The reason I could easily relate to the basic theme of the film was that the region of Punjab is also known to be severely affected by the problem of alcoholism since decades as depicted in SPIRIT with reference to the south.
Taking you into the world of a well read, intelligent loner who despite being much aware, still becomes a victim of this addiction, SPIRIT may not be a perfect film, but it does successfully brings forward an important evil of our society in a noticeable manner. It might not bowl you over completely but does have many sincere performances pointing towards a self destructive addiction that is largely being considered as ‘upbeat’, ‘modern’ or ‘just necessary’ for the sake of reputation or timely pleasure by the youngsters.
Directed by Ranjith, SPIRIT has Mohanlal in the lead role of an addict (enacting it superbly) with Kaniha, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Thilakan, Nandu, Madhu and more playing the key roles. The film does have a slower pace and a few side stories resulting in an avoidable distraction from the basic subject. Yet, the references of a hit revolutionary TV show, the music, an emotional depiction of a broken family and the noteworthy character of the plumber Mani, brings the film back on track talking about the core issue making a decent impact on the viewers in the end. Moreover Mohan Lal did remind me of another adorable Sharaabi act lived by Amitabh Bachchan in the mid-80s, simply indicating towards the perfection achieved by one of the most respected actors of South Cinema.
In short, SPIRIT has got emotions, impressive performances and visible noble intentions of presenting an alarming social problem of the region that is not being discussed as per the urgency both within the people and the government. Because in reality just like ‘Smoking’, the issue of ‘Alcoholism’ too is directly related with a state or country’s economics becoming a major source of its earning that cannot be ignored. And therefore you seldom see commercial films made entirely with a purpose, focusing any of these social evils featuring the iconic stars. Or even if they are then the content has to be delivered with ample dosages of entertainment in order to woo the general audience.
So looking from that angle, SPIRIT does have many well-conceived and thoughtfully written sequences intelligently incorporated into the film to address that important cause of ‘Alcoholism’. Besides it also infuses the much needed hope in the people who are willing to come out of it in order to live a better and respected life, turning the film into a significant one, talking about the right things at the right time through the powerful medium of cinema.
And I hope a film tackling this extremely damaging social problem ruining families, also gets made in Punjab soon, before it’s too late.
Rating : 3.5 / 5 (Including additional 0.5 for its extremely important theme of alcohol addiction in our society ruining many lives and families)
Tags :
Spirit (Malayalam) Review by Bobby Sing, Regional Films Review by Bobby Sing, Mohan Lal as Alcoholic, Regional Films made on soical issues, Spirit by Ranjith, Appreciable films being made in Regional Cinema of India.
