I had 3 compelling reasons to watch Anjali Menon's Koode...The first was Anjali herself. She had set a new benchmark in filmmaking and story telling with Manjadikuru ,Bangalore Days and Ustad Hotel. The trailers and songs of Koode had piqued my interest and I was very curious to know if she's stayed true to herself or had given in to the requirements of commercialization of Malayalam cinema. I'd read about Koode being an adaptation of a Marathi movie but I deliberately stayed away reading up about it online ... I wanted a fresh perspective while watching it ....
The second reason, was ofcourse Nazriya. There is a something refreshing that Nazriya brings on every time she's on screen. Her skillful portrayal of the Pooja in OSO and Divya in Bangalore Days had made Nazriya a favorite in the household. When she took a break to set up home, we were all a tad bit disappointed! And , boy oh boy, she's just as good as she was , if not better !!! As the sister who helps her brother come carefully guides her brother back to her life, she was a delight to watch....she makes you laugh, love, cry and thoughtful...the scenes where she longingly looks at her parents with the realisation that she can never see them again, the way she cuddles up to Roshan in the van, the excitement( or maybe, chammal) on witnessing Joshua and Jenny's first kiss or even the spurts of jealousy that Jenny feels when sees Joshua and Sophie sharing a tender moment, Nazriyas performance was effortless....
The third one was to watch the writer-director par excellence, Renjith onscreen. There are songs and trailers of Koode online, but the one I repeatedly watched is the one where the family brings a new born baby home. While the focus was on the older brother, the only person I noticed in the song was Renjith. Similarly, in the peppy song featuring Nazriya and Roshan, a hunched up Renjith in the garden and Nazriya hugging him while running out had caught my attention more than anything.... And that's when I decided that I had to watch this one!! Quite frankly, Renjith didn't disappoint either as the father laden with the guilt of having sent a 15 year old to the Gulf to the support the family income...
And honestly, the others in the cast including Prithviraj (though he looked far more dapper in the trailers and posters than I have seen in him recent times) and Parvathy really didnt matter....
But, today, when I stepped in to watch Koode, I realised its far more beautiful than I had visualised it to be! And , I never thought I'd say it ever, but this movie fully and totally belongs to Prithviraj....he's everything I had envisioned in an older brother...his performance as a man bitter about having been separated from his family as a young boy, the subtle portrayal of revolting against an unwanted touch due to childhood physical abuse, leaving behind the ghosts of the past, learning to forgive and forget, learning to love - all of it deserves a huge applause...and a bigger applause to Anjali Menon for leaving out the star in Prithviraj and bringing in only Joshua..there was not a moment when he wasn't Jenny's older brother in the movie...not a single moment!!!! I have only this to ask - "Where were you all these years ....where were you ?????"
Koode is a film very close to my heart for many reasons and some of them very personal...but, the biggest amongst all of them would be Joshua...and for the love and life he discovered through Jenny!!!
Footnote : I cried buckets, the last I cried this bad was for Aakashadoothu! Take a lot of tissues and hankies, but do not miss Koode...
The spouse disliked the movie and he asked me why I liked it...I only said there are way too many deja Vu moments in it for me!
The second reason, was ofcourse Nazriya. There is a something refreshing that Nazriya brings on every time she's on screen. Her skillful portrayal of the Pooja in OSO and Divya in Bangalore Days had made Nazriya a favorite in the household. When she took a break to set up home, we were all a tad bit disappointed! And , boy oh boy, she's just as good as she was , if not better !!! As the sister who helps her brother come carefully guides her brother back to her life, she was a delight to watch....she makes you laugh, love, cry and thoughtful...the scenes where she longingly looks at her parents with the realisation that she can never see them again, the way she cuddles up to Roshan in the van, the excitement( or maybe, chammal) on witnessing Joshua and Jenny's first kiss or even the spurts of jealousy that Jenny feels when sees Joshua and Sophie sharing a tender moment, Nazriyas performance was effortless....
The third one was to watch the writer-director par excellence, Renjith onscreen. There are songs and trailers of Koode online, but the one I repeatedly watched is the one where the family brings a new born baby home. While the focus was on the older brother, the only person I noticed in the song was Renjith. Similarly, in the peppy song featuring Nazriya and Roshan, a hunched up Renjith in the garden and Nazriya hugging him while running out had caught my attention more than anything.... And that's when I decided that I had to watch this one!! Quite frankly, Renjith didn't disappoint either as the father laden with the guilt of having sent a 15 year old to the Gulf to the support the family income...
And honestly, the others in the cast including Prithviraj (though he looked far more dapper in the trailers and posters than I have seen in him recent times) and Parvathy really didnt matter....
But, today, when I stepped in to watch Koode, I realised its far more beautiful than I had visualised it to be! And , I never thought I'd say it ever, but this movie fully and totally belongs to Prithviraj....he's everything I had envisioned in an older brother...his performance as a man bitter about having been separated from his family as a young boy, the subtle portrayal of revolting against an unwanted touch due to childhood physical abuse, leaving behind the ghosts of the past, learning to forgive and forget, learning to love - all of it deserves a huge applause...and a bigger applause to Anjali Menon for leaving out the star in Prithviraj and bringing in only Joshua..there was not a moment when he wasn't Jenny's older brother in the movie...not a single moment!!!! I have only this to ask - "Where were you all these years ....where were you ?????"
Koode is a film very close to my heart for many reasons and some of them very personal...but, the biggest amongst all of them would be Joshua...and for the love and life he discovered through Jenny!!!
Footnote : I cried buckets, the last I cried this bad was for Aakashadoothu! Take a lot of tissues and hankies, but do not miss Koode...
The spouse disliked the movie and he asked me why I liked it...I only said there are way too many deja Vu moments in it for me!
