Sukhamano Sukhamann

Story: Theo is a lonely man with no family, haunted by his past and nicknamed 'Mental' by
neighbours because of his isolation and hallucinations. His life changes when he attends a stranger's funeral, where he is mistaken for a relative. He soon begins hallucinating the deceased man as his grandfather. After getting a job at a crematorium, he builds a delusional family made of the dead people he has cremated. The story takes a turn when these imaginary figures urge him to find a girlfriend, leading Theo and his friends to search for the deaths of young women to join his world.

Review: They say the human mind is a social animal, but what happens when it is pushed
into absolute exile? This film is a chilling study of Theo, a man so starved for connection that he begins to find it among the dead. Even though the core of the story is actually quite heart-breaking, it's treated with a unique fantasy comedy vibe, finding a weird, whimsical kind of humour in the darkest corners of a lonely mind.

Directed by Arunlal Ramachandran, Sukhamano? Sukhamanu! presents a very unique story, depicting the loneliness of a young man. The entire movie could be interpreted as a narrative playing out solely within the mind of the protagonist, Theo. He is supported by Iyip Chettan, played by Jagadeesh, an ex-police officer who took the blame for a killing to save his son and went to jail, only to return and find himself abandoned by that same son.

Even with such a unique premise, the scripting is very weak, and the movie lacks the emotional profundity it should have carried. Even an actor like Jagadeesh sees his performance fall short in certain scenes, simply because the writing is not convincing. Furthermore, Mathew Thomas feels largely like a miscast for the lead role, as he is unable to pull off the complexities of Theo, and his dialogue delivery is not effective.

The climax unfortunately fails to tie the narrative together effectively. While the film clearly had potential due to its unique premise, it ultimately could not execute it well, leaving the viewer with a sense of what could have been. Devika Sanjay, who plays the female lead, delivers a fine performance. Much of the film’s humour is driven by the supporting cast playing the ghost characters like Spadikam George, Kudassanad Kanakam, Noby Marcose, Abhin, and Manikuttan.
- Aiswarya S Nair