Kerala Cafe (2009)

Kerala Cafe is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film consisting of ten short film segments, combined together by Ranjith, M. Padmakumar, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Shaji Kailas, Uday Ananthan, Anjali Menon, B. Unnikrishnan, Shyamaprasad, Anwar Rasheed, Revathy, and Lal Jose. The film stars an ensemble cast of all segments.

List of short films

Plots

Kerala Cafe is an anthology film comprising ten distinct short stories, each narrating a different tale. Though independent in theme and characters, the stories are subtly interconnected. The Kerala Cafe serves as the sole common link, with each narrative either passing through or making a brief visit to the cafe.

Nostalgia (First segment)

Nostalgia that is loosely based on Venugopal's poem Naatuvazhikal is the first film that unfolds.

Johnykutty is employed in the Middle East, who claims to friends to long to return to Kerala some day. On a vacation back to India though, he despises the government and the potholes on the road, the bureaucracy and the people. Having signed a deal to sell off his ancestral mansion, enrolling his kids in a boarding school, and making fake promises to his old friend, he flies back to Dubai, to commence his nostalgic laments all over again.

Island Express (Second segment)

The hero zooms down and starts whispering to us about Jesus, Frankenstein and Mangalassery Neelakantan, the idol trio who have had a say in his life.

With his 'editor-publisher hanging around his arms, the writer that he is, speeds off to Kerala, promising her that he would provide traditional attire to cover her up when they reach there.

An aged woman waits for her bus at a bus station, while an army officer sitting nearby dozes off, his head resting gently on her shoulders.

A dishevelled looking man in his fifties, brushes aside the advances of a teenage girl in a shabby looking lodge, as he prepares to go somewhere.

Island Express splendidly bonds together these diverse characters and more in a dramatic climax.

Lalitham Hiranmayam (Third segment)

Ramesh is caught between his wife Lalitha and mistress Mayi and has to take the big decision now.

The turmoil that goes on inside the man's mind is slickly edited and trendily depicted on screen.

Ramesh discloses his affair with Mayi to Lalitha before his accidental death, and Lalitha accepts Mayi and her child as part of her life.

Mrityunjayam (Fourth segment)

Mrityunjayam has a journalist doing an investigative story on a spooky old 'Mana' (ancestral Kerala house) that in its owner's own words is a 'very different and peculiar place'.

He falls in love with a girl, the owner's granddaughter who greets him at the door there, and straight away ask her if she would marry him. She is taken aback but all the more impressed by his candidness. He then proceeds to the "Mana" to unveil the mystery despite its owner's cautionary warning, and returns to visit the girl again. In the end the journalist also succumbs to the mystery of the "Mana", and is found dead inside, the next morning. It is revealed that it was his ghost that came to visit the girl that night.

Happy Journey (Fifth segment)

A middle aged man delights himself with a bit of flirting with a girl sitting beside him on a bus from Ernakulam to Kozhikode. Edging his way into the girl's seat and engaging in worthless conversation, he is all optimistic about the night that lies ahead. The girl on the other hand is initially uncomfortable, but all of a sudden composedly takes on a different garb that stuns the man. Against all odds, she would keep her head above the water, and a calmness descends on her that is at once creepy and confident.

A psychological combat between the two ensues that concludes in an impressive climax.

Aviramam (Sixth segment)

Aviramam talks of life that would go on, even as one strives to put an end to it all.

Devi wakes up to find her doting husband Ravi beside her with a cup of tea. Gulping down the tea, she talks of 'how horrible a kisser' he was.

There is talk of the recession eating into the IT sector and Ravi's business in particular before they get ready to leave for the railway station with their kids. Having seen off his family on a short vacation of three days, Ravi heads back home and gets a noose ready to finally call it a day. But the true love of Devi prevents any mishaps and they decide to take on life as it comes.

Off Season (Seventh segment)

Kunjappai gets all pepped up as he comes across a foreigner couple on an almost empty Kovalam beach. His hopes of earning some quick money are dashed when he learns that they are broke and have actually traveled all the way from Lisbon looking for work in India. But Kunjappai and the couple bond well, and soon all's well that ends well

Bridge (Eighth segment)

Bridge illustrates the obvious symbols of loss, misery and desolation.

The film talks about two parallel tracks, the first one involving a boy and his pet kitten. The father discards the pet kitten to discipline the child, but the child falls ill, and the father then sets out to find the kitten to calm his son, but to no avail.

The other story has a son, who lives in poor surroundings, deciding to leave his ailing mother in the street.

In the end, it is shown that the old lady and the kitten have found each other, and both are sitting on the verandah of Kerala Cafe.

Makal (Ninth segment)

Makal explores the theme of child exploitation. The story follows a girl who is taken from her village by a couple under the guise of adoption. While it initially appears to be a generous act, the narrative gradually reveals a darker motive, exposing issues related to child-trafficking.

Puram Kazhchakal (Tenth segment)

Puram Kazhchakal portrays a nameless man aboard a bus trudging along a hill terrain.

His anger and impatience at the slow moving vehicle is being amusedly watched by a fellow passenger who gulps down his own memories.

Cast

Sathyan Anthikkad as himself (narrator)

Nostalgia

Dileep as Johny

Navya Nair as Sheela, Johny's wife

Sudheesh as Jose, Johny's classmate

Suresh Krishna as Suresh, Johny's coworker

Babu Namboothiri as Johny's father

Sreelatha Namboothiri as Johny's mother

Ambika Mohan as the mother superior

Anil Murali as Sreekumar Pillai

Island Express

Prithviraj Sukumaran as Leon

Jayasurya as Vishal Krishnan

Sukumari as Narayani

Rahman as Renjith

Maniyanpilla Raju as the driver of Island Express

Kani Kusruti as Zeba, Leon's love interest

Shelly Kishore as Kaveri

Sreejith Ravi as a person in the club

M. A. Baby as himself

Geethu Christie as Renjith's love interest

Lalitham Hiranmayam

Suresh Gopi as Ramesh

Jyothirmayi as Lalitha, Ramesh's wife

Dhanya Mary Varghese as Hiranmayi, Ramesh's love interest

Jayan Cherthala as Ramesh's friend

Mrityunjayam

Fahadh Faasil as the journalist, after died (Sprit)

Thilakan as Thirumeni, owner of Vanneri Mana

Rima Kallingal as Thirumeni's granddaughter

Anoop Menon as James, officer of IB

Meera Nandan as James' step-sister

Happy Journey

Jagathy Sreekumar as 'JK'

Nithya Menen as a JK's co-passenger

Bindu Panicker as JK's wife (voice only)

Mukundan as the journalist

Mythili as a person in the cafe

Pradeep Kottayam as a person in the cafe

Aviraamam

Siddique as Ravi

Shweta Menon as Devi, Ravi's wife

Sudheesh as Jose (Character in segment Nostalgia)

Off Season

Suraj Venjaramood as Kunjappayi, a tour guide

Vindhyan as Razak

Bridge

Salim Kumar as Manikandan

Kalpana as Manikandan's wife

Kozhikode Shantha Devi as Manikandan's mother

Jinu Joseph as the father

Molly Kannamali as Mary

Makal

Sona Nair as Sethulekshmi

Augustine as Sathashivan

Sreenath as Sajeevan

Sasi Kalinga as the person who traffics the child

Puram Kazhchakal

Mammootty as a passenger in the bus

Sreenivasan as a writer

Sshivada as the writer's former lover

Manikandan Pattambi as the conductor of the bus

Shalu Kurian as a passenger in the bus

Themes

On a common theme of journeys, each filmmaker presents their cinematic impression of contemporary times in Kerala. The independent narratives integrate when, during these journeys, their characters pass through Kerala Cafe—a quaint railway cafeteria—thereby creating a joint mosaic of issues and impressions.

The project involved ten different cinematographers from the industry. The project features ten different stories from different settings in Kerala, providing ample scope for a diverse bouquet of visual styles. The intersection of the ten stories happens in a railway cafeteria called "Kerala Café", where there is an interaction among the characters of the different stories. This portion was collectively shot by the participating directors and the cinematography was done by Prakash Kutty. Ranjith was the compiler and the producer of the project.

Soundtrack

The only song featured in the film is "Kathayamama, Kathayamama, Kathakalathisadaram", an ode to Thunchath Ezhuthachan's famous verse, shown in the end credits. The lyrics of the song were written by Rafeeq Ahamed and the music was composed by Bijibal, and sung by P. Jayachandran.

Release

The film was released in Abu Dhabi on 9 October 2009. The film released in India on 29 October 2009.

Reception

Critics gave the film generally favourable reviews. Giving it four stars out of five, Nowrunning.com commented: "Open up this box of assorted candies, and you see them all laid out on a salver, quite uneven in manner and matter, posture and perspective and yet it all builds into something quite incredible that makes this ambitious enterprise a fascinating filmic feast."

Movie Buzz of Sify.com said, "Here is a film that looks different from the rest and catches the viewers' attention quite easily."

Legacy

Some of the emotional scenes became viral through social media. Also, one of the dialogue by Prithviraj Sukumaran in this film became a subject to trolls and memes in social media.

References

External links

Kerala Cafe at IMDb