Arike - unbelievably simple,real and heart touching

When I first heard of Arike, I thought it is something of fantasy type like Shyamaprasad's Akale and Electra.But after watching the film I should admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and realistic approach to the film.Arike is having a simple , uncomplicated plot of three basic characters having three different approaches of life.

The film is all about Shanthanu(Dileep), a middle class man falling in love with his former student Kalpana (Samvrutha) who is from a rich aristocratic family.Anuradha (Mamtha Mohandas) , a close friend of both is the one who always help them with their meeting places and spaces, and even write love letters for Kalpana. She believes that there is no true love in world and people love only for temporary wishes and desires.And she thinks that her friends are the last true lovers in this world.

The issue shown in the film is one of the most prominent issues faced by youth today especially by the males of age 20-25 who love with every bit of sincerity i.e after romancing and even sharing body and mind for a long time, one day the girl dumb him and marry a boy of her parents choice justifying that she was thinking practical.But no one thinks the mental state of a man when he realizes that he was just a last option for her and has been used by her for all those period.Though this is a very invisible issue but it has taken leaps and bound in recent times.This problem has been depicted with at most reality and sincerity by Shyamaprasad.

The script is so close to reality that except few situations we feel that the actors are expressing  their mind without any script.The dialogues are very genuine and some of them are really haunting and heart touching.I would like to highlight one dialogue by Samvruth's charater to Mamtha -"Ne ee kashmiri pattu sari kando...ee jewellary kando..Shanthanu'ne kettiyirunel enik ithu vallathum nte veetukar vanguaruno?" This one depicts the commom perseption of present  girls, not all of them but the 'practical' ones.The scene between innocent and their family guru is one gem of a scene and we feel how pathetic are our mentality towards love,marriage,religion,caste..Then the final dialogues by Dileep were truly heart wrenching.

Coming to the performances, Dileep had to keep it subtle and he succeeded in portraying the  love,tension,agony,frustration of a true lover though could not hide some of his usual mannerisms, if avoided would have been really better.But this is one of his best performances and his performance in the final scene with Mamtha would definitely bring a lump in your throat.Samvrutha had a role written for her and needed just to be herself.Mamtha was the best of the three and she performed it with utmost originality.

The camera by Azhagappan is top notch and the songs by Ouseppachan are good to hear.The songs by Karthik and Mamtha are my favourites.Shyamaprasad has tried to make it close to reality and showed the realities of love in present day situations where people search for better options.
Overall Arike is gem of a film and has a soul in it which is missing in many films.Though there are many good films released this year this film would definitely be in top 5.In these days of 'Thattathin Marayath' which was just a deja vu of 80's and 90's, it is sad that this simple and sweet film and  most importantly a genuine one was ignored by us. Arike is highly recommended for a family watch !