Bethlehem Kudumba Unit: Familiar, flawed but funny

CHENNAI: For large parts of Girish AD’s Bethlehem Kudumba Unit (BKU), one feels like one is peering into one’s own neighbourhood, which like any other, has a hodgepodge of characters. There is everyone’s favourite always-available-for-anything chetan (Nivin Pauly, who literally has no haters, as they say); a boy shooting a short film in every location, inconvenience be damned (Sangeeth Prathap); the person who takes the most insults and makes the most (unintended) jokes (Roshan Shanavas); and then there’s his foil, a man who finds logical reasoning for the former’s crazy thoughts (Shameer Khan). Roshan says a young woman staying with nuns of a silent congregation could be kidnapped as the nuns, sworn into silence, wouldn’t voice out, to which Shameer’s character retorts, “But they could still write it on paper, no.” Random but hilarious. Oh, and there’s also a middle-aged man in this group of friends (and co-workers) who wants to help but is clueless most of the time (Suresh Krishna got actual whistles in the theater for the hero-like jump).

The Catholic parish prayer group is a small community where everyone knows everyone. The audience, too, feels so, particularly because in this particular community, almost every character is someone the audience has seen and loved before (Girish AD brings many faces from his previous films here). There is also a sense of deja vu with some of the tropes in the narrative but no one’s complaining. All of it lends to the film’s incredible sense of familiarity. You can’t see Sangeeth and not remember Amal Davis from Girish AD’s Premalu. Here he is Joel Davis with the trademark fast-paced slang. Nivin’s character having an ex-girlfriend he is unable to forget brought me back to Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (OSO) instantly.

It is into this world that Ashley, played by Mamitha, enters, and much like us viewers, feels at home soon, as she is welcomed for movie plans, sleepovers and trips. And just like us peering into the film’s gorgeously lit world, with bougainvillea appearing in several shots, she keeps glancing at Nivin, her next-door neighbour, through windows. It is easy to see why the college girl from a dysfunctional family with a drunk dad falls for him. He’s a lot like the OSO Nivin. Justin Davis aka BKU’s Nivin is the person whom people call when in need, can hold his own in a fight, may wear a mundu but knows English music no one else knows, and can fix broken laptops and guitar strings. Growing up, we knew such cool chetans whom we were enraptured by. Now why does he love her though… because she loves him, he loves her, too? (In Premalu, we wondered how Mamitha’s Reenu suddenly begins to ‘love’ Naslen’s Sachin).

Mamitha’s charm shines through, even in the dullest of attires and with a completely, absolutely no-makeup look. Although Ashley is a lot quieter than Super Sharanya’s bold Sona and Vishwanath & Sons’ zany Maddy, she is confident and makes most of the first moves. A case in point is the beautiful car scene where she is talking about her feelings (remember a car scene with Mamitha and Suriya in the other film on age-gap romance ‘Vishwanath & Sons’) and makes a blushing Nivin finally admit to his. In another scene, he goes to pick her up at a railway station and she extends a hand to help him up from the tracks. She kisses him during their proposal scene, holds him accountable when he misses plans, speaks about their relationship in the open, and repeatedly fights for her choices, even as everyone around her, even Nivin (when the going gets tough), tries to decide for her.  

BKU is not too invested in its plot. The feel-good, relatable scenes set in their little world and non-stop situational and character-based humour are its focus. The couple, who have an age gap of 12-13 years, are never shown discussing their future together or the challenges that were inevitable. In a scene where Ashley looks to him for an answer when their life together seems nearly impossible, he tells her to go study abroad, as planned by her family, and move on with someone younger (again reminiscent of an older Nivin telling schoolgirl Nazriya in OSO that her feelings are merely an infatuation and advising her to become a doctor, like her father). He does confront her parents over the way they treat her, but ultimately gives her up. One wonders why he did not try speaking to them earlier. Is he being realistic and mature about her family situation, given that he is the older person in the relationship? Or does his tragic past make him wary of pushing Ashley into choosing between her family and him? The film does show that the decision affects him, particularly in the emotional car scene with his brother Joel, where Nivin's performance reminds us why he is so perfectly cast. Ashley, who continues to do much of the emotional heavy lifting, later questions him about his supposed “sacrifice” in an excellent scene.

Audiences online have debated whether Ashley’s agency is all that matters here, given that she is the one taking the initiative throughout, and there is no grooming, even though she is only 20-21 and just finishing college, with an inarguable power dynamic between them. What if the genders were reversed? Would it be accepted this way? Others feel Nivin does the right thing by asking her to build a future for herself without him in the picture. One could even argue that he should never have reciprocated her ‘crush’ in the first place. Or perhaps this is simply meant to be an innocent tale…age-gap romances are hardly new. Nivin’s filmography is not new to such dynamics: in Premam, his character falls for his slightly older college lecturer, who reciprocates. In Sarvam Maya, his pairing with Riya Shibu’s ghost character Delulu also involves a significant age gap, though there is no romantic reciprocation from his end. The younger Ashley’s overtures and the older Justin’s shyness/passivity make for an interesting and even charming on-screen dynamic, but reservations remain. Is real life quite as rosy, one can’t help but wonder.

There is a perceptible drop in the mood of the otherwise largely breezy film when a Shammiesque Vinay Forrt enters as Ashley’s uncle. Even though he is in a cartoonish and somewhat repetitive role, he is scary because he is so real. He takes unassigned responsibility for her life (“veeti podi”), genuinely believing that it is his beholden duty to do so (“how many beatings I took for you, mole?”) Her uncle, in the absence of a responsible father, takes on the role of patriarch and moral police, snooping into her relationship and creating much of the drama. Don’t we all have such Malayali uncles? The scenes that follow show Ashley’s family cutting off her agency and going to extreme lengths, all of which are relatable: religion, emotional blackmail, controlling uncles, grandparents and an equally controlling mother. Even the eventual migration feels rooted in a familiar Kerala social landscape.

BKU would have benefited a great deal if it had limited the screen time given to Sangeeth’s love story and his girlfriend’s comical Chakyar Koothu artist villain of a brother (‘JK’ Shyam Mohan). If the antagonist had an Arjun Reddyesque portrayal (which worked) in Girish AD’s Super Sharanya, for JK, they go into Kantara mode – wholly unnecessary. However, the ultra-wide shot of Shyam Mohan and co chasing the short film team on the beach is one of the many immensely watchable editing and cinematography tricks the film employs. Some of the gags and random montages that serve as world-building could have been trimmed without losing the film’s appeal. The magic is in their love story, which we get surprisingly little of. Their charming romance portions feel secondary to the side characters, gags and random funny scenes.

The Morelli sisters, played by a lovely, wholesome cast, get a solid scene with the slumber party sequence where Srinda’s character is described as the panchayat’s first feminist. Their lives are burdened, and a night without the menfolk around gives them some much-needed joy. Unfortunately, they aren’t featured more often. The final stretch could have had more magic because the lead pair are so natural and delightful to watch. The resolution of the primary conflict, the one with Ashley’s family’s opposition to her relationship, is under-explained. But the film wants to be lighthearted, apart from the serious stretch when her family keeps her away from Justin.

Flaws notwithstanding, BKU is going to remain in our collective comfort-watch list (up there with OSO, Premalu, Super Sharanya, Thanneer Mathan Dinangal and their ilk). The humour is unmistakably Premalu-brand, even in some of the slang and accents: corny, sarcastic, exaggerated and hyperbolic, with quick comebacks and repartees. The villains, too, exist within this comic universe. More importantly, their toxic masculinity is repeatedly undercut or camouflaged with humour, which also reveals their cowardice, making it more unsettling. Mamitha’s character may appear innocent and homely, and she may eventually give in to her family’s emotional blackmail, but she never stops taking the first step in her relationship. That alone is so refreshing. May we have more Malayalam rom-coms like this!

The characters, particularly Nivin’s Justin, may frustrate you with how poorly they communicate, but they do eventually find their way to the same page. And the ending, while rushed, is ultimately one that fits. BKU is at its best when it observes people and relationships, but its ensemble of characters and elements keeps interrupting its love story, with the film sometimes feeling too invested in the ensemble at the expense of the central romance.