*Spoilers Ahead*
“Captain, who is the person with you in the cockpit?”
“Sir, it’s Pallavi”
In Uyare, the writer duo, Bobby-Sanjay returns to the form where they have given some of classiest movies in this decade- Traffic, Ayalum Njanum Thammil and Mumbai Police. Bobby-Sanjay do not really belong to the realistic wave that has emerged in Malayalam Cinema off-late. They primarily write fiction. There are few cinematic liberties they take. There are co-incidences in their stories. But their success also lies in that they still keep things grounded and not let situations or sequences go over-dramatic.
Manu Ashokan doesn’t look like he is directing the first time as there is so much maturity in the way certain scenes are presented. Some of the movie’s best written and executed scenes are when the characters have plain conversations. When Siddique and Asif Ali sit opposite to each other in the bike center. When Tovino and Parvathy cut a cake. When Siddique asks Parvathy what she finds in her lover. The last scene also showcases Bobby-Sanjay’s ability to make sure no doubts or questions arise in viewer’s mind when they try to know about the characters better.
Siddique is terrific, but it is rarely that you find movies these days where he is not. How he is shocked to see his daughter’s face after the surgery, yet still controls his emotions so that she doesn’t notice is a brilliant scene. Tovino’s timing in hilarious situations provides some comic relief in an otherwise serious toned movie. Anarkali Marakkar is a capable actress. But the movie’s biggest surprise is Asif Ali. In a character that could go down as one of Malayalam Cinema’s biggest villains, the actor is riveting. He carries a moody face, speaks in low voice and sheds tears. Still you cannot help but despise him at every single sight of him on screen.
Now what is not a surprise is that the movie ultimately belongs to Parvathy, who plays the acid attack survivor, Pallavi Raveendran with aplomb. Pallavi is furious when she pulls a chair, sits in front of Prem Prakash and reveals her face completely. She is assured when she has to walk into the cockpit. She is relieved and smiling at the end when her dad breaks to her the news through phone. Parvathy’s amazing ability to switch emotions on her face so easily and let the viewers know what exactly is going through her character’s mind is at the forefront in Uyare. I thought she was phenomenal in Take-Off. But Uyare supersedes that. Aiding Parvathy’s performance perfectly is Gopi Sunder’s rousing background score. Elevating just in proportion with Parvathy’s superb act, Gopi Sunder’s BGM evokes goosebumps in many scenes.
Uyare is a hugely inspirational movie. Pallavi Raveendran’s smile when she looks herself at the mirror in the end is going to stay with you for long.
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