Lalitham Sundaram: A Heartfelt Journey into Malayalam Cinema

It has been quite sometime since i wrote a review. Well. i had to find a good movie to write about. I found one in “Lalitham Sundaram “ which translates to “Simple is beautiful”.This movie seems to have been released in 2022 but i watched it only today.  I am catching up with some South Indian movies which i missed in 2021 and 2022 due to work pressures. This is a beautiful movie though slow. The character of Sunny is a drag on the movie and the best part is Manju in her role as Annie. She keeps the family together as a strong lady like her mother. Directed by Manju’s brother who also does a cameo as a doctor in the movie, the movie keeps u hooked onto your sofa till u complete it. The songs are melodious when heard in the original malayalam language. 

Instead of learning french or hindi, we should make our children learn another south indian language. I personally happily watch Malayalam and Tamil movies and struggle with Kannada despite its closeness to telugu. My family loves my picks of Malayalam movies and sits along with me whenever i make a selection of a Malayalam movie. Malayalam movies do not bother about masses or box office. They focus on the script. They do not depend on star power but believe in the story. That is what makes malayalam movies so lovely to watch. Always natural locales, the set is always green. 

There have been many homecoming movies in the past in telugu too and many long pending differences get sorted out. In telugu too, a brother and her sister reconcile in a gettogether. The supporting base is Annie’s husband who gives the base fulcrum to Annie. Without such a husband, Annie would not have been a successful person. So kudos to Saiju Kurup for making this character interesting to watch. Saiju puts up with his wife despite her neglect of family duties and her authoritarianism in the family. He makes Annie realize her mistake only using the most suitable opportunity. Till then, he goes along with her. Annie then alone realizes the burden that Saiju has carried so far to keep the family intact. He does not mind being a at home cook for the family. So to me without Sandeep, there would have been no successful Annie. Madhu create a powerful base support for Annie to realize her Goals. 

Sophie and Sunny’s cases are opposite in that they miscommunicate more than they communicate. Mistakes done by one are not forgiven by the other. Annie too does many but Saiju absorbs them. Sophie and Sunny find that they have a huge communication gap between them. Biju could not even tell his brother Jerry why he beat the director who was the judge of Jerry’s singing competition. It leads to years of separation between the brothers. It happens to some. When they do not have a strong support system back at home, they do not find themselves succeeding in life too. A man with strong family support system has always won in life as history has shown. A person coming from big joint families is more successful with people interactions than one coming from nuclear famailies. Deepti sati in simy role is refreshing and carries lot of promise. 

Biju and Anu roles have been dragged by the director yet Manju outshines everyone in her Annie role. She is charming, down to earth and in Manju’s style. It fits her ambitious, strong, confident professional woman pattern very much.Manju has come a long way since her Sakshyam debut. I had watched this movie in Kerala in theatre. I still remember her entry in the movie in school uniform. She was very cute kid. It is nice to see that kid grow into a mature actress now and still inspires even after restarting her career from 2012. Once an actor, always an actor. I have watched most of her movies till 2021. Not just her, i have watched every good malayalam movie in the past twenty five years barring 2021 and 2022. 

Malayalam movies are always simple and do not deify actors like the rest of south does. Heroes are not demi-gods here. Lalitha Sundaram another binding character is played by Raghunath in the father’s role taking on the role of his wife who was the family’s binding force. He knows he cannot do much to convince them to do what he wants. Hence he plays his wife’s last video to better explain to them since they love their mother a lot. I sometimes wonder why in life and movies too, the father is always empotionally disconnected with the child unlike the mother though it is a fact that fathers equally think about their children like their mothers. 

Kudos to Madhu on his directorial debut. Hope he got  a award for this beautiful script.