Bharathanatyam Review: Saiju Kurup's film makes for a good watch for its plausible characters

2.5/5

Bharathanatyam Story - Sashidharan is the oldest child of Bharathan Nair and they are known to be a 'well-respected' family in their local community. But when his father gets sick and requests to see his second wife and son as his dying wish, the family has to fight to preserve their reputation and deal with the moral conundrums that follow.

Bharathanatyam Review - Bharathanatyam, Krishnadas Murali's debut film, is a decent family entertainer that adheres to its genre even though it does not offer anything new in terms of plot. 

The strict Bharathan Nair's eldest son is Sashidharan. Sashi is given the difficult responsibility of bringing home Bharathan's second wife and child, and telling his mother and siblings the terrible secret when his father unexpectedly falls ill. Even though he handles the situation well, he finds it difficult to keep this a secret from those living nearby and those who like prying into other people's affairs. 

The problem of a conventional family that is constantly worried about how other people see them—especially in a circumstance that could ruin their reputation—has been eloquently captured by the filmmakers. They have gathered, without a great deal of dramatic flourish, the widely held belief in our society that one must sacrifice all feelings and attachments to one's family in order to protect one's reputation. In this movie, situational humour also works well because it features a lot of plausible characters and performances. It is amusing to observe how Sashi responds to the situation maturely throughout the film.

Sai Kumar injects just the right amount of humorous and poignant moments into the movie, while Saiju Kurup effortlessly portrays Sashidharan, the film's mature son. The former also portrays the conflicted father to perfection, whose true nature is revealed when his son and second wife arrive. The remaining actors perform admirably, with Kalaranjini and Sreeja Ravi particularly standing out. One can be reminded of encountering someone like Subhash at some point in their lives, by the compelling portrayal of the nosy local resident by Abhiram Radhakrishnan.

Apart from a plot that has been seen in previous Malayalam films, the story offers nothing fresh to the Malayalis. At some point, it also starts to seem predictable because there are not many intriguing components to keep viewers glued to the screens.

Bharathanatyam Verdict - Despite having a predictable plot, the Saiju Kurup-starrer is worth watching for its genuine and jovial characters and performances.