Sesham

Cast: Jayaram, Biju Menon, Murali, Geethu Mohandas and Siddique
Language: Malayalam
Director: T K Rajeev Kumar
Camera: Rajeev Ravi
Story: T K Rajeev Kumar
Year: 2002

The plot unfolds as Meera (Geethu Mohandas ), a committed filmmaker decides to make a documentary on the sorry predicament of the mentally challenged who are marginalised and in a sense ostracised from the mainstream society. She seeks to reflect the plight of psychopaths by giving a fresh treatment to the cliche ridden documentary style. To achieve this end , she brings the trouble torn life of Lonappan (Jayaram) into sharp focus. He is not able to recollect his past due to the psychic disorder. As the room in which his belongings are kept catches fire and starts burning accidentally, Meera realizes the bitter fact that now it is not possible to recount the traumatic experiences that he has gone through in the past. In the meantime, she gets closer to Lonappan and he becomes a part of her life. Meera's fiance (Biju Menon) extends his whole hearted support for Meera who is fully engrossed in her eternal struggle for becoming an acclaimed filmmaker. She is determined to bring him back to normal life and she seeks the help of her fiance who is the district collector in this regard. Being a bureaucrat, he succeeds in his attempt to bring him back to the mainstream society.

The story takes a serious turn as Lonappan becomes an integral part of Meera's life and she finds whole things upside down because of his presence at home. She gives him a job in a school but the cruel society expells him. In the meantime, Lonappan gets closer to a child in the school. But he finally decides to go back to the mental asylum and live the rest of life with the inmates. He discards all the facilities offered by Meera. The film ends when her movie titled Timepiece bags award for the best film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jayaram's attempt at an image switch has not turned a futile excercise after the widely hailed departure from the image of an impish, lovable, merrymaker in the film Theerthadanam, a film based on the celebrated short story by M T Vasudevan Nair. He puts in a commendable performance as Lonappan and he excells in portraying the nuances of the psychic disorder. This is the only challenging role he has got in a career spanning one and a half decade.

Geethu Mohandas gives a marvelous performance while Murali as the editor of her film and Biju Menon as her fiance do full justice to their respective roles. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography, Devi Zora's background score and editing by Sreekar Prasad have contributed much to the aesthetic appeal of the film. Made on a shoe-string budget, Sesham is a laudable venture despite some flaws.

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