Ashakal Aayiram review: Jayaram and Kalidas’ feel-good love letter to cinema and family hits home

Ashakal Aayiram plot: Ajeesh, a social media influencer, dreams of becoming a big movie star, much to the dismay of his miserly father Hariharan, a medical representative. But their lives take a different turn when a superstar’s film is shot in their neighbourhood.

Ashakal Aayiram review: Even as a Malayali is set to take to space as India’s first astronaut, making it big as an actor is still considered an alien feat that a rare few can achieve. On the surface, director G Prajith’s Ashakal Aayiram mines this idea, but at its core, the film is about the dreams of a father and a son of a middle-class family and the role that cinema plays in establishing their dynamics, as well as those with the ones around them.

The feel-good family drama, which is scripted by Anand Rajendran and Jude Anthany Joseph, sets a fun tone from the star. It makes it clear that it doesn’t want to go round and round in circles, trying to push an idea that has been often told. In fact, just last year, Arjun Ashokan’s Thalavara dealt with the same subject and Indrans’ Aashan released a day ago. To the credit of the makers of all these three Malayalam movies, there’s a degree of freshness in terms of how they presented the core idea.

Ashakal Aayiram is also brilliantly supported by its performances from its lead actors Jayaram, Kalidas Jayaram and Asha Sharath. The scriptwriters as well as the technical team understand the feel-good genre well and how the movie, layer by layer, has to elevate its emotional resonance.

Even before a pivotal scene in the first half, when an arrogant superstar lands in the family’s neighbourhood and challenges one of the protagonists to showcase his talent, the audience is aware of what they are going to get; but there’s also anticipation on how this would come about and, most importantly, what it would do to the father-son equation. While the outcome could have so easily been steered to the done-to-death format of a father-son rivalry, Prajith and his writers inject a sense of fun, which never runs dry and helps make the movie, which just gets better with its runtime, enjoyable.

Also read: Jayaram on why he has done only two Malayalam films after 2019, son Kalidas too makes a 'valid' point 

While there are several deliberate efforts in the film to milk the nostalgic value of Jayaram hits, the actor and Kalidas actually leave an indelible impression with their characters Hariharan and Ajeesh, respectively. Jayaram, especially, is in top form and the character gives him the range to perform - proving why he had ruled the hearts of Malayali family audiences two decades ago. Kalidas also puts forth a much-improved performance from his previous Malayalam ventures and the final few minutes work well solely because of him. Asha Sharath delivers a controlled, no-frills performance reflecting her character, who serves as the ground from which the men are able to chase their sky-high dreams. It’s the subtlety of her character that makes so many of its poignant moments work, when combined with Jayaram’s compelling performance. Sharafudheen, in an extended cameo, is another standout as nepokid Sumit Raghavan.

Cinematographer Swaroop Philip’s frames, Sanal Dev’s music and Shafeeque VB’s cuts deserve equal credit as the film’s performances in keeping its pace lively. Even when there are plenty of moments for the film to turn melodramatic, the makers steer clear of these, except for maybe the climax. That’s what makes Ashakal Aayiram an uplifting drama that keeps you smiling from start to finish and even long after the final frame fades out. It makes you understand cinema, not just as a spectacle but also as a shared dream that binds families together.

Ashakal Aayiram verdict: This Jayaram, Kalidas Jayaram movie finds its biggest wins in the smallest emotional beats. It’s the kind of breezy film that you would happily take the whole family along for.