Ekantham

Ekantham (Solitude) is Madhu Kaithapram's maiden venture.Ekantham has two brilliant actors - Thilakan and Murali as the lead actors. The story has nothing new, the cast is not crowded, no cluttered scenes, no flashbacks, no technical gimmicks, no 'item' song :) . It is basically simple recollections in conversation depicting sensitive portrayal of the loneliness felt in old age.
Ekantham is the story of two brothers. The elder brother Achutha Menon (Thilakan) is a successful person, and had put in years of service in Delhi and even abroad. The younger brother Ravunni Menon (Murali) stays at his ancestral home in a Kerala village, looking after the farm and enjoying the simple village life. Because of some misunderstandings between their wives, both brothers haven’t been keeping in touch for several years.
The movie begins showing Achutha Menon performing the after-death ritual's of his wife. Achutha Menon is now very lonely and old, he does not have any children. He plans to spend the remaining days of his life at his ancestral house with his younger brother Ravunni Menon. Achutha Menon travels back to kerala to meet his younger brother Ravunni Menon. Ravunni Menon is also leading a lonely life as his wife passed away a few years back and his son and daugher are settled in distant town. Ravunni has deep affection and respect for his elder brother and he is happy after the arrival of Achutha Menon. Ravunni is ailing from a serious ailment.
When the brothers come together, they cherish the memories of old times and are happy being together. Both of them move along the village, meet their old friends, visit temple, have bath in temple pond and all these scenes are captured excellently. Upto this point I felt that the movie was going to be one of the rare movies that depicts old age, loneliness , nostalgia etc in a sensitive and matured way but from this point the Director and his team disappointed me.. The story takes a new twist and the movie becomes a big letdown. The story then shows Ravunni's health getting worse, and Achutha Menon takes him to a holistic treatment center. The movie then brings more characters of the Hospital, salim kumar as a ailing patient, Meera Vasudev and Manoj K Jayan as Doctors and the story shift to the love story between these doctors. The main story between the brothers gets sidelined and the movie progrsses towards a predictable climax.
Thilakan and Murali were brilliant as usual. Madhu Kaithapram should have concentrated more on the nostalgic and the friendship part between the two brothers. Johnson's background is good. MJ Radhakrishnan's cinematography captures the typical kerala village brilliantly. One of the highlight of this movie is the soulful song "kayyethum doore oru kuttikkalam" rendered by Yesudas.
Ekantham could have been a better film, as the Director has two of the best actors and he had an excellent technical team. Madhu Kaithapram as a Director shows a lot of promise and is a someone to watch out for.