Lovestruck Mayaanadhi: When Appu said ‘sex is not a promise’, Malayalam cinema took a leap

Aashiq Abu has an impeccable knack at being able to strike the right chords with the Malayali audience. Be it a story of a youngster who lives with uncle and falls in love (Salt N' Pepper) or a state fighting against a deadly disease (Virus). But no other film from the filmmaker hit the audience with such intensity as Mayanadi starring Tovino Thomas and Aishwarya Lekshmi did. Literally translated as “Mystic River”, the movie is a mystical experience and a reminder of their own love story to many of the people who watch it. 

The movie follows the lives of John Mathew aka Maathan (Thomas), a crook and a fraud, who is now on the run from the law and Aparna Ravi aka Appu (Aishwarya), an aspiring actor, looking to make it big in the industry. What ties these two lives together, is the love they once shared, until Maathan’s less than credible lifestyle ended it for them. But as many would know, some things never really end.

But when Maathan enters Appu’s life once again, a part of her wants him gone while the other still holds on to what was once magical. But she is now set on making a career for herself and Maathan might not add many positives to her journey. But the two of them do get back together momentarily, as for Appu, Maathan is still a character that can still motivate and get the best out of her. But for Maathan, she is still the love of his life and wants her to join him as he plans to move abroad. 

After they share a beautiful night of making love and feeling vulnerable with each other once again, Maathan opens up about her plans to Appu, who does not intend on leaving with him and most certainly does not share the same love as he does. 

Maathan, who thinks Appu still has feelings for him, is taken back while she turns down his plans. Appu then tells him, “Sex is not a promise”, to which Maathan asks why she sounds like a prostitute. Throughout the movie, Aashiq Abu has ensured that he is telling the tale of two characters without any superficiality. This adds a certain reality to what is happening in this scene. But what it really does, is breaks down how sex has been portrayed in Malayalam cinema for decades, while at the same time adding a sense of realism to it all. 

While the mention of sex in Malayalam cinema has gone from mere symbolisms to new age filmmakers not being afraid to choose more visual ways of showing it on screen, not many movies felt the need to talk about what sex means in real life. While a part of the society still considers it a sacred means of bondage, Mayandi was willing to break this shackle and talk about it not being a promise of any kind. With Appu teaching Maathan an important lesson, the film intended to teach the same to its audience. 

In what can only be called a toxic relationship, Maathan still lives in the memories of the past, oblivious to how the other person has changed. Appu on the other hand, still feels a certain warmth towards Maathan, but has lost faith and trust in him, something she has said is near impossible to regain. But when she clarifies to Mathan that sex is in no way a contract of any sorts, this is something that echoed with the Malayali audience. Something that needed to be discussed out loud and also needed to be understood and passed along, at least with the latest generation. 

But as a film, Mayanadi is only getting started at this point. Maathan is still trying to get Appu back, and still intends on winning her back, even though he knows the police are after him. They travel to Kasaragod together with Appu landing a gig there. The chemistry and the shackled romance in both the characters is evident and by the end of the movie, this romance gets the better of the viewer. But the magic of Aashiq Abu and Mayanadi, is that the viewers take this romance home even after the film, almost haunting them in their sleep, very much like how it haunted the two characters. 

And towards the end when Maathan is shot dead by the police, and is brutally made to believe that Appu gave him away, his first reaction is to state that she did the right thing. While the change in Maathan as a person is ever so evident, you are simply left petrified and annoyed that Appu never got to see or understand this. But some time in the future, as Appu makes it big as an actor, we understand that she is still haunted by Maathan, who she does not know is dead. The ending monologue, where Appu says she is still waiting for Maathan to walk up from behind her and call her name, is bound to pull at the heartstrings. 

Mayanadi was a leap in Malayalam cinema and for the ever changing society, Aashiq Abu’s romantic drama is more than all of this. It is without question a mystical tale that reminds the viewers about life’s inability to give you what you want: the heartbreaks, the relationships, the toxicity, the memories and all the romance. With two everyday characters and two simultaneous stories, the film wins everyone’s hearts over, but breaks the heart of every lover, who has once lost someone special. The movie is available to stream on Jio Cinema, MX Player and Sun NXT.