A lost innocence

Rajitha

Every one of you has seen a Kutty. At your home, at a relative's house or at a friend's place. At the neighbourhood grocer's or the vegetable mart. You had to have seen a Kutty.

Kutty is ten. Real name Kannamma. Daughter of a potter, Pavadai, (Nasser) and his wife (Eshwari Rao).

Nasser is a doting father, saving up to buy a cycle so he can take Kannamma to school in the neighbouring village.

The pragmatic mother, though, realises that all this 'education business' is pointless for people of their station. She insists that Kutty help out with the household chores and make herself "useful".

Unfortunately, Pavadai dies in an accident. As the pressures of extreme poverty kick in, Kannamma is packed off to the city to work in the home of Ramesh Arvind and Kaushalya, and their two children.

It's here that she gets the name Kutty. It's not -- if you ignore the moral implications of child labour -- a bad life. Ramesh Arvind is a decent guy, Kausalya is not the exacting type either; so Kutty merely has to do small chores around the house and look after the two children.

Trouble, though, is that the elder of the two kids, Suraj, doesn't like Kutty one bit and like little children everywhere, bullies her mercilessly.

Enter, Arvind's mother in law (M N Rajam) -- your typical harridan, who believes that 'servants should be kept in their place'.

Finding an ally, Suraj steps up his ill treatment. Arvind and Kausalya are aware of what is happening but turn a blind eye.

Poor Kutty's life hits the skids. Worked to the bone, fed the bare minimum, abused verbally and physically, Kutty's smiling face now bears permanent tear marks.

Vivek plays the neighbourhood grocer -- and underplays his role, eschewing his usual broad comedy in a role that is laced with cynicism allied with a kind heart.

He is the only one who empathises, and Kutty turns to him for help, asking that he write to her mother about her plight. Catch being, Kutty doesn't know her postal address.

Kutty manages to run away from the house when the family goes out of town. But as Vivek is not in his shop at the time, the neighbouring paanwallah promises to help.

The paanwallah puts her on a train. Kutty thinks she is returning to her mother. The train, though, is bound for Bombay where, thanks to the paanwallah's machinations, an entirely different form of hardship awaits the waif.

The film is unrelentingly bleak -- a grim, gritty look at the world of child labour. And director Janaki Viswanathan refuses to compromise -- the hardships are not sugar-coated, the trauma of the child is in your face all the time, and the ending leaves you aching.

Janaki Vishwanathan has a reason for making the film the way she did -- Kutty's story, she says, is neither fictional, nor unique. And it is, she feels, time people were slapped in the face with the harsh reality.

The film is sponsored by the Embassy of Denmark and produced by the Shrutika Foundation. Ramesh Arunachalam adapts the story, written by Shivashankari, and is also responsible for the taut screenplay and dialogues.

Music is by the maestro, Ilayaraja, and he has also taken credit for one of the lyrics, the others being penned by Mu Mehta. Thankar Bacha is the cinematographer -- and as always, what stands out about the stand-out lensman is his ability to use light to enhance his frames. In fact, Thankar Bacha never refers to himself as cinematographer -- the credits against his name read: Thankar Bacha, Oli Oviyan (Artist of Light).

Performance-wise, Shweta -- last seen in Santosh Sivan's Malli -- is outstanding as Kutty. You are awed at how she masters the tricks of body language and the nuances of acting.

The director and others have, in fact, spoken of her dedication which, they claim, is incredible given her youth. Thus, for a scene where she was required to be hungry, she skipped meals right from the morning, for the evening shoot.

The others -- who are required by the script to act around the young girl -- turn in clean, professional performances with Nasser being outstanding as the father.

This film is not an 'entertainer', it doesn't set out to make you feel good. But, it is a movie you can't afford to miss.