-economic privilege among them – the factory owner, a Hindi speaker – does not lord it over the rest. While this camaraderie is not reflective of the dominant reality in north India, it does reflect the best that the north can be. The worst is the man who tosses a slur at Hareesh.

In shedding his image as a romantic hero, Kunchacko Boban, who is also one of Ariyippu ’s producers, has exhibited an astonishing range in recent years, from playing an insecure spouse in How Old Are You? (2014), to a loveable villager helping a child realise his dream ( Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho , 2016) and a tribal rights activist in Pada (2022). Hareesh in Ariyippu is the most dislikeable of these men, yet Kunchacko inhabits him with a comfort that belies his innate charm. Even the character’s scruffiness wrestles to stay on top of the actor’s squeaky clean, scrubbed and washed persona. It’s a fascinating blend, one that makes Hareesh confusing to even a diehard feminist and thus, a triumph of both casting and acting.

Divya Prabha aces a taxing role that requires her to be inconsistent and conflicted, submissive and rebellious by turns. That a man was able to write Reshmi’s confusion without viewing her through a judgemental lens is impressive. Her varying stances in the matter of the video will best be grasped by women who know the burning rage that follows every single humiliation at the hands of sexual predators and discriminatory chauvinists, a rage tempered by the painful awareness that complaining or even reacting in any way usually brings with it consequences – for those wronged, not for the wrongdoer. Divya knows. And she moulds Reshmi into a dormant volcano, seemingly self-effacing, yet bristling with fury, frustration and a conscience.

The cast is filled with familiar faces and unknowns, all of whom feel like real people plucked out of life and planted in this film. Among the memories Ariyippu leaves us with are Lovleen Mishra’s earnestness, Athulya Ashadam’s speaking eyes and the truly awesome Sidharth Bhardwaj as a corrupt Noida policeman asking in all sincerity why Keralites would hunt for work in the north when northerners are heading southwards for opportunities these days.

Ariyippu is bookended by extended shots of the assembly line in the factory, underlining the mechanical relentlessness of capitalist enterprise notwithstanding the turbulence in the lives of humans involved. Mahesh Narayanan chronicles Reshmi and Hareesh’s story as if he was a silent, attentive bystander just inches away. Ariyippu draws us into their universe from its first moment with a prologue presenting a cellphone shoot of Reshmi playing on our screens while Hareesh is filming her. DoP Sanu John Varughese monitors the rhythm of the goings-on without any disruptive, flashy moves. This minimalist approach is embraced by Jothish Shankar’s production design, and Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar’s sound design. I can think of only a couple of occasions in the narrative when understatement translates to the exclusion of too much information.

Few cinematographers have shot NCR in the throes of winter as starkly as Sanu has here_._ His compositions in this film are perhaps rivalled most closely by Angello Faccini’s cinematography for Ivan Ayr’s Meel Patthar (2021) and Avik Mukhopadhayay in Shoojit Sircar ’s October (2018). In the daytime, Sanu showcases the city’s exteriors and the factory with all colour and warmth sucked out of them, mirroring the protagonists’ humdrum routine and joylessness. He shifts to dreary lighting in the nights including in the shabby, choc a bloc insides of their home.

Slice-of-life cinema has seldom been more true to life than this.

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5 stars)  

This review was published when Ariyippu was premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2022. The film is currently at the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is now streaming on Netflix.

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial

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• Home » Movies » Ariyippu Movie Review

Ariyippu review: A moving tale that deals with the gritty underpinnings of honour and morality

Uncompromising performances, crisp editing, and a well-written script make this Mahesh Narayanan’s directorial a gritty watch.

Published:Dec 16, 2022

Mahesh Narayanan's 'Ariyippu' is a gritty tale that highlights the underpinnings of honour and morality. (Supplied)

Grounded performances of actors will knock you out!

Ariyippu (Malayalam)

• Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha, Faisal Malik, Danish Husain, Kannan Arunachalam, Sidharth Bhardwaj and Lovleen Mishra
• Director: Mahesh Narayanan
• Producer: Shebin Backer, Kunchacko Boban, and Mahesh Narayanan
• Music: Sushin Shyam
• Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes
• OTT platform: Netflix
• Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, and Revathy
• Director: Maneesh Sharma
• Producer: Aditya Chopra
• Music: Pritam Chakraborty
• Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes

Directed by Mahesh Narayanan, Ariyippu tells the gritty, moving story of a Malayali couple — Hareesh (Kunchako Boban) and Rashmi (Divya Prabha) — who work at a surgical gloves factory in Noida as they wait to get their visas to land their dream job.

In between, they struggle to survive. Making matters worse, a video of Reshmi surfaces and circulates among the workers. The situation puts the couple’s marriage and jobs at risk.

Highlights the dichotomy of life

Ariyippu avoids clichés and formulas. Too many times, the film might have taken the easy way out but unlike other genre films, there is no perfect happy ending in this one.

In fact, the ending is highly ambivalent, with both hints of hope and flashes of gloom. The script also shows a variety of human characteristics.

While dealing with the gritty underpinnings of honour and morality, Ariyippu also examines its dichotomy of impact on those who occupy the lower strata of society.

Mahesh Narayanan narrates a moving tale and he does it so carefully with all the right points put in to keep the story tight. Even when what is happening on the screen is basic, the editing gives Ariyippu a throbbing rhythm.

It is a film that doesn’t mess around. The director’s passion resonates throughout the picture.

Intense performances

The powerful emotional swing is uprooted by an inspiring cast’s uncompromising performance.

Divya Prabha delivers a shattering performance in ‘Ariyippu’. (Supplied)

The characters are impeccably written and developed. There is no better example of casting. We see real people as characters, which gives the movie its power.

Kunchacko Boban, as Hareesh, excels in portraying a character with hardly any sympathetic characteristics. He is down to the bone of the human condition and certainly up to the highest screen standards.

Danish Husain, Kannan Arunachalam and Lovleen Mishra support the flow well. However, it is Divya Prabha who gives the film’s most shattering performance. As Rashmi, she plays her role with the air of one who has gone through the conditions that the film depicts.

Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha in a still from ‘Ariyippu’. (Supplied)

The most agonising sequences in the movie do not include loud statements or excessive melodramatic tragic events. Instead, we watch small disappointments bruising a relatable couple’s soul.

Ariyippu is a fantastic film with excellent acting, strong performances, intimate and emotionally challenging script. The writing is sharp and the ensemble is colourful. The grounded performances of the lead actors will knock you out!

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Ariyippu Malayalam Movie

Ariyippu is a 2022 Indian movie directed by Mahesh Narayanan starring Kunchacko Boban, Divyaprabha, Kannan Arunachalam and Loveleen Mishra. The feature film is produced by Kunchacko Boban, Shebin Backer and Mahesh Narayanan and the music composed by Sushin Shyam.

A scandalous video triggers a crisis for a couple working in a factory, unleashing unexpected conflicts in their personal and professional lives.

Director: Mahesh Narayanan Producers: Kunchacko Boban , Shebin Backer, Mahesh Narayanan Music Director: Sushin Shyam Sound Designer: Vishnu Govind Cinematographer: Sanu John Varughese Editors: Mahesh Narayanan , Rahul Radhakrishnan Art Designer: Jotish Shankar Original Story Writer: Mahesh Narayanan

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Declaration

Hareesh and Reshmi, an immigrant couple from Kerala working in a medical gloves factory near Delhi, who aspire to go abroad for a better life. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when an old vide... Read all Hareesh and Reshmi, an immigrant couple from Kerala working in a medical gloves factory near Delhi, who aspire to go abroad for a better life. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when an old video resurfaces among the factory workers, it opens up a Pandora's box that threatens the cou... Read all Hareesh and Reshmi, an immigrant couple from Kerala working in a medical gloves factory near Delhi, who aspire to go abroad for a better life. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when an old video resurfaces among the factory workers, it opens up a Pandora's box that threatens the couple's jobs and marriage.

• Mahesh Narayanan
• Kunchacko Boban
• Divya Prabha
• Faisal Malik
• 16 User reviews
• 11 Critic reviews
• 4 wins & 4 nominations

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• Trivia The correct direct Malayalam translation for the title "Ariyippu" would be "Announcement". The word Declaration translates to "Prakhyaapanam".

User reviews 16

• Saanwithhisstupidthoughts
• Dec 19, 2022
• How long is Declaration? Powered by Alexa
• December 16, 2022 (United States)
• Moving Narratives
• Udaya Studios
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 1 hour 47 minutes

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Ariyippu (2022)

Movie: Ariyippu

User Rating: 3/5 From 1 User(s)

Language: Malayalam

Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha, Faisal Malik... View full

Director: Mahesh Narayanan

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I'm really excited: Divya Prabha on being part of 'All We Imagine as Light', Indian film that broke Cannes Palme D'Or jinx

India has a special reason to cheer at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Apart from the glam and glitter of Bollywood celebrities walking the red carpet, an Indian film has been chosen to compete for the Palme D'Or, the top prize at the prestigious film festival. Malayali actor Divya Prabha who plays one of the lead characters in 'All We Imagine as Light' directed by Payal Kapadia, shares her excitement about being part of the film, that is making history as the first Indian film to be competing for the prize, after a gap of 30 years. The 12-day festival will kick off on Tuesday evening. Divya said she got a call for the project after she completed the shoot of 'Ariyippu' and Family. "After 'Ariyippu' and 'Family', I received a call from Pranav, who is the Executive Producer of our film. He asked if I was interested in auditioning for a film written by Payal Kapadia, which would be her first feature film. He mentioned that Payal had liked 'Ariyippu',” she said.

Divya, who played a glove factory staff in 'Ariyippu', essays the role of a young nurse in 'All We Imagine as Light', alongside Kani Kusruti who plays Prabha. “I was excited from the moment I read the script till the end of the shoot because everything about it was so beautiful and meaningful to me, both personally and professionally. This is the first time I've had so much time to prepare for a role before shooting. The total number of shoot days was around 40, but I have been committed to this film for about eight months, including workshops and rehearsals. Also, the working culture there was awesome. I am so grateful to Payal for the trust she had in me,” she said.

Divya said she had first auditioned for Prabha's role in the film. “After reading the script, I really liked the characters Payal had created. I did the first round of auditions here in Kochi for the character called 'Prabha'. Later, Payal called me, and I went to Mumbai for the second round audition for the same character. It was during this visit that I met Payal for the first time. She came directly to the railway station to pick me up, and I stayed at Payal’s house for a couple of days. After the second round of auditions for Prabha, Payal asked me to play the role of Anu (the younger nurse). However, I was so involved with Prabha that I didn't think I could take on the role of Anu at that moment. Anu was much younger. The role was also completely different. A week later, she called me and said she would like me to audition for Anu. After four rounds of auditions, I got selected. The casting process for this film was very lengthy,” she said.

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Divya opened a bit about her character in the film “Anu is very spontaneous, impulsive, and speaks her mind always. She is very instinctive but can also be immature at times. She has a boyfriend. Anu is the kind of person who always wants to explore something new,” she said. “Also, I've never played a role like my character in 'All We Imagine as Light', before. I gained some courage to do this role, but I can't reveal much about it now,” she said. So, how does it feel to be part of a film that is competing with the greats of world cinema? “It's a wonderful feeling,truly a once in a lifetime experience! It took 30 years for a film from India to compete at Cannes. I'm so excited to be a part of this prestigious festival, where our film is competing along with legendary filmmakers of world cinema. And the Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone is also part of the festival . Everything feels surreal!,” said Divya.

“I'm also excited to watch the premiere of our film at Cannes with our team. At this moment, I'm thinking about everyone who worked hard for this film. They are the most incredible and kindest crew I have ever worked with,” she added. The Cannes Film Festival, is of course, incomplete without the glitz and glamour of the red carpet. Divya is also all prepped up for the event. “I have been told there are two or three important events, including a red carpet event. For all these events, I am collaborating with Indian designers, and two of them are from Kochi. 'All We Imagine As Light', which is an India-French-Dutch co-production also features actors Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, Azees Nedumangad and Loveleen Mishra.

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'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' Review: Prithviraj's film is fun and hilarious in parts

Director vipin das' 'guruvayoor ambalanadayil', starring prithviraj sukumaran and basil joseph, is an engaging comedy drama in parts. the second half of the film feels stretched, says our review..

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• 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' released in theatres on May 16
• Directed by Vipin Das, the film features Prithviraj Sukumaran and Basil Joseph in lead roles
• The film is a passable entertainer, which is engaging in parts

Release Date: 16 May, 2024

Director Vipin Das' 2022 film, 'Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey', was a breath of fresh air. The Basil Joseph and Darshana Rajendran-starrer presented a thoughtful black comedy. Now, the director has teamed up with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Basil Joseph for 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil', another comedy-drama set around a wedding. Will it live up to 'Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey'? Let's find out!

Vinu Ramachandran (Basil Joseph), working in the Middle East, is engaged to Anjali (Anaswara Rajan). It has been five years since his breakup with Parvathy (Nikhila Vimal), yet he still hasn't moved on. His brother-in-law Anand (played by Prithviraj Sukumaran), who is also a friend and confidant, helps him overcome his feelings. However, Anand is also not leading a perfectly happy life as he is temporarily separated from his wife.

And this time, Vinu takes it upon himself to bring some happiness into Anand's life. But, things go haywire when Vinu and Anand meet in person as there's another person who connects them both. This causes a rift in their relationship and whether Vinu goes ahead with his wedding to Anjali or not forms the story.

Just as the trailer promised, Vipin Das' ''Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' has a distinct humour which the audience will get used to in the first half an hour. As we get warmed up to Vinu and Anand, we are left wanting more of their conversation, which will leave you laughing. Vinu and Anand's conversations are so organic and hilarious that they make up for a spectacular first half. The director builds up the story in a brilliant fashion with all the twists and turns coming through at perfect intervals.

The film's second half is what brings down 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' after its perfectly crafted first half. The conflict following the intermission becomes wafer-thin. And the filmmaker introduces multiple characters leading up to a chaotic end, which is the wedding of Vinu and Anjali. While the sequence is executed tastefully, it fails to make a significant impact, partly due to the repetitive comedy and some unfunny sequences that fall short of the first half's standard.

It is Basil Joseph who plays the underconfident hero, shouldering this movie. His minute expressions effortlessly propel the story forward. Additionally, it's refreshing to see Prithviraj Sukumaran in a comedic role, which works to some extent. While Nikhila Vimal's character is integral to the story, she is moved like a pawn rather than possessing solid agency. Anaswara Rajan doesn't have much to do in the film, as the focus remains on Vinu and Anand, but her performance is adequate.

The two songs, composed by Ankit Menon, act as a speed breaker in an already crisp movie.

'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' is a passable entertainer that has several moments that will have you laughing along with some shortcomings. 2.5 out of 5 stars for 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil'. Published By: K Janani Published On: May 16, 2024 ALSO READ | 'Guruvayoorambala Nadayil' teaser: Prithviraj, Basil Joseph promise quirky rom-com

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Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil Review: A Passable Malayalam Comedy

Curated By : Entertainment Bureau

Local News Desk

Last Updated: May 17, 2024, 14:21 IST

Kochi [Cochin], India

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil also stars Anaswara Rajan.

Vipin Das teamed up with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Basil Joseph for Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil.

Director Vipin Das’ 2022 film Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey was a breath of fresh air. Starring Basil Joseph and Darshana Rajendran, the film was a thoughtful black comedy. And in 2024, the director has teamed up with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Basil Joseph for Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, another Malayalam comedy-drama revolving around a wedding.

Vinu Ramachandran (Basil Joseph), who works in the Middle East, is engaged to Anjali (Anaswara Rajan). Five years have passed since his breakup with Parvathy (Nikhila Vimal), but he still hasn’t moved on. His brother-in-law Anand (played by Prithviraj Sukumaran), who is also a friend and confidant, helps him overcome his feelings. But Anand too is not leading a happy life as he is temporarily separated from his wife.

And this time, Vinu takes it upon himself to bring some happiness to Anand’s life. But when Vinu and Anand meet in person, everything goes haywire as there is another person who connects the two. This creates a rift in their relationship and whether Vinu goes through with his wedding with Anjali or not is the real story.

As promised in the trailer, Vipin Das’ Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil has a distinct sense of humour that the audience will get used to in the first half hour. As we warm up to Vinu and Anand, we want to hear more of their conversations that will make you laugh. The conversations between Vinu and Anand are so organic and witty that they make for a spectacular first half. The director builds up the story in a brilliant manner with all the twists and turns coming at perfect intervals.

The second half of the film is what brings Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil down after its perfectly crafted first half. After the interval, the conflict becomes paper-thin. The filmmaker introduces several characters leading to a messy ending, namely Vinu and Anjali’s wedding. While the sequence is tastefully executed, it fails to make a significant impact, partly due to the repetitive comedy and some unfunny sequences that fall short of the standard of the first half.

Performances

It is Basil Joseph, playing the less-than-confident hero, who shoulders this film. His tiny expressions drive the story effortlessly. Also, it is refreshing to see Prithviraj Sukumaran in a comedic role, which works to an extent. Nikhila Vimal’s character, while integral to the story, is moved more like a pawn than having a solid acting ability. Anaswara Rajan doesn’t have much to do in the film as the focus is on Vinu and Anand, but her performance is adequate.

The two songs, composed by Ankit Menon, act as pace breakers in a short and crisp runtime. Overall, Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil is a passable comedy film with some laugh-out-loud moments, but also some weaknesses.

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