Member Rameshan 9aam Ward movie review: Arjun Ashokan’s political satire feels like a lost opportunity

2.5/5

Story: Rameshan, who works as a painter and serves as a supporter of the political party LKF, is picked by the party and pitted against his boss Thomas for the local polls. The surprising move also pays dividends when Rameshan wins the elections to become a ward member. But the life in politics is far from what he dreamt of – with his duties taking up most of his time and senior politicians within the party still driving their agenda using him as a dummy. What happens when Rameshan finally steps up at a critical juncture? Will he continue in his idealistic ways or resort to other means to balance his responsibilities to the public and those who love him?

Review: In a State that prides itself in the keenness with which its public follow its politics, it’s tough to not find the ideologies seeping into its cinema. This is also why it’s even more difficult for movies based on politics to work in Malayalam because over the decades, there’s hardly any subject that filmmakers haven’t explored. Debutant director Anto Periera and Aby Treesa Paul take a shot at this with their first film, by telling a story of an idealistic youth, Rameshan (Arjun Ashokan) who is suddenly thrust into the world of politics and somehow has to come to terms with what follows in equally quick time.

Had the makers focused on the struggles of how Rameshan tries to navigate in the dog-eat-dog world, the movie would have had the heft and novelty that would keep the audience interested. Instead, the makers have pieced together a set of events that we have seen time and again in political films such as Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans or most recently in Joju George’s Oru Thatwika Avolakanam – where the protagonist jumps from being someone with a vague inclination to politics to a political leader. While it does set up the plot nicely, the makers never exploit its potential as the story keeps hovering around a few problems and people, and never gets anywhere.

The main point that the film does try to nail home is that the current cut-throat world of politics is not for idealistic youth, who would rather stick to their principles; this also lets the conniving crowd manipulate them for their interests. Rameshan’s foes here are his own party members and his naivete, which sometimes even make him forget his family. But these instances where he struggles to adapt to the changes that being a politician brings in his personal life is not fleshed out.

The characters in the movie too are those we have seen in other films. Some of the best scenes are with Arjun, Shabareesh Varma and Chemban Vinod Jose, who play the former duo’s supervisor and also a member of the rival political party who Rameshan had go up against. Indrans who plays Rameshan’s dad in the film has a couple of beautiful scenes with Arjun in the film – one while the latter is excited and another when he is down in the dumps. Sequences with Mammukkoya at a protest with guest workers and those at party offices just serve as sketches that are weaved in for laughs but fall flat.

Arjun, Chemban and Sabumon get roles that are a cakewalk for them. Renji Panicker too shows up in a cameo to drive home the point about the nature of the ‘changing’ work of politicians. Shabareesh, who has acted and penned the catchy lyrics of the film’s songs, too get to play a decent role, but with the talent that the film had, you would wonder if the makers could have made better use of them.

Verdict: Member Rameshan 9aam Ward’s plot is all too familiar for Malayali audience, who have watched the plethora of political satires that the industry has to offer. Even as old wine in a new bottle, this Arjun Ashokan-starrer feels like a lost opportunity.