Nandanam is the saga of LOVE in one of its purest forms – Love between creature and creator. This makes the film a pleasure to watch. Director Renjith can boast of this film for his entire career.
Plotted amongst few ordinary characters of a Kerala ancestral home (Tharavadu), Nandanam says (sings?) the story of love of a housemaid with her master. Balamony (Navya Nair) falls in love with her young master, Manu (Pritvi Raj). Bala’s life is a tragedy – suicide of parents and health problems of younger sister and above all with the ultimate penury. She found no one but God only to befriend. Nevertheless she is full of life and smart, trying not to show her pangs outside. Our hero is going to the US after few weeks and now he came to this house to spend some days with his dear grandmother (Kaviyoor Ponnamma). Arrival of Manu to her masters’ home brings dreams to Bala and fantasy to the film. She realizes the boy, whom she saw as her bridegroom in dream, is no one but him.
The love starts, even after realising all the inequalities. Unaware of the new relations, Manu’s mother (Revathi) finalizes a relation for her son. In his own words, his Amma is everything for him; the film narrates shortly and effectively the sacrifices she did for her son. Too weak to deny her, the pair decides to part. Once again Bala realizes she deserves no dreams and the trauma even forces her to think of suicide. Then enters handsome Unni (Aravindan), bringing solace and surprises to her lonely moments. He helps her smile again. He foretells that her marriage with Manu will consummate in near future.
What is new in this story? The crux is that the love story between Manu and Bala is only a background. Real eternal love – stronger, stranger and warmer – is somewhere else. Yes, a love each one of us is expecting to happen in our life. Watch out the movie for that surprise!
The film is a celebration of fantasy. Fantasy is sown in the very first scene and it flowers after the entrance of Unni. The picturesque village of Kerala poses as an ideal plot for love, pain and fantasy. Watch the scenes of a heartbroken Bala walking through the fallow paddy fields or of her meeting with Unni in the greenish backyards.
The beauty of film also lays in its climax, where the bride Bala realizes the truth. I could FEEL it.
The characterization is almost perfect. Even the minor characters of co-servants and distant relatives (see the uncle who complains for each and everything) are well defined, which is not a simple thing in the contemporary Indian film.
I would say the actors have done a commendable job. Even being newcomers to the industry, Pritvi Raj and Navya Nair have done superb portrayals of her characters. Latter got State Award for her performance and she definitely deserves it. Revathi, Innocent, Kaviyoor Ponnama, Vijaya Lekshmi, Sree Raman, Jyothirmayi etc have done their parts well. Jagathi’s character is not needed in the story, but he gives some good moments of humour. But if someone needs special mention, that is Aravindan, as he was really really believable as our special friend, Unni. Without him, the film wouldn’t have been a commercial success.
The songs have become very popular in Kerala and are of long-lasting kind. Matching to the core of the theme, it could be counted as one among the best musics of Raveendran. Any need to say about the voices of Yesudas and Chitra?
Above all, the movie never drags. If some scenes could have been done better with more imagination (like mode of revealing the suspense), it would have been counted as a classic in Malayalam Film History.
In short I could sense this film with heart and Tagore answers why.
“At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.”
- Gitanjali.