Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu - The underdog who won the season.

It's hard to capture the audience's attention with a slow paced movie without much of a plot. But Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu does just that. Built on a set of incidents, none of which is gripping or cinematic, this movie follows a natural progression shaped by its colorful, yet real life characters to its inevitable and logical end.

I am not going into the story of the movie as I want people to go and pay money to watch this movie. After watching the trailer, I was afraid if this would be yet another movie about a grown-ass man trying to be young and relive his youth. I was expecting the stereotype character who is irresponsible and callous towards his family (remember Chintavishtayaya Shyamala). What the film maker has done is pick such a character and put him in a realistic situation. The protagonist knows when to be thrifty and when to spend money for his friends. He tries to juggle his family responsibilities (sometimes unsuccessfully) as well as being a mentor to the local sports-loving youth. Biju Menon does a great job as Baiju the protagonist. This is one hero who is afraid of the villains, sometimes compromises with his responsibilities, is cheap and extravagant at the same time, and has pretty much figured out life. There are layers to this character. The script doesn't try to ascertain his role as a hero.

This is one of those movies which is not burdened by the need to find a resolution to the main conflict. Hence the regular commercial movie grammar doesn't apply to it. All the conflicts have a natural resolution to it, be it an estranged sister, a son who goofs up once in a while or lost love. The script doesn't create any unnecessary drama other than what we find in life. It comments on certain social issues in a very inconspicuous way without being too preachy. The characters do whatever they can to deal with the problems they face and leave the rest to fate. Life goes on.

This movie has some memorable moments which are funny, nostalgic and heart-rending in a very subliminal way. This is a movie that does not look down upon the audience. The conspicuous lack of background music in some scenes was a wonderful change. It is slow paced, funny and bitter-sweet. In my opinion, Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu is better than all the movies currently in theaters (I haven't seen the Mammootty movies yet). The commercial success of movies like this is important for an industry which is ruled by mindless figures of crores and star power. Go watch it, you will not be disappointed.

Rating: That feeling you had while returning from your ancestral home after the summer vacation.