Veyilmarangal (2020)

Veyilmarangal (Trees Under the Sun) is a haunting take on caste discrimination and persisting unemployment in modern India, and one which is beautifully shot by director Bijukumar Damodaran and late cinematographer M J Radhakrishnan. It tells the story of a vagrant mother-father-son trio who find themselves moving from Kerala to Himachal Pradesh in search of livelihood and yet are followed by their same old problems - discrimination, low wages, apathy at the hands of authority. While the lens sometimes focuses from the son's perspective, it's the plight shared by the members of the trio that is highlighted here, conveying the message that the country is still backwards in its thinking despite the modernish developments. Veyilmarangal makes you think because it's a fantastic critique of our times and one that remains a better Malayalam film of 2020. **Grade B+**. (Reviewed during its Australian premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).)