Superhero

Today we watched the Malayalam movie Minnal Murali. This post is going to have some spoilers, so stop reading if you are keen on watching. Come back after you have watched it :)

The movie showed how two men are struck by lightning the same night and receive superpowers. One of them uses it for the greater good, and another uses it for selfish reasons.

Both live in the same village and know each other, but they don’t know the other has powers as well until later.

The reason for the different uses of their powers lies in their childhood, which was similar but not the same. Let’s see the good guy first. The good guy, named Jaison, once went to watch a play as a child, where his father was the protagonist. There was suddenly a fire in the barn behind the play area, and it quickly spreads around the audience area and the stage. Jaison faints, and is injured badly by the fire. He slowly opens his eyes only to catch a glimpse of his father in his costume saving others, without realising his son is also injured. One man comes to the aid of Jaison and takes him away. This man’s name is Varkey, and he brings up Jaison as his own.

Later in his life, Jaison finds out that Varkey isn’t his father. Martin, a famous village actor, is his father. He also finds out his father dies while trying to save others from the fire that day. It brings sadness and pride in him.

The bad guy, named Shibu, has a similar story, but a different outcome. He is considered a social outcast. His mother dies, from what we can understand schizophrenia, and his father immediately abandons the young 4-year-old Shibu. Shibu seems to have seen desertion, and no support.

Even when lightning struck both individuals, Jaison was immediately taken to the hospital, and he was surrounded by loved ones. Shibu meanwhile was alone on his boat. Nobody came to see where he was and whether he was okay. He woke up and had to row himself back home.

This movie continually portrayed how little support Shibu received in life.

There was a part where Jaison was not trusted by many to be the ‘good’ guy. He did not know what to do, but he still found support in his nephew and his girlfriend.

This movie very subtly portrayed how good guys and bad guys are actually made. The more support and love a person receives from the world, the lesser they would want to harm this world. The less love and support a person receives, the more they would want to become villains of the world.

What you receive is what you tend to give. I found this movie extremely telling of personality development.

I also found subtle hints of propaganda by some of the protagonist’s religious affiliations. We cannot ignore or not address them. Nevertheless, the content of the movie was powerful and is a must-watch.