There are some movies that wouldn’t work for you in totality, but you can clearly see the effort in it to bring out something fresh and path-breaking. Just like its unorthodox lengthy title, which can give nightmares to people who are concerned about SEO, Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha is a crazy experiment that has noble intentions. But it has tried to push the boundaries way too much that the end result feels like an underwhelming mishmash of quirky imaginations.
In most of my reviews, the second paragraph that gives you an idea about the plot is the easiest bit. But for Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha, this feels like a task as the story part is wafer thin. Sureshan wants to marry Sumalatha, and for that, he decides to direct a Play named Sadarama because Sumalatha’s father is a huge fan of plays. The events that happen around this play are what one witnesses in Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha.
The treatment they have opted for in this movie is not entirely unfamiliar. The satirical political dialogues were there in Kanakam Kamini Kalaham as well, and that film also had a Wes Anderson-style eccentric approach. But in all the other Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval films, the core story was a solid narratable one. Here, he is improvising on every beat of the movie with a what-if. What if the characters speak in English, what if the story suddenly takes a detour like this, what if a particular event unfolds like this? The issue is that this crazy improvisation at times exceeds the limit one can welcome (maybe it is my limitation).
The story is narrated through three timelines. That is, the same story is repeated in parallel universes in different timelines (That is my understanding. If it is wrong, blame the damaged brain cells). On paper, it is actually an exciting way to enhance a very basic concept, as the editor can cut from one timeline to another and still maintain a linear narration. But the visual cues are less evident that at times you feel like pausing the film to check the background details to figure out which timeline you are observing. And there is this temptation in Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval to address a lot of events that happened recently in every frame, including one jibe at M Renjith about his recent Kasaragod remark, and the movie sort of gets lost in its self-indulgence.
Rajesh Madhavan as Sureshan Kaavunthazhe is in his elements, and just like Nna Thaan Case Kodu, he performs the character with ease and that signature quirkiness. Chithra Nair reprises her role as Sumalatha, and with extended screen time, she gets to perform a wide range of emotions in this timeline experiment. A major performer and a new addition to this universe is the character of the father of Sumalatha, played superbly by actor Sudheesh. The elaborate star cast of the movie has numerous new faces along with some familiar ones like Sharanya Ramachandran, Jinu Joseph, etc., along with Kunchako Boban in a cameo appearance as Kozhummal Rajeevan.
Because of the hit status of Nna Thaan Case Kodu and the popularity of these two characters, there is a safety net for this movie. I somewhere feel that director Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval has used that to do a movie, where he can try out all the genres and narrative experiments. In terms of experimentation, Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha is somewhat in a similar zone of, say something like LJP’s Double Barrell. Even though I am not a huge fan of that movie, I understand that it was created from a space of wanting to make something peculiar and unfamiliar. Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha is a flawed experiment that tries to achieve too many things within the span of its runtime. The only takeaway for me from the movie was the realization that Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval is a filmmaker willing to reinvent his comfort zone.
NB: I thought Red, Orange, and Green would make life easy for me. Then they make movies like this to “folk” with my brain.
The only takeaway for me from the movie was the realization that Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval is a filmmaker willing to reinvent his comfort zone.
Signal
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
