There are some rare happenings in the the history of literature and films.A sequel, which is better than the original, is one such instance,both in terms of film and literature.A remake which is better than original is another such instance. Big B, the Malayalam film is a film of this category.
There are certain sequels which diminished the original.Huckleberry Finn in novel , and Gofather II in film etc.Big B , which is a remake of John Singleton's FOUR BROTHERS is a better film, in terms of its cultural placement, technical brilliance and action sequences.The film is free from the religious and caste politics of usual Malayalam movies.Or it must be said that it is a deliberate answer to the upper class films of Shaji Kailas -Renjith group, the film being clearly posited on the side of minorities.
In a land where the moustache twirling heroes boasts of their patrimony,here four adop0ted children arrives to revenge the death of their foster mother.Aptly, the positing of Sayip Tony as a villain adds to the post colonial dimension of the film.(Remember Vinayakan's dialogue:"Our fathers were here in the scene before you and your fathers alighted this shore".
Usually Malayalam films have the character of the writer and not of the director.But here Amal shows his mettle: The funeral sequence is an example.What the writer can give is only this:RAIN.THE FUNERAL.BILAL COMES. Watch how Amal pictures this.
The film has a captivating local color of FORT KOCHI.Local color is something that malayalam film makers pay little attention.In these times when Malayala, film often tells the story of an unidentified village in Kerala-tamilnadu border, BIG B really refreshes us with its COCHIN flavor.
The real value of the film will only be recognized by a well-informed posterity, it seems.BIG B seems to be one of the rare commercial films of this decade that will be watched by the audience of future far decades to come....
