Wasn’t aware of the movie “Ponman” but stumbled upon it in Hotstar today and saw it. A must-watch thriller starring Basil Joseph, in a very different role, I loved it! Basil’s been experimenting a lot nowadays, including Maranamass which I recently watched, and Sookshmadarshini.
“Ponman” is a lot about gray characters. It’s hard to find fault with most of the characters in the movie – they are all just trying to survive, all due to societal pressure regarding gold and its role in marriages (dowry). And the gold itself is a sort of placeholder – you could take it out of the equation and replace with anything eles, because the movie is about surving life. A lot of decent characters on the edge of doing bad things, sometimes going over the edge, at other times coming very close to crossing it. It’s a thriller, it’s a survival movie (surviving in life), inspirational (not everyone has everything easy, one’s got to do what is needed to survive), and without being preachy highlights the social issues surrounding gold and marriages.
Also worth mentioning is Sajin Gopu (Amban, in “Aavesham”). He plays the negative character, but that too is nuanced and because of circumstances. His character just decides to go over the edge, that’s all.
Turns out it’s based on a novel. No wonder the story is so tight and doesn’t waste a second. It’s one of those movies with no wasted scenes, and everything feels natural and in place.