Over the past few years, Pan-Indian cinema has seen a steady trend in the appreciation of films from the South. Whether it be 2015’s Tamil hit Kaakka Muttai which was quickly remade in Marathi as Half Ticket or the 2013 Malayalam family mystery Drishyam, which sparked a series of remakes, it is not uncommon for Bollywood and beyond to look to the South for strong storylines and original ideas. In fact, it is rumored that recent Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy has sparked apparent bidding wars for rights amongst producers up North, and Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh is in talks to reprise the titular role in a Hindi remake.
However, it is quickly becoming apparent that many of these hit films with unique scripts may never have seen the light of day had they been pitched in the saturated, commercial markets of Bollywood in the first place. Instead, South Indian cinema has seen a consistent rise in the number of content-oriented films and the established producers and stars willing to experiment and help bring them to screen, over the last few years. For instance, the widely acclaimed Malayalam comedy Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, which will be having it’s North American premiere in Toronto next month at the 21st annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, is bolstered by the performance of South Indian icon Fahadh Faasil. Partnering with director Dileesh Pothan for a second time, following Pothan’s National Award winning debut Maheshinte Prathikaram in 2016, Faasil gives life to a unique film as a willey thief, in a role that doesn’t offer him many mass histrionics, but in which he still manages to win audiences’ hearts.
The ability to take on and ace any role is certainly no surprise with Faasil, who has been a leading star in the Malayalam industries for years now. In fact, the State award-winning performer has been making inroads into the Tamil industry as well and will be seen in the upcoming Tamil film Velaikkaran starring Sivakarthikeyan and Nayantara. It was also recently announced that he’ll have a leading role in Mani Ratnam’s next film, alongside Jyothika, Silambarasan and Aishwarya Rajesh.
The Indian film industry is lucky to have such talented actors like Faasil who are willing to experiment with many types of roles and partake in films that they believe in, regardless of a director’s filmography, or the amount of screen time or mass fanfare their character entails. And that’s a great thing, since the movie business still often requires the support of big names such as Faasil’s to help draw attention to unique films created by masterful newcomers like Dileesh Pothan and screenplay writer Sajeev Pazhoor.
Known in English as The Mainour & the Eye-Witness the film also stars Suraj Venjaramoodu, newcomer Nimisha Sajayan and a host of real-life officers appearing in a movie for the first time. It is the peculiar tale of an extremely confident and oddly charming thief, who gives a small time police station and a struggling newlywed couple the run-around, after stealing the young bride’s gold necklace. The film had a limited release in India and the UAE over the summer, during which it garnered extremely positive reviews, and apparently earned itself a spot in the running for India’s Oscar nomination for 2017. With it’s slow-building humor and suspense this quirky comedy is the epitome of Malayalam storytelling—charming, relaxed and unpredictable.
The Mainour & The Eye-Witness marks the first ever Malayalam film to be showcased by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival and plays in Toronto with English subtitles on Sunday November 12 at 11:30 am at the TIFF Bell Lightbox cinema.
Tickets are available now at
http://www.reelasian.com/festival-events/the-mainour-the-eye-witness/
