Sukrutham explores the themes of death, hollowness of relationships and life with much detail. It portrays death as a pristine, divine truth while life is depicted as a cruel, mean lie. We empathize with Ravi upon his misfortune when he explains sympathy as nothing but an expression of one’s joy of oneself not being affected by the illness. He even implores the doctor not to bring back a person destined to die back to life. The mental trauma that he undergoes upon his return to life is evident in these words.
Sukrutham, directed by Harikumar and scripted by M.T. Vasudevan Nair, unfolds the complex labyrinth of the human mind using the trope of death.It explores the life of a man who escapes from the clutches of death only to find him abandoned by the people whom he loves.He soon realises that his timely death was most wanted for himself and his kin.
The protagonist Ravishankar(an impeccable performance by Mammootty), a brilliant, young journalist suffering from blood cancer, is on the verge of death. He has accepted the harsh reality with pain as we behold his body language, dialogues and physique epitomizing despair,gloom and agony. We do not find his wife, his friend and relatives lamenting his imminent demise but has rather accepted it much more than him. The grey hues, the disturbing background score and the hospital bed set the mood right. Ravi insists on going to his native as he wants to die in peace. He receives due care from his kin out of sympathy, with all relatives reassuring him and praying for his recovery. Ravi, out of insecurity even beseeches his friend to marry his wife upon his death. His old friend, a doctor, blunts his shackles of despondency, convincing him to undergo holistic treatment as a last resort. He miraculously survives the terminal illness and returns home overwhelmed. But fate has cruel blows in-store for him.
Ravi is surrounded by a cluster of deceptive appearances that unveil themselves in the latter part of the movie. Malini, his wife, a callously pragmatic woman, serves her husband out of duty rather than love. Being a rational, dispassionate woman, she is able to break away from her husband with ease. Rajendran, Ravi’s seemingly altruistic friend, later reveals Malini as the sole motive behind his benevolence. He is the perfect metaphor of a vulture awaiting the death of it’s prey. Durga, Ravi’s cousin who has deep admiration for him,considers it as a duty to serve him in his last days though she wasn’t fortunate to marry him. Later she avoids him revealing that all her love was out of compassion. His uncle and aunt offer love and care in his days of illness concealing their personal interests from him. But later they manifest their intentions explicitly, implying their displeasure on his survival.
Sukrutham explores the themes of death, hollowness of relationships and life with much detail. It portrays death as a pristine, divine truth while life is depicted as a cruel, mean lie. We empathize with Ravi upon his misfortune when he explains sympathy as nothing but an expression of one’s joy of oneself not being affected by the illness. He even implores the doctor not to bring back a person destined to die back to life. The mental trauma that he undergoes upon his return to life is evident in these words. The scene where his wife declines his advances for love revealing her intimate relationship with his friend is poignant. Ravi’s discovery of his obituary from the office desk adds fuel to his fire.Sukrutham culminates in that disturbing climax where we witness Ravi walking through the railway track yearning to find solace in death which he attains as conveyed through the trope of darkness.
Recipient of several National and State film awards, Sukrutham has attained a cult status in the course of time. Glorification of holistic medicine, which doesn’t have any scientific base has invited much criticism. Brilliant script, score, music and performances have overcome the flaws of direction. Mammootty’s precise and controlled performance as Ravishankar is a textbook for students of cinema. Sukrutham is one of the few malayalam films which i want the world to watch.
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