Chidambaram's sophomore film is crafty in its execution, but it doesn't dare enough to rise beyond the confines of the survival thriller genre
The sport of tug-of-war rises greatly in essence for a group of young men in Chidambaram’s Manjummel Boys, a film inspired by a remarkable real-life incident that occurred nearly two decades ago at Kodaikanal’s Guna Caves. The popular tourist spot, of course, was originally known as ‘Devil's Kitchen’ but was later rechristened owing to the cult status of Santhana Bharathi’s 1991 film Guna (starring Kamal Haasan, Roshini, Rekha Harris and others), which was shot extensively inside the grotto. The hysteria surrounding the film and the love for its iconic Kanmani Anbodu Kadhalan song, in particular, lures a group of impish friends into daring a little too much; and both the cause and the consequence, including a most dramatic resolution, form the crux of the latest film, Manjummel Boys.
The year is 2006 and the place is Manjummel, a tiny hamlet in Kochi. Siju David, aka Kuttan (played by Soubin Shahir), Subhash (Sreenath Bhasi), Sixen, Krishna, Anil, Sudheesh, another Siju and a few others are part of a ‘team’ named Manjummel Boys. This team is a unit of great solidarity and is a kind of pretend gang, but isn’t transgressive enough to qualify as a full-blown gang. We are told that each suburb, potentially, has a team of its own and that the teams often lock horns over one frivolous issue or another, usually when alcohol is involved. The members of the Manjummel team are well-rounded individuals — with a handy job, family, etc. to their name — but they each come to their own in the company of the rest.
A survival thriller that unravels like a fine procedural
The sport of tug-of-war is a great bone of contention for these teams and we are also told that Manjummel Boys haven’t done so well of late. More importantly, when the boys find out that another team recently went to Munnar on a customary trip, they suddenly feel the need and the rush to embark on one of their own. After a mighty deliberation, they decide on Kodaikanal.
A good chunk of Chidabaram’s sophomore film is dedicated to this setup. The tone or the treatment is light, funny with very little drama or conflict thrown at us. In an almost Romancham-like fashion, things unfold documentary-ish while we, the viewer, try to wrap our heads around the denseness of the detailing — the character names, their professions, the mannerisms, etc. What helps is that the director largely keeps things uncomplicated, never going too far ahead of us in that regard. And if you have headed out to the cinema hall knowing the synopsis of the film, then you are already trying to spot the most likely candidate from the lot to suffer the fall into the abyss, while bracing yourself for that delicious moment in the offing.
The year is 2006 and the place is Manjummel, a tiny hamlet in Kochi.
I felt that the setup just described is both the boon and the bane of Manjummel Boys. The former, because the narrative remains engaging all along and we even end up submitting ourselves to the shenanigans of the boys, permitting their moderate uncouthness with a hint of worry. Just as Prasad, the only ‘decent’ guy of the lot, does throughout the trip. ‘Bane’ because things, after a point, feel too generic and a tad template-ish, and when the inciting moment occurs and begins to slowly unfurl in front of us, we are not entirely part of the emotional journey yet. It is hard to pinpoint what does and doesn’t work up till this point, but one surely hopes the cadence of the narrative changes for good from hereon.
The film then quickly takes the shape of a survival thriller and starts to unravel like a fine procedural. To his credit, writer-director Chidambaram keeps his conviction alive and burning and never does he unnecessarily try to supplant our expectations. The challenge facing the boys, when they realize that one of their dear ones has slipped into the deepest and narrowest crevices, must grow in intensity over time and they must collectively find a way to beat the odds. That’s the only objective of the film.
Not daring enough
Someone tells them that there have been 13 such cases in the past and none of them have turned out alive, including the nephew of a central minister. “If a central minister himself, who spent lakhs of rupees on the operation, couldn’t do anything, what will you boys do?” says a cop in the film. Another person reminds the team that foreigners used to call it Satan or Devil’s Kitchen, suggesting that there must be a reason for the name. Hope is dwindling and the clouds burst right on cue, to add to the misery. And yet, not a single team member says we must surrender and return home. In fact, not much later in the film, one of them even volunteers to slip down the pit himself just so that he can take his friend back home.
It is here, at this emotional peak, that Manjummel Boys starts to grow on us. Despite the paper-thin conceit to get us here, we begin to invest in the film mainly because of how efficiently the real-life nightmare is recreated on screen. Chidambaram evidently doesn’t try to break ground with his film but he pulls off the necessities well enough for us to remain hooked throughout. The execution of the rescue operation, in particular, is underlined by some really smart camera work (Shyju Khalid) and production design, with Vivek Harshan’s editing cutting back and forth to create tension and anxiety.
It would be no spoiler to reveal that the highlight of the experience lies in a sequence when the rest of the boys get involved in the rope and pulley action in a tug-of-war manner. Sushin Shyam’s reliable score works as an abled contributor to this cause, as it perfectly accentuates the moment to create that cinematic high.
However, my main quibble with Manjummel Boys is that it never really attempts to rise beyond the confines and the tropes of the survival subgenre. Yes, the crisp and effective storytelling helps the narrative be sold, but the film doesn’t fully commit itself to bringing us close to the subject matter. In other words, it makes a couple of fleeting attempts at turning poetic and becoming a distinctive take on a true event such as this, but it simply doesn’t dare enough to go all the way.
The small scenes involving the childhood portions of the victim are well-conceived and shot, but they do not necessarily add much to the emotional graph of the narrative. The climatic portions, too, are fitting and again, attempt to nudge things in a new direction, but the payoff isn’t all that great. A film that comes to mind, though not perfectly suited for the comparison, is Gus Van Sant’s Gerry wherein a factual story is lent the filmmaker’s fiercely original edge, transporting to a whole new realm of experience. Maybe, Manjummel Boys could have been a little bolder as an exercise?
