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Saturday, April 27, 2024
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MALAYALAM JANAKI
EDITOR'S PICK
Janaki is chosen as Official selection of 5th International SURGE (Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encourage) Film Festival. Read More
Janaki showcases the tumultuous life of 12 year old girl, who lives in the unsafe openness of the street. Orphaned and abandoned, she goes through all the unpleasant odds until she finds abode at the Tharavad of Sekharan Master, an elderly Gandhian who treats her like his grandchild. Janaki finds a sense of belonging in the love of Sekaran Master`s family members and the harmony created by the innocent solidarity of the children there. But the outside world always hunts her down. The death of her protector throws Janaki back to the wretched realities, a life of abuse and exploitation. She goes back to the frightening terrain of the street and the uncertainties and terrors lurking in its furrows.
Janaki is the representative of dejected womanhood, hurt and humiliated. The archytype of Janaki is Seetha, the myth from the Ramayana, the Indian Epic. She is the daughter of earth - the one who originates from and goes back to the mother earth. Things are not much different for our Janaki, the destitute child who comes from the street. Unlike the mythical character, she returns to the life in street with an unusual token of love – a pair of Gandhian methiyadi (wooden sandals) given by Sekharan Master - may be to lead and guard her in the long stretch of life that awaits outside.
The film ridicules the vulnerability of the middle class man who feels responsible, but is incapable of intervening. Towards the end of the film, all the characters and the crew members chase Janaki in the attire of clowns. It is a sarcastic attempt at selfevaluation that leads to lack of approval.
