Malayalam film retro: Bharathan's 1978 'Rathinirvedam' is equally about innocence

Dubai: Everyone will agree that Malayalam cinema legend Bharathan crafted a work of art with his 1978 venture Rathinirvedam – for the sheer boldness of its theme and the way it depicted Jayabharati’s role.

So much so, it became the talk of the town when it released – and continues to inflame strong views to this day.

But Rathinirvedam was so much more than its subject matter of a teen’s budding obsession with an older woman. Because the film was as much about innocence – or to be more precise, innocence that loses its way.

Never before had this subject been taken up in Indian films. Yes, there was a Hollywood movie – Summer of ’42 - that released in 1971 and which also takes up the theme of love and obsession cutting across age barriers. But Summer of ’42 didn’t come anywhere near to exploring the depth of emotional turbulence within the boy.

That’s where Bharathan excels in the framing of the ‘Pappu’ character played by a precocious Krishnachandran, who through the years since built up some renown as a singer and dubbing artist.

But it will be how he played Pappu and takes him on the journey to getting besotted with the neighbour ‘Rathi’ - immoratlised by Jayabharathi - that stands out.

There was the gawkiness associated with teen-hood, the embarrassment that comes across him when he realises where his fascination with Rathi is taking him, and the way he ‘stalks’ the older woman.

But cut back to the film’s first few moments, and you see Krishnachandran’s Pappu bring out the sheer joy of having completed his school days and enjoying the long two- to three-month break before he needs to join college.

This was a rite of passage for Kerala’s boys and girls after their SSLC school exams until 2000-01, when the ‘pre-degree’ college courses were eliminated. (And replaced with the Plus 2 system where the kids continued in school.)

This is the passage where Rathinirvedam truly excels in defining Pappu’s innocence and then bhim eing overcome with the sense of curiosity that accompanies every teen’s febrile mind.

Only someone like Bharathan - working on a script penned by the other Malayalam cinema legend and his close friend Padmarajan - could have put this transition from innocence with such assurance.

Because Rathinirvedam in less assured hands would have ended up as plain navel-gazing exercise.

That’s exactly the fate that fell on the 2011 remake, with Shwetha Menon - currently running to be president of the Malayalam actors’ grouping A.M.M.A - taking on as the main character. It wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, Shwetha’s best work.

But Jayabharathi excelled in her role, and yes, it helped that it was a character no one other than her could have taken on at the time. Jayabharathi as Rathi flirted with society’s norms, and eventually pays the highest price. Forever, Rathinirvedam will be her defining role in a career that was long and seen its share of highlights.

Equally, Rathinirvedam is a compelling watch to this day - but as much for its depiction of innocence. That’s the beauty of this Bharathan classic.