Malayalam movies’ tryst with love triangles is the simplest ever guide one would need on ‘Decision Making For Dummies’. While every other normal person is put in an achaar when stuck in situations like a love triangle, Malayalam scriptwriters say, “Hold my bharani” and show us how it is done. From Thakazhi’s Chemmeen to mistaken triangles in Senna Hegde’s Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, moviemakers have creatively used elements such as kadalamma (sea mummy?) to resolve dilemmas.
Here’s looking back at some of these iconic decision-makers in Malayalam movies.
Let mother earth decide on your behalf – Mira from Harikrishnans
Confused about which Big M to go along with? Write their names in the sand and drop a leaf. Among the first trendsetters, Mira showed that choosing between two men is as easy as mannappam chuttu kalikyals. However, Faazil did get in trouble for this ela-pariki decision. They were even planning an alternate ending with Shahrukh Khan being brought in as the third lover guy since choosing between the existing two was a task.
The one that curses the most wins the race – Sujata from Punjabi House
So here’s the scenario –
Sujata (played by Jomol) and Uni (Dileep) have been lovers since childhood. When Unni was presumably declared dead, Sujata decided to live the rest of her life as his widow. Meanwhile, our Unni is chilling in a Punjabi house with a speech-impaired Pooja and almost gets married to her.
Right then, our widow Sujata walks in and sacrifices her years of love for this reason:
“Aa mindapraanideyum oru kudumbatindeyum shaapam vaangeet nammukk onnum nedanda. Unniyettane nyan shapikyilla” (If we marry, the whole Punjabi house and the mute will curse us. If you marry Pooja, I will not curse you. Bye.)
Added along with this, “Aa mindapraaniky oru jeevitham kodutha, ende mumbil unniyettan iniyum valuth aavum” (the 1.63m Unniyettan will become a bigger person to Sujata if he gives the mute a life.)
Just three words for this entire climax scene: Bro Sujata WHAT!?
Check Out: A Letter To Ramanan From Punjabi House
Let your children stab the other guy in the relation – Unniyarcha from Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
Unniyarcha made it much easier for Chandu to decide where he stands in the relationship. Chandu could die young with all the perudosham she helped him earn or live long enough for Unniyarcha’s kids to grow up and take up the mission to stab him. There won’t be a love triangle if your kids kill the man. Simple.
In the end, though, Chandu played the UNO reverse and stabbed himself when the kids arrived.
Play the chit game – Revathi in Poochakkoru mookkuthi
Like every mother, Revathi blatantly lies, “I love both my children the same.” There is a favorite, and the best way to convey it without hurting their feelings is by playing the chit-game. Revathi, very considerably, was writing down their names in two chits as both of them were engaged in a duel.
The catch? Both chits carried the same name – that of the favorite. And then, even more considerably, she makes the least favorite one pick the chit and smoothly shifts the guilt of picking the favorite one upon him.
Cock fight – Kannappan and Dasappan from Thenkashipattanam
This one had me tripping for a while simply because of the logical reasoning used toward the climax. Both Kannan and Dasan wanted to get married to the same girl, and she was under the impression that she would be marrying Kannan. Like it wasn’t clear enough about who should be getting married, they took the most logical decision – Thalli tholpikyaan (beat one to a pulp so that he won’t be able to marry and procreate).
Both friends have had this policy of decision-making through a duel since childhood. One would think that growing up would evolve their decision-making skills too. But here they are, beating up each other over wanting to marry the same girl. In the end, even though Kanappan AKA knappan won, he went full senti and asked Dasan to marry the girl he loves. Dasan gets senti, says no bro, you marry her.
How the girl did not run for her life after seeing the cock fight is beyond me.
Make their journey to God faster- Allen from Kaanekkaane
If it’s that difficult to choose, wait for one person in the triangle to get the daiva vili. If by any chance you happen to be roaming around the same area where they are taking their last breath, pretend like this is what god wanted and move on. Congratulations, you have now successfully transformed the triangle into a linear line.
While Malayalam cinema has several such 5-minute hacks to triangle love stories, they also have showcased a fair share of characters who have dealt with rejections healthily. These include Anandavalli from Mazhavilkavadi, Appu from Ennu Ninte Moideen, angane kore kore. So make sure to take your lessons wisely and drop by your thoughts!
