The Beautiful Nap

Have you ever got stuck in a dream so wonderfully so that when woke up, you never wanted to come out of it? Or sometimes, would you dream up yourself as a character that is a complete contrast of your real-self?

This blog is about a movie that I got to watch very recently, which almost tells the story of a man who dreams up a story in his mind while taking an afternoon nap during a journey. The main plot falls in place when James, a Kerala Christian, transforms, during his dream, into another character named Sundaram, a Tamil Hindu. The characteristics of Sundaram and James are entirely polarizing and the legendary Mammootty play both the roles comprehensively. While James being slightly arrogant, indifferent to Tamil music, hesitant to party and alcohol, Sundaram is a movie buff who is fond of old Tamil movies and music and an alcoholic too.

James being a play actor, all the scenes that he dreams up in the movie are in the style of a stage drama. To validate this point, the director has set up almost all the scenes in the movie with stable shots in wide angle with a lot of characters in a single frame. There is only a single close-up shot throughout the entire movie, which is by the way, an inevitable shot that encapsulates the realisation of James that he is no more the “Sundaran” that he believed to be.

It startles me as to how each time the legendary Mammootty pulls off such characters with distinctive dialects and body languages so effortlessly time and time again. Even in scenes with a lot of characters around him, Mammootty takes up the limelight with his monotonous performance and screen presence.

Just like James sinks down into a deep sleep equivalent to a temporary death that incarnates him with the mind of Sundaram, I as an audience, fall into a deep sleep and becomes a character of his drama . We, as the audience, may not be able to realize that all this story was just James’s dream unless and until we recollect all the scenes in the movie back and forth again and again. And once we recollect, we would realize that all the Tamil characters in the new Tamil village are somehow closely resemble to characters that were already living with James in his real-life.

The crust of the movie lies in a reference shown in the movie from a simple but powerful verse from the Ancient “Thirukkural”, which goes like this:

“Death is sinking into slumbers deep; Birth again is waking out of sleep.”

In conclusion, this movie is like a dream where we are also a part of. Thank you Lijo for gifting us yet another classic to behold and the great Mammootty for astonishing us with yet another stunning performance. A must-watch.

Ms. Shilna. V. K, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna