Malayalam Cinema has been consistently delivering films that are substantial and unique. One only needs the eye to see it.
Moothon, which is a near-perfect film to watch, begins with a communal disturbance but the story hidden underneath was yet to be told.
The film is about one of the purest forms of love and the worst forms of crushing it one can ever witness. Akbar (played by Navin Pauly) and Ameer (played by Roshan Mathew) locked eyes when they saw each other for the first time during an event. None spoke but both conversed. We get to know later that Ameer can not speak. Akbar and Ameer grow close and in that one scene where they are sitting beside the ocean where Ameer says, “No one here understands what I say.” Akbar replies, “I am understanding it all.” In a scene where both of them are in the ocean looking at the sky and just holding each other is one of the most magical scenes you’ll ever watch.
Akbar works as a fishman and primarily earns from it to feed a family of three including his mother and younger sister. The love which was blossoming between these two flowers couldn’t save itself from the storm that was about to come. The village got to know about these two men who were in a relationship with each other. Akbar, who’s watching himself in the mirror glowing in love was unaware that Ameer had died by suicide. Akbar’s world was shattered and these are the times when circumstances bring out the worst in people. Akbar marches towards Mumbai and is now one of the mafias of the biggest drug and child trafficking racket. His pain knew no boundaries and he couldn’t hold from transmitting that pain.
The film then moves to Kamathipura, the red light area of Mumbai and we see Sobhita Dholpuria who plays a sex worker and is extremely kind in those harsh conditions. Shashank Arora (Salim) plays Akbar’s hingeman. In one of the child trafficking cases, Akbar’s sister Mulla, who disguises herself as a boy to save herself, ends up meeting Akbar ‘Bhai’ himself and doesn’t recognise him but Akbar does and asks her to stay inside at all times. Akbar is completely drowned in drugs and in one particular sequence he mercilessly kills someone and his anger and guilt both make us sympathise with the pain that the world put him through.
In one of his failed missions, Akbar gets arrested and Salim sells Mulla to a brothel while he is behind bars. Akbar soon gets out of the prison and finds out about what Salim has done. Akbar then hunts down Salim and forces Salim to take him to his sister. In the final scene of the film, Akbar sees the silhouette of a girl who he thinks is Mulla. However, he is shot and killed before he can speak to the girl. Meanwhile, the final scene confirms that Mulla is now in a brothel.
Moothon is directed by Geetu Mohandas and is currently streaming on Zee5. If you’ve watched the film, kindly share your experience.
