Bhramayugam is groundbreaking Cinema in more ways than one, for Malayalam Cinema. But so were Boothakalam and Red Rain, if you had cared to notice. Rahul Sadavisan ups his game with none other than Mammootty this time around to ensure that his skills as a filmmaker gets the attention it deserves, with Bhramayugam. All credit definitely goes to Rahul Sadavisan for envisioning this piece of uncompromising Cinema and managing to impress his audience and deliver the promise too. I might be assumptive when I say that Rahul Sadasivan is probably the only academically trained filmmaker amongst the new crop out there and it shows, especially in his aesthetic sensibilities as a director, probably his schooling overseas adds to this too. This was again evident in Bhoothakalam. Bringing the director’s vision to life is Shehad Jalal whose cinematography is key to the narrative and the aesthetics again. Jothish Shankar seems to be the go to person for films that demand active contribution from the art department, in Malayalam cinema these days. His filmography speaks for itself and again he aids Rahul Sadasivan in bringing his ideas to life on screen. Just the shots of the kitchen and the cooking scenes should bring him an award. The single metaphor where Sidharth Bharatan’s character compares time to a river tells us why Rahul Sadasivan entrusted T.D Ramakrishan with the dialogues. The special effects were right on the money and the efforts to deliver a fresh visual experience to the viewer was evident. Had me wondering if the director consulted Jijo Punnoose for the centrifuge scene. Rumor has it that we will be watching something similar in Barroz too.

Okay, now this is as meta as it gets. To take a leaf out the book of metaphors that Bhramayugam is, when Rahul Sadasivan sets the board of imagination and rolls the dice along with his finest crew behind the camera, the onus is on the actors before the camera to play the director’s game. Now who plays it best? Is it an unleashed Mammooty? Or is it an unrestrained Arjun Asokan who is discovering himself? Or is it a restrained yet effective Siddarrh Bharathan? Manikandan Achari and Amalda Liz do their bit too. I had look to up Wiki for the “bhavas” defined in the Indian treatise of dance, Natyashasthra because I felt that Rahul Sadasivan managed to extract all eight emotions at some point from two of the three main protagonists, in the film – or is one an antagonist(?) . Bharata in his Natya Shastra mentions eight Sthayibhavas: (i) Rati (Love), (ii) Hasa (Mirth), (iii) Krodha (Anger), (iv) Utsaha (Courage), (v) Bhaya (Fear), (vi) Jugupsa (Aversion), (vii) Vismaya (Wonder), and (viii), and Soka (Sorrow) each corresponding to eight Rasas, says Wiki. While Mammootty turns Goliath with each of these emotions, reinventing himself like we have never seen him before on the screen, Arjun Ashokan is David when holds his own before the legendary thespian. Siddharth Bharathan plays pivotal role in engaging the viewer, it’s how the character was conceived too, probably, in terms of purpose. On a closing note, have to say that just because this film is released in black and white, it’s not experimental. It plays out like a tale out of Aithihyamala, with an edge of darkness. This is not parallel cinema, it’s unparalleled cinema, at least for Malayalam Cinema.