Bheemla Nayak is a massive improvement over Ayyappanum Koshiyum in terms of its female characters

One of the most awaited releases of 2022, Bheemla Nayak, made it to theatres today. The Pawan Kalyan, Rana Daggubati is the Telugu remake of 2020 Malayalam hit Ayyappanum Koshiyum directed by Saagar K Chandra with screenplay, dialogues by Trivikram. Very rarely does a remake have a flavour of its own and yet stays true to the essence of the original. Bheemla Nayak is one film where Trivikram makes a meal out of the original material, caters it to a new audience and doesn't dilute the spirit of the characterisation too. 

The very obvious improvement that Bheemla Nayak has made in comparison to Ayyappanum Koshiyum is the way it treats its female characters, the better halves of Bheemla Nayak and Daniel Shekar in particular. They have a proper character arc here and are crucial to the progress of the story unlike Ayyappanum Koshiyum where you never get a chance to dig into the core personality of the wives of Ayyappan Nair and Koshy Kurian beyond a few glimpses.

In Ayyappanum Koshiyum, all you know about Ayyappan's wife is that she's a messiah figure of sorts for the marginalised, perennially holding a baby in her hand. There's very little to discover her interests, life beyond the activism. In Bheemla Nayak, you get to know the way Suguna (the wife of the title character) goes about her daily life, her interesting camaraderie with her husband and how she's unafraid to speak her mind at home as well. The fact that someone with a screen presence as strong as Nithya is cast in the same role has made a world of a difference.

Meanwhile in the case of Koshy Kurian's wife in the Telugu version, played by Samyuktha Menon, the most apparent change is that they've eliminated the two children and she's given the part of a pregnant woman (which adds to the sympathy). Another layer that works brilliantly in Bheemla Nayak is her characterisation as a tribal girl, whose identity brings an interesting twist in the climax. In the original, Koshy's wife was nothing more than a mother to two children, who gathers courage to counter her father-in-law gradually. Her part was a tool to establish the humane side to Koshy's character. 

With the personalities of the wives established so well in Bheemla Nayak, no wonder there's an added emotional depth to the film's climax, whereas in Ayyappanum Koshiyum, it's just another faceoff.