The Most Memorable House Owner in Malayalam Cinema. Ever.

Intricate and innocent – hardly the pair of words you would associate with the quintessential species called the ‘house-owner’ seen in Malayalam movies through the years. In my college years, I spent a great deal of time living in rented houses and had my share of interaction with this species. None of it was heavenly and, if at all I did gain a perspective about them, it wasn’t the least laudatory.

They would fight with you for the rent (inevitably late!), spy on you lest your female friends made it a habit to visit you for socially questionable reasons, and face a barrage of questions every time your mates descended for a raucous party which would shake the neighbourhood and leave everyone’s eardrums in tatters. Life as a tenant was essentially about time spent in pursuit of clandestine arts – how to hoodwink and how to deal with a pest called the ‘house-owner’.

Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare (1986) Songs

There were three songs in the movie, well, technically the same tune was repackaged with a different set of intro and delivered pathos style, but the composition of Mohan Sitara, with the lyrics from the legendary O.N.V.Kurup, G.Venugopal literally ‘weighed’ on your heart with his tonal brilliance. The song can be counted as one of those rare classic lullabies in Malayalam films.

Onnu Muthal Poojyam Varey (1986)

The movie hall where I watched Onnu Muthal Poojyam Varey (1986) – From One to Zero has now disappeared and in its place stands a shopping arcade.  It was a beautiful movie that  revolved around a young, widowed mother, her adorable little daughter and this unknown caller who befriends the child, and before she knows,  is inextricably drawn into this relationship and realizes that the Voice has become an inseparable part of her life. It is also a depressing moniker of the progression of  a story, from hope to hopelessness and perchance a faint ray on the horizon.