Arabikkatha

HEARTFELT STORY

ARABIKKATHA TAKES AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT POLITICAL VIEWS AND
THE LIFE OF EXPATRIATES IN DUBAI, SAYS KK MOIDU
Director: Lal Jose
Story-Screenplay-Dialogue: Dr Iqbal
Kuttippuram
Producer: Hussain
Music: Biji Bal
Lyrics: Anil Panachooraan
Cinematography: Manoj Pillai
Editing: Ranjan Abraham
Starring: Sreenivasan, Chang Shu Min,
Samvrutha Sunil, Nedumudi Venu,
Indrajith, Jayasurya, Narayanan Nair,
Salim Kumar, Atlas Ramachandran,
Moideen Koya etc.


20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, August 30, 2007
FILM REVIEW
Director Lal Jose once
again proved that he
can handle any subject
with ease. Earlier, he
surprised everybody by
making a comedy entertainer with
Mammootty in his debut. Lal Jose
achieved success by making Dilip a
thief in the super hit Meesa
Madhavan and a womanish role in
Chandupottu. Lal Jose had the
courage to make an offbeat film with
Salim Kumar as the hero. He created
history in Malayalam cinema by
making a box office wonder with
Classmates, a blockbuster without
any superstar.
His Arabikkatha says a different
story from a different angle. The
film, scripted by Dr Iqbal
Kuttippuram, narrates the story of a
CPM comrade leaving his homeland
for Dubai to earning money.
The film opens with a lathi charge
on party men, who are staging an
agitation against the opening of a
leather factory in Chemmanur, a village
in Kannur.
Mukundan (Sreenivasan) better
known as “Cuba Mukundan” is the
son of Society Gopalan (Nedumudi
Venu). Gopalan is the founder of
communism in Chemmanur.
Mukundan is a young political idealist
and for him communism is
everything. He is a die-hard fan of
Fidel Castro and always showers
praise on China and Cuba for practicing
communism.
Mukundan is the branch secretary
of the communist party in
Chemmanur. His loyal comrade
Anvar (Indrajith), an extremist at
heart, and others in the village have
a lot of respect for Mukundan.
Mukundan resists everything forbidden
in the party vocabulary. He is
against cola, bourgeoisie, bribery,
computers and does not like to enter
into matrimony.
But in the party, there are others
who are not so idealistic. For them,
politics is not for serving the public
but for their own interests. Karunan
is one of them and he protects
Kunjunni (Jagathy Sreekumar), an
NRI businessman, for opening a
leather factory in Chemmanur.
Karunan and Kunjunni promise
jobs for villagers in the factory and
offer money to the party. But
Mukundan overcomes all the enticement.
He emphasise that he will not
allow to open the factory in their village.
Because it will create environmental
hazards and industrial pollution.
The court order for closing the
factory was a setback for Karunan.
He smells the danger and
Mukundan’s presence in the village
becomes a hindrance to his growth.
When Society Gopalan was hospitalised
following a stroke, Karunan
planned a conspiracy against
Mukundan with the help of Kunjunni
and a co-operative bank manager.
They made some false documents
and showed them to Mukundan as a
proof of the money swindling his
father Gopalan is involved in. As a
disciplined branch secretary,
Mukundan expels his father from the
party. After the death of his father,
Mukundan takes up the responsibility
of clearing the huge amount of 20
lakh rupees and takes long leave
from the party.
Karunan, with the permission of
the party district committee, decides
to send Mukundan to Dubai, where
he can easily make money within a
short period. But Mukundan was not
ready for this as he prefers to go to
Cuba or China instead of Dubai.
Karunan persuades him. He says the
party is sending him to Dubai not
only for making money, but also to
study and report the problems faced
by Keralites in the gulf. They disappoint
Mukundan by saying that there
were not many Keralites in Cuba and
China.
Mukundan’s arrival in Dubai
starts a new chapter in his life. He
has big ideas for improving the
working condition of the expatriates.
He meets different kinds of people
living in miserable conditions for
various reasons — but nobody is
ready to listen him.
Mukundan meets a Chinese girl
Shu Min (Chang Shu Min) in a park
selling CDs. He cannot believe that
a girl from a great communist country
like China is selling CDs in
Dubai. He helps her come out of difficult
situations because she is from
his favourite place, China.
Mukundan does not possess the
qualifications or the experience for a
white collar job. He is not even
familiar with computers. How will
he repay 20 lakh rupees that his
father had not misappropriated?
Even if he makes money, will others
exploit his helping nature? What
happened in Chemmanur during the
absence of Mukundan? All these
questions are answered in the climax.
Sreenivasan has succeeded in satisfying
his regular audience in the
first half of the film with his distinctive
style. But in the post interval, he
strays from his ordinary films. His
character becomes serious and
reserved, as his role demands.
Sreenivasan is best as Cuba
Mukundan and gives a magnetic performance.
Chan Shu Min did her role
persuasively. Others in the cast like
Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar,
Indrajith, Samvrutha Sunil did justice
to their roles and give able support
to the film.
The casting for the movie is perfect.
Some gulf expatriates have been
hired to play different roles in the
film.
Arabikkatha goes deep into the
real life of expatriates and opens
one’s eyes to the surroundings. The
movie also hints that the communist
parties often change their ideals from
their commitments. Also, a few party
leader’s links with business tycoons
are exposed.
On the technical side, Manoj
Pillai’s camera work is brilliant. He
has captured unique scenes of Dubai
not shown in Malayalam films earlier.
Debutante music director Biji Bal
and lyrics of Anil Panachooran are
impressive. The songs suit the situation
perfectly.
Director Lal Jose and scenarist Dr
Iqbal Kuttippuram have succeeded
in making a film different from the
regular commercial fare.