I have seen “Vaanaprastham”, but had heard abt it soooo much that when I finally saw it, it was a bit of a disappointment-
In “Vaanaprastham”, what I liked was this concept of being enamoured by the character that an artiste plays- the Kathakali role is so much larger than life, that the artistes themselves tend to identify themselves with a particular character- it is added to their name often- fans also fall in love with the character- Once, the artiste dons the make-up, wears the costume, most of them even change their gait, mannerisms- the role just overpowers the man! It is amazing to watch the transformation. But most artistes have this habit of heavy drinking that it comes in the way of performance and the glory of the role is sometimes reduced to comic, pathetic dimensions! It has happened to the greatest of actors!
Here, in this movie, Subhadra/ Suhasini falls in love with Arjuna and not the actor playing him- Mohanlal- I forget the name of the character in the movie- but obviously The persona behind Arjuna fell for Subhadra’s attention, and he feels cheated when he comes to know that she was actually in love with the character he played on stage. And he seeks revenge by tainting, rather mutilating the image of Arjuna that she cherished in her heart by enacting that very role and having Subhadra’s role played by his daughter! Subhadra is mortified, pained to see her idol being reduced to such a base paradigm- and that was the very intention of the protagonist. Only, towards the end of the movie, she gets to see a glimpse into the man behind the role and by then it is too late!
I also enjoyed watching the Gurubhakti depicted by Mohanlal’s character, actually, Kathakali is one of the few institutions that still has its roots in the Gurukula tradition. One has got to see the respect and awe the shishyas have for their Aasans-teachers.
