Fahadh Faasil’s ‘C U Soon’ directed by Mahesh Narayanan begins with a very touching opening credit scene. In this scene, the makers have penned a note stating that the production of this movie has helped them to pay remuneration to several film workers who are having bad times due to unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic.

From the very first scene where the director showcases the message snippets between two lovers, director Mahesh Narayanan promises that something big is there on the store, and he succeeded in maintaining that pace until the end credits start rolling.

Mahesh Narayanan and Fahadh Faasil offer a digital ride

In the movie, we can see Roshan Mathew (Jimmy), and Darshana Rajendran (Anu) playing the role of lovers. Even though they are deeply in love, they have never met each other, and they have communicated only through digital means. One day, Jimmy introduces Anu to his mother and sister, and the duo decides to get married. However, at one point in time, things take an unexpected turn when Anu gets beaten up badly, and Jimmy escapes Anu from her house.

Later, Jimmy meets Anu’s father and talks about their affair. But shockingly, Anu sends her suicide note and flees from Jimmy’s flat. A horrified Jimmy now seeks the help of Kevin (Fahadh Faasil), and both of them start searching for Anu.

A mindblowing ride unveils

‘C U Soon’ is a movie that is crafted with brilliance by Mahesh Narayanan. In the movie, there are very few characters, but the director has succeeded in establishing each of these characters with perfection. Roshan Mathew, as a frustrated lover, is good in his role, and for Fahadh Faasil, the role of Kevin was just a cakewalk. Darshana Rajendran succeeded in playing the role of a distressed Anu with perfection on screen.

The film solely belongs to Mahesh Narayanan. The director, from the very first scene, was successful in engaging the audience with his unique storytelling style. Even though the film totally relies on digital devices to narrate the events, audiences will not feel bored even for a single second.

The technical department of ‘C U Soon’ is brilliant, and the editing and music stand top notch.

Overall, ‘C U Soon’ is a well-crafted movie that film lovers should not miss. This movie is all about survival, and it also hints at the fact that the freedom to make artworks can’t be controlled even if pandemic like coronavirus hits the planet.

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Kappela cast : Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew, Sreenath Bhasi
Director: Muhammed Musthafa
Verdict: Worth watching (4/5).

Kappela was a revelation – including its name. We have been so used to the English word chapel in Malayalam lingo that we forget that the original Latin word is the actual Malayalam one too. That it took debut director Muhammed Musthafa to bring it back to common parlance is ironical. But more importantly, he has brought in a pressing issue to the limelight – youth and their fascination for virtual friendships.

Here the kappela is only a small shrine of St Mary on the edge of a cliff in a non-descript village called Poovarmala in picturesque Wayanad. It is almost the private sanctuary of the heroine who goes to the shrine to pray and ask for guidance each time she is confused or worried. In the end, she goes to the kappela for thanksgiving – for saving her from danger and for the predictable but safe life she will lead. That she is able to come out of an ordeal unscathed and without the knowledge of her conservative and strict parents shows the power of her guardian angels – one spiritual and one human.

The heroine Jessy is the three film-old Anna Ben, who has done a commendable performance as a simple village girl from the high ranges longing for the beach and theatre and beauty parlor and falls for the deep baritone of an autorickshaw driver in another district. A wrong phone call leads to a budding romance between the two, and reaches a crescendo when she is desperate to escape an arranged alliance with Benny, who is so besotted that he uses her as the unsuspecting model for his new textile shop.

Sudhi Koppa as Benny looks the perfect rustic chap with his disarming yet genuine smile and his unwavering resolve to marry Jessy in spite of his domineering mother’s displeasure. He even suggests to her farmhand father if they could make her a doctor – that she has failed in four subjects in her 12th Boards is cleverly conveyed through the bursts of firecrackers at the church festival.

Roshan Mathew’s charm and versatility as an actor comes out well in this small neat story sans complex plots like in movies of yore. Like Fahadh Faasil, he belongs to the new breed of young Malayalam stars, willing to experiment with villainy or shades of grey. The twist in the plot in what looked like an ordinary romance is Kappela’s victory.

Sreenath Bhasi’s Roy lends mystery and the necessary stunts to bring in the dark underbelly of cities, where naïve village lasses can get trapped and traded if not for a chance savior. The Jessys in real life may not be as lucky; hopefully, young girls will remember this when they strike online friendships or elope with fly-by-night suitors.

The shutters of aanavandi, Kerala’s State transport with the elephant emblem, is used to convey the brief darkness in Jessy’s life while its lone flickering tubelight throws light on the state of our public transport. Jimshi Khalid’s cinematography is a visual treat as it captures the pristine beauty of Wayanad; the heaviness of raindrops brings the heroine’s trepidation to light as she embarks on a trip to the city to meet her beau.

Like the needle that runs through the movie title, the movie stitches piety with middle-class values and occupations. Jessy helps her seamstress mother with the embroidery and running errands in a lower middle-class household which cannot afford the daughters a smartphone or a bicycle. It is as true as life can get, and is devoid of any glamour. Interestingly, Jessy is seen with a small gold cross adorning her neckchain while Vishnu spots a tilak but the differences in religion doesn’t crop up in their conversations or their plans for the future.

Kappela, after its short theatrical run before the COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill, is now streaming on Netflix.

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