Godha - Hitting all the right notes

Malayalam movies are something which every Malayalee can boast about to our friends from other states of the country, but we never had a proper sports movie, apart from the Abrid Shine-Nivin Pauly masterstroke 1983 all we had are some misses in the genre. Although we did try to take on different subjects like volleyball (Karikunam 6's) and football (Goal) nothing seemed to work out. So when I first saw the trailer of Godha all I could think of was a slapstick comedy riot as the directors (Basil Joseph) last outing Kunjiramayanam. Kunjiramayanam was an extremely fun movie but would I recommend it to a Non-Malayalee movie buff who takes cinema seriously? No. Besides that, Godha focused on wrestling, as a millennial malayalee who knows wrestling only through bollywood movies and the occasional hype that comes when India wins an olympic medal, I was quite skeptical about the movie.

I had a lot of premonitions but Basil Josephs outstanding direction and Rakesh Manthodis brilliant story together with Shaan Rahmans exciting music made Godha one of my favourite movies of this year. It wasn't just the people behind the camera who did their job perfectly but also the ones in front of it. Renji Panicker definitely outshined as "Captain". The aging wrestler, the passionate coach, the fun dad all were spot on. Tovino Thomas is another actor who just keeps exciting me everytime I watch, from the serious  guy in Guppy to the lazy boy next door in Godha, he proves again that he is here to stay in the industry. The supporting actors were a mixture of the old and new generation. Mamukoya, Hareesh (Perumana and Peradi), Aju Varghese, Dharmajan and everybody else in the old/new gang gave us plenty to laugh about in the 2 hours. Shine Tom Chacko as the "kidilan" cricketer and Tovinos roomie in Punjab also made a mark in the movie.

Even with such an amazing star cast, the cat-eyed Punjabi kudi still managed to steal the show. Wamiqa Gabbi "Aditi Singh" as the hot headed Punjabi who places wrestling above everything else was probably the best highlight of the movie and let me remind you that this movie had a lot of good things. Aditi Singh is the representation of most of the girls in our country. How far can a girl dream is one of the most debated topics in recent times. From choosing their career to life partner the women in our country faces a lot of hassles. The way Aditi chases her dream is pretty inspiring. That's what a lot of people lack, the courage to get out of their comfort zone and chase their dreams which Aditi does in the most classy way. Aditi is a true inspiration and seeing that she could inspire Tovino in the movie, I hope  she does the same with people outside the screen as well.

I was skeptical about traveling 20kms and watching this movie, that too when I'm not even used to this new city but I would have cursed myself if I had missed Godha.  Godha is one of the best movies I have watched in recent times. It's definitely a better flick than Sultan and does its justice with all the topics it touches, with the approach on the gau-rakshaks to the women empowerment to the way Aditi inspires Das (Tovino). It would be a crime if I didn't mention Vishnu Sarma (Cinematographer) and Abhinav Sunder Nayak (Editor).

Aditi Singh does what most women want to do, break the shackles of somebody else's control and chase their dreams, finally fulfilling those dreams in style. That’s not the only thing you can pick up from the female lead, Aditi is also shown as a strong independent girl who will stand up for herself when somebody misbehaves with her. I wouldn’t ask everybody to learn wrestling and beat everyone up, but it’s okay stand up for yourself. Stop thinking about how others are gonna judge you. But if someone misbehaves with you and doesn’t apologize, then don’t hold back, go asli Punjabi on him. 😉