Film: Udaharanam Sujatha
Starring: Manju Warrier, Anaswara Rajan, Nedumudi Venu, Joju George
Direction: Phantom Praveen
Remaking a film from another language can be a tricky business, especially when it is a successful one. Even while managing to retain the spirit of the original, it can be challenging to fit it into the context of your place and language. The Hindi film ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, released last year, had won much acclaim with its story of a single mother’s struggles to get her daughter take interest in her studies.
When it comes to Malayalam as ‘Udaharanam Sujatha’, the makers place the story at Chenkalchoola in Thiruvananthapuram, with Sujatha (Manju Warrier), speaking the local dialect of the city, sans the exaggeration that has accompanied it in screen.
Having transplanted the universal story convincingly to the Kerala context, debutant director Phantom Praveen faithfully follows the original Hindi script written by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, tweaking a few situations and adding some new characters. Sujatha, a domestic help, takes up several odd jobs to make enough money to get her daughter Athira (Anaswara Rajan) educated. But, her daughter lacks any interest in studies and is resigned to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a domestic help. Inspired by one of her employers, Sujatha finds a novel way to make her daughter study.
In the beginning, one gets the feeling of Manju Warrier’s character being similar to many other she has essayed in her second coming. But once the film gets into the groove, such minor niggles are forgotten. After that, it’s all about the changing equations between the mother and the daughter. With the film’s focus being on the importance of dreaming big, there are quite a few times when it goes over into preachy territory and slipping into melodrama at other times. But the narrative has much in it to keep the interest alive.
The mood is lightened a bit thanks to the sequences from the school, especially with Joju George humorous take as a strict school principal. Anaswara, as the daughter, aces her role, even matching Manju in many of the sequences.
For those who have not watched the original, ‘Udaharam Sujatha’ can be a refreshing watch. For those who have, it can be of interest to see how the story is told in a different context.
S. R. Praveen