There has been no movie that has moved me to such a great dimension as this one and that too on an intimate personal level. I too was born and grew up in Dubai during the early 90's but I can still connect to the film so well. How can I forget those times when we visited our ancestral home for every single summer holiday, when myself and my sister would eagerly count the days and tell each other that we will touchdown Kerala, our native soil at this time tomorrow. There were moments we would remain shocked when we discovered the time we could buy bread from the nearby grocery store or when TV came into existence with a bang at my father's place. It, being a small village,we had a large crowd in the veranda that faced the bedroom in which this magical entertaining box was kept for direct viewing by our village audience in the evening.
When I saw the movie, it made me realize how so very similar I was to Vicky. Telling the story from this protagonist child's view point was so refreshing. It made me wonder at myself as to what happened to that me who was often curious and surprised about the various ways things around me. When I asked amma to watch the movie, she did and she too agreed that I wasn't any different from Vicky. In fact,she could relate to the movie just as well as I could. I too had buddies long lost. There was this girl, who was older than me by a year or two. I was in my 5th grade when we came down for a vacation and I was wondering why she too was in fifth grade. My visit the very next year kept me thinking even more as to why she wasn't studying anymore. I also had other wonderful memories like playing around with calf. I would stroke it at literally every waking minute of my vacation. And just as in the movie, I too had very very rare vacations were we had all our aunts and uncles together. My father's brothers were all based in Dubai and we were the only folks who happened to and were lucky to visit our place every year. There are some things in the movie I haven't done. I'm so sorry to say that I haven't picked Manjadikurus, which was the fountainhead of this remarkable movie. But this was the only film where I watched a protagonist playing myself in the movie :). It rang so true to my life and with such resonance that I believe will never be seen again. I'm now based in Bangalore and will be visiting Kerala this week, after a couple of months break. Hope to get a glimpse of my roots this time!
When I saw the movie, it made me realize how so very similar I was to Vicky. Telling the story from this protagonist child's view point was so refreshing. It made me wonder at myself as to what happened to that me who was often curious and surprised about the various ways things around me. When I asked amma to watch the movie, she did and she too agreed that I wasn't any different from Vicky. In fact,she could relate to the movie just as well as I could. I too had buddies long lost. There was this girl, who was older than me by a year or two. I was in my 5th grade when we came down for a vacation and I was wondering why she too was in fifth grade. My visit the very next year kept me thinking even more as to why she wasn't studying anymore. I also had other wonderful memories like playing around with calf. I would stroke it at literally every waking minute of my vacation. And just as in the movie, I too had very very rare vacations were we had all our aunts and uncles together. My father's brothers were all based in Dubai and we were the only folks who happened to and were lucky to visit our place every year. There are some things in the movie I haven't done. I'm so sorry to say that I haven't picked Manjadikurus, which was the fountainhead of this remarkable movie. But this was the only film where I watched a protagonist playing myself in the movie :). It rang so true to my life and with such resonance that I believe will never be seen again. I'm now based in Bangalore and will be visiting Kerala this week, after a couple of months break. Hope to get a glimpse of my roots this time!
