Habeebi Movie Review:
What is life without the namma summer mann vasanai? The weight of these words hit hard, more so in the aftermath of veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja’s demise who spearheaded several stories in the hinterlands of Southern India. Meera Kathiravan’s latest film Habeebi too falls in this genre and revolves around a Muslim family’s changing dynamics through the decades as they grapple with loss of livelihood. At its core, the film is a long love story—between couples, school kids, and even the craft of handloom weaving. Movies in the genre are aplenty, but its treatment is what makes it stand apart. While romantic movies set inside a Muslim household are sparse, Habeebi fails to channel the potential it possesses and succumbs to the same narrative cliches that it wants to move away from.
Cast: Kasthuri Raja, Esha, Malavika Manoj, Dhanasree Sudhakaran and others
Director: Meera Kathiravan
Mohammed Yusuf (Kasthuri Raja), a staunch patriarch, doesn’t want to let go of his craft amid rapid industrialisation. In his own words, the sound of weaving was his first lullaby when he was born. As his brother heads to West Asia for job opportunities, time does little to heal Yusuf as he constantly faces pressure to cut ties with his generational craft. Yusuf’s son Abu Tahir (Esha) is his soft spot. Esha and his neighbour Niloufer (Malavika Manoj) are love birds stuck in their own cages. It is worth noting that Niloufer travels through the film sans dialogues and has little to no agency in a world that scrutinises women outside their houses.
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