If you are lucky to catch a show of Angamaly Diaries, you will realise why Malayalis love their food, cinema, and 10ml — when they pour, it rains 90ml. And, why they might privately laugh at Bollywood's 100-crore club. Set in a small town, it is an edgy coming-of-age story wrapped in empathy for its characters. It has all the ingredients of a mainstream broth — love, heartbreak, freestyle fighting, bro-code, chase scenes and two murders. Instead of being self-indulgent, director Lijo Jose Pellissery and scriptwriter Chemban Vinod Jose cook up a perfect storm.
Throughout its 90-minute duration, you wouldn't desire popcorn and cola. They are poor substitutes for a carnivore viewer who loves his beef, pork, chicken, mutton, rice, and Malabari porotha. In the Kerala village with a predominantly Christian population, pork and prayers are the sources of physical and spiritual salvation. In fact, the lucrative business of pork plays a pivotal role in the narrative — building, breaking and rebuilding the lives of a band of men who eat, pray, love and fight for fun and survival. They are ordinary people with ordinary aspirations. Yet there is not an iota of boredom.
The hero Vincent Pepe — played by talented newcomer Antony Varghese — and his gang keep up the tempo at all times. The rival group headed by Appani Ravi — a role where Sarath Kumar punches way above his weight — is no less entertaining. There are no baddies in Angamaly Diaries. Pepe's adversaries come from the same socio-economic station. They all enjoy a hearty drink and a good fight but can bury the hatchet when it affects good business.
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Pepe accidentally falls into the world of crime when he blows up a man in a fit of rage, but since adolescence, he has admired musclemen, machismo and the clout that comes with having the upper-hand in a good piece of action. From a choir singer in school to the tough guy in college, Pepe's transformation is by turn humorous and evocative — reminiscent of a time, perhaps in the S1970s and 80s, when growing up in Kolkata was peppered with similar yearnings. Like Pepe, a generation took a little longer to grow up, much after they reached adulthood.
At the end when he lands up in the Gulf, he's happy to have escaped Angamaly for a better future. But, he misses the life left behind, especially his coterie and those drinking sessions, which frequently led to brawls with strangers. Pepe's story is a longing for the roots that might inspire the viewer to revisit the tumultuous days of youth. When life revolved around friends and the occasional girlfriend; the days of innocence and a zest for the simple things in life.
(The film will be screened in Mumbai on April 15 at Thane Cinepolis, Viviana Mall, at 7.20pm and again on April 19 at Fun Republic in Andheri at 8pm)
