Mirror to the devil inside us

-

Spadikam: Mirror.


I am sure that the producer-writer-director team of one of Mohanlal’s cult action-drama hit films from the early 1990s were not aware of the pioneering work being done at the same time in the US by Dr. Donald Clifton and his team of scientists. Nor were Dr. Clifton and team aware of this movie.


Nevertheless, being a double buff of movies and strengths psychology I can say that it’s a must rewatch movie for all Malayalam and Mohanlal movie fans to understand the significance of the key principles of Strengths psychology.


Even though the movie had a bitter sweet ending to the father-son cum teacher-student relationship still; true to the meaning of the film title, it’s a continuing reflection on the way we as parents and teachers have messed up children’s lives and the grave consequences thereof.


Even though the great actor Shri Thilakan who immortalised Chacko Master, is no more but I see that Chacko Master’s spirit lives on in many parents that I see around me leading to sad destinies.


We must all therefore look into the Spadikam and pay attention to the insights provided by Dr. Donald Clifton on a strengths based approach to life for which he was awarded the title of Father of Strengths Psychology in 2003 a few months before he passed away.


PS: I was lucky to find this image combo and there is a special reason why I have also included the third image at the bottom of the truck with Devil written in Malayalam on its head.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the address of love?

-
Image
Did Malayalam cinema writing peak and breakthrough new highs with this one? I am nearly two and half years behind in watching this movie since its release in February 2023. Of late I had been getting upset with the fact that most of the Malayalam films have become marketing and advertising vehicles for alcohol with one exception being Janamaithri . I have been quite concerned with the way alcoholism has been normalised in the movies. I thought this movie was boring and wanted to switch off but the only reason I stayed on was the strong recommendation from my friend Rajesh. And I was about to switch this film off when in the first twenty minutes or so, it was just about drinking, smoking and pedestrian stuff when the first unexpected twist in the tale happens and it catches you off guard and then makes you wonder how is the story going to proceed from here with more than an hour of the movie still left. In that part of the movie, the little cat’s two scenes and its expression truly capt...
Read more

Don't watch this movie till...

-
Image
Am Ah This is no ordinary movie to watch. You need a certain kind of heart to watch it. A heart that can and cannot bear pain. Watch it when you are ready to expand the definition of entertainment and the purpose of cinema. Watch it only when you are sick and finally tired of the formulaic, insipid, uninspiring and stupid, big budget latka jhatka movies that come out from most of the film industries that make us dumb and dumber. What a movie!!! Finally I could weep tears of joy after quite some time. Thank you so much to the writer, director and Gopi Sundar who put together the background music. And thank you so much Dileesh Pothan for whatever would have prompted/ inspired you to act in this movie. While you will not agree to my request but it’s good to see you more in roles like these than the mix of villainous roles you keep playing. And what a scene it was between you and Jaffer Iduki - that scene outside the police station just as he says good bye to you. Hats off to the simple st...
Read more

Best of father-son films from the Malayalam film industry worth a watch by global audience

-
Image
Further to my review of Sanju last week given its strong father-son relationship story, here’s an interesting mix of famous father-son films in Malayalam language -  https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/fathers-and-sons-look-malayalam-cinemas-complex-relationships-84337?amp And of course while each one of them is close to my heart including Sphadikam and Paithrukam and while I resonate with Deshadanam at a totally different level given my equation with my son; my all time favourite is also the first one mentioned in this list - Kireedam (Crown). This movie released in 1989 and was later on remade in Hindi by Priyadarshan as Gardish in 1993 starring Amrish Puri and Jackie Shroff in the father son roles. (Incidentally, 1989 was a great year in Malayalam movie history when two more outstanding pictures came out - Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (A Northern Legend) and Mrigaya starring Mammotty). Kireedam is my favourite in this list for a number of reasons - including the fact t...
Read more