Sufiyum Sujatayum is yet another addition to the number of Malayalam film we've already seen about unrequited love from evergreen classics like Thoovanathumbikal to newer movies from recent times such as Thattathin Marayathu and Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi. (Honorary mention to show how this concept will never die down: 96 from Tamil too)
And for this reason ever since hearing about the premise and throughout watching the film, the only thing I could focus on was the fact that this was a concept we had already seen so so many times before.
Now it isn't that cliches and attempting tried and tested concepts for the 15th time are a bad thing. Different filmmakers can give newer experiences to the audience regardless.
That's why I decided to give this movie a chance because although I am very much over the whole interreligious unrequited relationship type of movie, I thought this one could spin it's own tune with it and therefore be something worth watching.
Alas! Sufiyum Sujatayum felt like a mix between Vaisali and Thattathin Marayathu. The film was unfortunately (or fortunately) the same formula as all the above mentioned movies with very little deviance, if any.
The stunted character development, along with the overriding need to be minimalistic thus compromising ideal character development and growth really diminished this movie's full experience for me.
While when Thattathin Marayathu released, this concept hadn't been handled the way it had been until that film and therefore was received more open mindedly, with Sufiyum Sujatayum, it's been close to 8 years and the audience demands and deserves more in-depth and well-written characters to fill their screens.
Because to me, Sufiyum Sujatayum seemed like a story about Sujata who fell in love with Sufism as a religion more than Sufi as a person. If that were the metaphor they were trying to put across then GREAT! But since I'm sure that wasn't the case, it can't be seen as anything more than poor writing.
The poor guy's name even was Sufi, for god's sake!
In trying to put across the originality in the idea of Sufism, they forgot to add the same authenticity to their characters and storyline which is what makes a film truly original and not something repetitive. Because at the end of the day, Sufism is just a PART of the characters and the movie. It isn't what the movie is about, so quit trying to make it the star of the film!
So to me, this movie was Thattathin Marayathu with the roles simply reversed. While Aisha was the unsuspecting receiver of poor character development, meagre dialogues and only placed in the movie for her beauty, in Sufiyum Sujathayum, it was Sufi.
I mean, when a relatively minor character like Rajeev has more character depth than the title character Sufi, you can't help hut shake your head at the film writer at least a little bit.
Also for the same reason, all three of the title characters appeared to be very similar to me.
They were all mellow, subdued and good hearted and portrayed as such, stuck in their own worlds. The disregard to their negatives especially Sufi's takes away from truly getting a three dimensional, realistic picture of the character and breaks the connect the audience can build with the character.
Also on a side note, I didn't like the fact that on most of the movie's posters, Jayasurya's character was placed front and center along with Aditi's and Dev's character was nothing more than a shadow in the background. I understand that production details would have lead to this choice but it still seems disrespectful to not only the actor but also the character of Sufi when in reality this is just as much Sufi's film as it is Sujata's or Rajeev's film. Perhaps even more! (The posters had me confused about their roles too. I thought Jayasurya was Sufi until I watched the movie)
Besides all that though, the strengths of this movie were the three main actors themselves.
Although Aditi's dancing seemed quite amateurish for someone who was addressed as a professional throughout the film, her subtlety when it came to portraying Sujata was brilliant. Especially the scene that showed her inability to call out to her parents during an emergency being a mute was heart-touching.
Jayasurya was wonderful as always. The audience were able to empathize with his character when there was every opportunity for him to be portrayed as the villain.
And last but definitely not the least, the best part of the movie in my opinion. Dev Mohan.
What a wonderful actor! I can see him go miles already.
Though there were the small inaccuracies of a first time actor, theybwere so few I didnt even realize it was his first film in many scenes.
His genuine portrayal of the character of Sufi was beautiful. He, like Fahadh Faasil is blessed with such emotive eyes and the scenes where Sufi is as vulnerable as a stray kitten were truly the best parts of the film for me.
Overall, it's a good, watchable family film. But I wish that in at least 2020 we can get films that aren't as predictable as movies handling this concept have already been established to be.
