Which Malayalam film did you watch recently ?

[Murali Srinivas]

March 12, !993 Bombay

I had written about this movie some time back.

The film March 12, 1993 which marks the directorial debut of script writer Babu Janarthanan is ready to go on floors. Here Mam plays a priest by name Sadhananda Bhatt, a character hailing from Kasargode. He who is at Chennai takes up a job at Rajasthan and he travels through Mumbai and get caught in the communal frenzy. Two other people hailing from a different part of Kerala, having come to Mumbai for a job also gets caught in the melee. Three people who are in no way connected to the riots have their life torn apart by what’s happening around them. What happens after forms the crux of the story.


Saw this film. A screenplay which encapsules things happening from the POV of a community who feel that they have been wronged for all misdeeds for no fault of them. To be precise the story traces the lives of two men who get falsely implicated in two major bomb blasts just because they happen to be from that community.

Traveling back and forth in history [the story is set to happen in parts in 1992, 93, 98,2002 & 2007] the film travels from Alleppy to Bombay to Coimbatore to Pochampalli in the outskirts of Hyderabad and captures how one's life can go topsy turvy by just the turn of events. Even as one watches helplessly things unfolding at a frantic pace, you get to empathise with the protagonists.

A new comer Mukund Unni as the youth from Alleppy getting caught in the vertex of terror plot has done his job quite well and shows promise for the future. Mammoootty may not be the king pin of the movie but he carries his role with elan. He shows his mettle in the scene at the Police Station where he is grilled about his past and especially the shot when he is offered a cup of Tea and the way he with trembling hands and lips just sip it makes it poignant.

Debutant director Babu Janardhanan must be congratulated for choosing such a theme for his debut movie and choosing a less traveled path [not forgetting My name is Khan and other offbeat films like Black Friday etc] and kudos for the way the twists have been placed during Interval and climax. His dialogues are never preachy but bring out the pain sharply. One dialogue " Hindus have a country of their own - Nepal, Christians have Rome and Muslims have Saudi. But there is only one country in the world where Hindus, Christians and Muslims live together and that is our India" drew the loudest cheers.

The movie may not set the BO on fire but has been a good attempt and worth a watch.

Regards