Meaningful Movie !!. Review on Veruthe Oru Bharya

Malayalam films seems to be returning to its previous golden era with a spate of good movies with a message and good entertainment factor. Veruthe oru bharya isnt by no means a path breaker but it holds our attention and conveys a known but often misunderstood moral.

Directed by Akku Akbar , produced by Salavuddin , written by  Gireesh Kumar and music scored by Shyam Dharmaniwhich is already a raging hit , it is a modest movie starring Jayaram and Gopika as the lead pair. The movie plot is predictable and can be described briefly as such -

Sugunan ( jayaram ) is an egoistical, hypocrite husband who is ever the complainer. He refuses to offer a word of appreciation or encouragement to his wife bindu ( gopika ) who is a homemaker and works day in and day out to maintain a comfortable enviornment at home.Their 15 year old daughter who is facing adolesence issues isnt helping out either. The marriage which was once fondled in love and understanding is strained after all these years and the passion and intimacy all lost. He doesnt  allow bindhu to speak with friends, attend social events or any liesure event for that matter. Nothing to offer change from the heavy house work and child care. Bindhu is the ever submissive wife but silently resentful with rare out bursts which  catches sugunan by surprise. The strain reaches such a point that bindhu demands a break and goes to live with her father ( innocent ) leaving sugunan and their daughter anju stranded. The rest of the movie is about whether Sugunan can win over his wife and if he can change his perception of women.

Let it be  known now that Sugunan is by no means a sadistic man, infact far from it. He is brought up in such an enviornment that leads to his point of view being skewed. He genuinely loves his wife but just deems household chores as not as important as his bread winning job. Its this failure of realisation that causes all this ruckus. And Bindhu for her part is brought up to believe women to suffer silently . Both of then wants their fizzled marriage to work. I guarantee that many of us will connect with the characters if not relive certain scenes. It makes us uncomfortable with its realistic and relateable situations. The film has loads of funny scenes which I have not mentionedso as not to strip you of the entertainment value.

Jayaram scores heavily in this movie playing a character that is almost his original age and acts with razor sharp precision inviting applauds all around. Gopika has grown immensely in this movie. executing the complex character with ease. Nivedita who plays the daughter anju has packed a good performance as the shattered teenager. Sooraj Venjaramoodu provides laughs without being crass.

All in all a wonderfully made movie with power house performances, plenty of optimism and a realistic view of the mind of the married couple.  As you have guessed the movie is kind predictable but i assure you that you will not mind or be bothered one bit as such is the intensity it generates. I serioulsly think everyone should give this movie a watch if not to learn from it but to be aware of marital problems. Its one of the most mature family oriented movies of recent times. Two thumbs up guys.