Even their superstars have always been male actors (something they share with Bollywood). For decades, Malayalam films have obeyed patriarchal social structures by sticking to the ‘working man-homemaker woman’ stereotype and promoting the idea of a ‘perfect family’ through many of their stories. Malayalam commercial cinema has altogether steered clear of the subject until recently. From Kapoor and Sons (2016) to the recent Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019), never has commercial Hindi cinema been able to really address the subject of alternative sexuality without being loud and overdramatic about it. It’s as real as any love story you would see in both Malayalam or Hindi cinema, but without unnecessary stereotypes. This is the point in the film that changes both their lives, for the worse. Like most lovers, Ameer and Akbar are trapped in a power struggle with each other, in which one wishes to fulfill the relationship, while the other chooses to surrender to the society around him. Mohandas outright challenges the stark, traditionalist binaries of mainstream Malayalam cinema via Moothon, which fearlessly plays with gender identity but also holds on to the vulnerability of grappling with one’s queer identity and how it intersects with other facets of the characters’ lives. The love story between Akbar (Moothon) and Ameer - one a religious fanatic and another a mute person trying to find his inner voice - is the beating heart of writer-director Geetu Mohandas’ gangster relationship-drama, Moothon. The chemistry between them is palpable and so present that you want to extend your hands and touch it. Soon, like children, they play in the water, hold each other, sing together, almost as if looking into each other’s souls in those few moments. A scene in the recently released Malayalam film Moothon (elder brother) has two lovers silently laying in a lake illuminated by the full moon.
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