Malayalam Movie Shutter: Movie With Moral

As I told in my last post about Amen, Malayalam movie industry is in a rediscovery mode, churning out products that are out of the box. Major players who brought these changes are youngsters who are reluctant to abide all tried and trusted formulae and are willing to experiment with themes, plots and treatment. A similar phase occurred in mid 80s when many youngsters made such brave attempts to redefine movie making. Suddenly portraying the grey spots that inhibited the fringes of society like prostitution, extra/ pre marital affairs, slums and poverty became no more taboo. One such movie was Amma Ariyan, directed by legendary John Abraham (not to be confused with the Bollywood hero) which is among the 10 best Indian films selected by British Film Institute. Joy Matthew, the protagonist of that movie, who went on to become a veteran theatre personality of Kerala has made his debut movie as a director with this social thriller named Shutter. It was interesting to watch it and find what is brought on the table of New Generation Cinema by someone who has a first hand experience of the movies of 80s.

Shutter is a movie that is satirical of the present social system existing in Kerala. It narrate the story of a man trapped inside an unused shop with a prostitute for a night and a day. The movie portray his angst and his anxiety about the impending humiliation when his family find out about the embarrassing situation. But his adventure inside the shutter broaden his narrow mind and eventually help come from unexpected quarter changing him for good. The story mentions several social evils existing in present day Malayali society like alcoholism, moral decay, betrayal, underage marriage, corruption, indiscipline and distrust. To the credit of the director, he does not go overboard and present a bird's eye view of everything. The package is neat and slick, suspense is gripping and the absence of sleaze and foul language even with the subject matter movie is trying to deal with, is commendable. The major difference between Shutter and other New Generation Malayalam movies lies in its emphasize on a strong moral base. It delivers a strong message on morality very subtly.