"nanpakal nerathu mayakam" Tamil movie review

The Indian drama “Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam” is a poetic and dreamlike exploration of identity crisis, love, and ghosts. Directed and written by Lijo Jose Pellissery, the film’s English language title “Like an Afternoon Dream” is a beautiful and fitting replacement for the more literal translation of the original Malayalam title, “A Mid-Day Slumber.” The film stars and is produced by Mammootty, who plays the Malayalam-speaking James, a man who finds himself in a Tamil Nadu village speaking Tamil and acting like he’s lived there for years.

Pellissery’s approach to storytelling is not focused on dramatic stakes or narrative logic. Instead, he presents viewers with captivating slice-of-life vignettes, using static long takes and vivid mise en scène accompanied by detailed sound design. The film’s picturesque exurban tableaux vivant brim with pastoral splendor and lightly worn melancholy. Pellissery’s surreal and enchanting love letter to Tamil Nadu’s residents and cinema celebrates the manifold pleasures of chasing after a half-remembered dream.

The film begins with James and his fellow tourists waiting for their friends and extended family members to pile into the bus to Kerala at a road-side motel. James bangs on doors and grumbles to himself about how everybody else needs to get going. The establishing scenes are shrouded in an early morning haze, and the ambient noise of twittering birds, sputtering motor engines, and soft radio banter complements the finely drawn panoramic cinematography by Theni Eswar, which either sweeps viewers across the screen or deeper into the frame.

The bus sets off, and the tourists watch the TV monitor perched above the driver’s seat before falling asleep as the bus squeezes by oncoming traffic. James disembarks at a nearby village, identifying himself as Sundaram, and wanders into a family’s kitchen to rummage for groceries. He then steals a motor-scooter and lazily circles around the village, singing and drinking tea with confused residents. Though James seems to know everybody by name, it’s unclear if he actually knows what he’s talking about.

Many testy locals also wonder aloud who this whimsical outsider is and why he has been allowed to interrupt everyone’s daily routine. A chorus of Tamil language movie music provides some commentary, including snippets of “Veedu Varai Uravu” from the tragic 1962 Tamil language romance “Paadha Kaanikkai” and “Mayakkama Kalakkama” from the Tamil drama “Sumaithaangi,” both from 1962.

While James’s aimless quest continues, a short story quietly unfolds in the background involving Poovally and Sundaram’s brother, whom Poovally is now promised to marry. James’s family members also ask each other if he’s ill, and if so, has this sort of thing ever happened before? There are no clear answers to these dangling questions. Instead, we follow James as he waltzes through strangers’ lives, cheerfully cutting in between mid-day siestas and late morning labor disputes.

“Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam” feels like a deep and abidingly strange trip to Pellissery’s memory palace. He recalls other formative modernists such as Federico Fellini and Tsai Ming-liang while reveling in the sensuous details that ground his work in culturally specific touchstones. The film confirms Pellissery’s prominence among a new wave of Malayalam-speaking Indian filmmakers who are now riding a creative peak. The film is available on Netflix now.

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In the gripping drama film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, a group of Malayali travelers are on their way back to Kerala after visiting Velankanni. As they doze off in a lazy nap, the bus driver James stops the vehicle in a Tamil Nadu village. It is then that Sundaram, a local resident, starts behaving like James and confuses the travelers.

The tension and confusion mount as the travelers struggle to understand the situation they find themselves in. The film explores the themes of identity, perception, and the impact of unexpected events on our lives.

Written by S. Hareesh and Lijo Jose Pellissery, the film promises to take the audience on a thrilling and emotional journey. With a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes, the drama film is set to release on January 19, 2023, in limited theaters. Distributed by Wayfarer Films, it is expected to captivate and intrigue viewers with its unique plot and brilliant storytelling.