Ariyippu

What a great movie after a long time. Cheers to the simplicity in making the movie. Story of making things right no matter what. Movie portraits how fragile our relations have become that anyone can cause turbulence. Yet if you are true from within you can keep your back straight and chin up. Cheers to the makers of such a fantastic movie. Keep making such movies. The hand held camera throughout the movie, the close-up of tears falling from Rashmi's eyes while performing the medical, emotions of Hareesh, all were to the point. This is a movie with a message. Hope everyone gets the message.

Kindly note that it is an adult movie, a slow movie, movie with strong emotions of anger, betrayal, revenge. Not everyone might like it since it is not a commercial movie but by far a great movie in recent time.

ARIYIPPU explored the rifts and difficulties that got created in the form of anger, physical & sort of sexual abuse, shame, mistrust & doubts in a married couples life over a scandal video leak.

It's one of the few and pure slice of life dramas I have ever seen that didn't feel exploitative at all, was very focused on the narrative of it and also didn't have any kind of loud distractions in the form of music, stretching of unwanted sequences or anything else.

The performances felt really raw so kudos to Kunchaks and Divyaprabha for giving a controlled and balanced as well as engaging performances.

The same could be said for the supporting cast too.

The subplots regarding the injustice, murder coverups? And the illegal practices going on in the glove factory were intriguing too.

The climax though felt like lacking in completion and making it open ended didn't feel effective or maybe it was coz I adamantly wanted a close ended climax.

The background scores in this one also has to be Sushin Shyam's tamest scores from the works of his I've seen.

It's a slowburn directed in a style that I have often seen foreign filmmaker's prefer that are popular choices for prestigious critical awards and I mean it in a good way and while I felt it not to be laggy even while being a slowburn I must say that this would not be most people's cup of whatever they'd prefer.

The film was a great one to watch. Mahesh Narayanan as a writer-director crafts a fine film. This is a story and a type of film which we have never seen from Mahesh and isn't something that falls in the usual form of filmmaking from Mahesh. It was quite refreshing to see Mahesh try his hands at an arthouse film. The writing of the film is rock solid. There is a believable plot that takes its time to unfold. Though there isn't any element of thrill or suspense, the way in which the tale progresses builds an intrigue amongst the viewers to know what can happen next. The plot may seem to be slow and dragged out. However, it is necessary to build the tension and the environment for the tale to unfold. Mahesh does a superb job with the writing, by keeping the screenplay as authentic and genuine as possible. He also has put in efforts to make sure that the happenings of the film is believable and adds a local flavour to it, to up the naturality of the film. Mahesh's brilliant writing combined with the spot on execution makes Ariyippu a superbly crafted film. Looking at the acting performances, the film boasts of some stellar performances by the cast. Divya Prabha as Reshmi Hareesh deserves a lot of praise. She is phenomenal in her role and the way she slips into character and portrays it with utmost conviction and precision is highly commendable. Divya has made proper use of the opportunity she has been handed with, and delivers one of the most powerful performances of the year. Kunchacko Boban is absolutely brilliant as Hareesh. This role is perhaps one of his finest performances in recent times and is surely worth a lot of accolades. The remaining supporting cast members too deliver good performances. Looking at the technical side, the cinematography by Sanu John Varghese is great. The shaky camera movements and the steady shots for almost the entire film gives the film a rustic and realistic feel. Editing by Mahesh Narayanan and Rahul Radhakrishnan is crisp and tight, making the film a good one to watch. The background score by Sushin Shyam is pensive and intense, which is unlike most of his work. It was quite a surprise to see such a pensive scoring being orchestrated by Sushin. Special credits has to be given to the production designers, set designers, art department, costume designers and sound designers for their valuable contributions.

As a whole, Ariyippu is a film that is what the general public would call "a typical arthouse film". However, if you watch the film a bit closely, you will realize that this isn't just another arthouse film, but a film that showcases a very relevant topic in the guise of an arthouse film. What makes Ariyippu a film I loved watching is the approach and gamble Mahesh Narayanan took to try his hand at an arthouse film, that pays off, superb making, spectacular acting performances by Divya Prabha and Kunchacko Boban as well as the score by Sushin Shyam. I personally found the film to be something which you all should check out to see a very different Kunchacko Boban and also to realize the filmmaking skills Mahesh Narayanan possesses. The film is slow and would test your patience if you aren't a patient viewer of films or expect a grand climax. This one is surely worth your time. Do check it out!

#Ariyippu - An intense drama which explores human relationships when life throws unexpected challenges at us - What drives the movie forward are the brilliant performances from the lead actors - DivyaPrabhaa & KunchackoBoban.

The film doesn't have a lot of dramatic moments. All we get is a series of suggestions that paints a crime scene, where the powerful never misses an opportunity to prey on the weak. No blood, fury or horror is visible to our eyes. But, the sufferings of the people who inhabit the lowest strata of society dot every inch of the frame. The pain, the shame and a sense of collective entrapment all hide in plain sight. It's for the audience to unpack the cruelty of poverty

Surely one of the best Malayalam movies of 2022 !

What a fantastic film!!!, A film from the mastercraft man Mahesh Narayanan. Kudos to the whole team for making a brilliant movie within a very small idea during the pandemic Period. Happy to see more films from the crew.

The main key attraction of the film is the performance of protagonists. The idea was really small but the content that they built up from it was really admirable. The cinematography of the film is also really good, because I was somewhat confused it with the arabic and Spanish film's tone and quality. I want to see more and more films from this crew, as because I have seen all of the movies that the film maker has done previously.