Veeram

Jayaraj's "Veeram" is the adaptation of the Shakespearian tragedy "Macbeth" into the story of "Chandu Chekavar" from Kerala folklore. It is the costliest Malayalam movie till date. It stars Kunal Kapoor, Shivajith Nambiar, Himarsha Venkatsamy and Divina Thakur in lead roles. The director successfully uses the narrative of "Macbeth" to present the story of Chandu. The dialogues (in North Malabar slang) were brilliant. The cinematography is another highlight of the movie. The locations were visually appealing though they do not seem to match the description of Kerala in "Vadakkan Pattukal". The fight scenes involving the martial art "Kalarippayattu" were well choreographed. All lead actors had undergone training in the martial art for almost a year and it turned out to be critical in the perfection of fight sequences and the warrior-like body language of characters. But when it comes to acting, there are no exceptional performances to talk about.

"Veeram" never deviates from its track and the director was brave enough to exclude songs from the movie. It begins in the same way as "Macbeth". The reasons for Chandu's indignation towards Aaromal were not explored in this movie. It could have been done; considering that the movie is only about 100 minutes long. Yes; those are familiar to the Malayali audience but "Veeram" is a multilingual made on a larger canvas.

In short, "Veeram" is a landmark in the history of Malayalam cinema. It is the work of a genius who connected the life of an anti-hero from the folklore of Kerala with that of another from a western world classic; both of whom were ambitious and brave but met with tragic ends.