Kalabhavan Shajon, Irshad, Nandana Varma, Anil Murali, Balachandran Chullikkad, Usha, Sarayu Mohan, Samuthirakani, Seema G. Nair, among others essay prominent roles in the film.There is nothing wrong in being ambitious about one's child or planning his/her future, but being too obsessed with it, is. Akasha Mittayi, directed by M. Padmakumar and Samuthirakkani, harps on this theme juxtaposing it with the exploits of business empires pillared on education. The movie follows a journey from womb to the ultimate destiny quite like a case sheet recording a month-by-month, year-by-year progress.
The narrative unravels the lives of two families - Jayashankar, his wife Radhika and their son Akash and then Pithambaran, his wife Radha and their son Vidya Vivek. Jayashankar is an earthly person, compassionate and with a penchant for worldly wisdom with almost all the virtues a person can have. Meanwhile, Pithambaran, in the neighborhood, is a ruthlessly arrogant man who never compromises in ensuring a prosperous life of his son as a doctor in the USA.
While Jayashankar has to suffer pitfalls in his personal life for making easy choices for his son, Pithambaran keeps scaling heights through the spectacular wins that his son achieves though the hard path carved out for him. The narrative moves on like a 'distinguish between Jayashankar and Pithambaran' kind of conundrum taking on the contemporary education market where both parents and students are at the receiving end.
The plot unfolds in a light and colorful ambiance but the characters are black-and-white caricatures, especially the protagonists. While there is Jayashankar, always bestowed with all that is virtuous in the world, Pithamabaran, in his mad pursuit to make his son a doctor, ends up clownish with his eccentricities and wild antics. The two move on like a comparative study between the good and the bad. While the ugly is revealed at the end.
Preaching is definitely there. But the thread of a strong story line runs through the length of the social drama. It's a commentary on the relevance to divert focus from the most sought after career paths and to attribute equal importance to the varied and multifaceted talents in children.
Jayaram as Jayashankar and Kalabhavan Shajon as Pithambaran make the most of their roles. While Iniya essay the role of Jayashankar's wife Radhika, an assertive homemaker, perfectly well, Sarayu Mohan as Pithambaran's wife was allotted very limited canvas to perform. However, some brilliant piece of acting radiates from the young actors who played the characters of Vidya Vivek, Aparna, Ajith Pazhani, Akash and Saira Banu.
The camera by Alagappan has brilliantly absorbed the moments and the backdrop, but the music is pedestrian. Though average in terms of artistic scale, the movie gives some worthwhile insights into the present scenario of education system. It's preachy yet watchable.
Rating 2.5 / 5
