Freedom Fight HD Released

 

After a series of anthologies were made during the pandemic, and not all of them turned out well, you tend to look at a new one skeptically. Will just some of the short films work, or will all of them, you wonder. In the case of Freedom Fight, a Malayalam anthology put together by Jeo Baby, all of them do. Five films, each unique, tell straightforward stories, sprinkled with a little humour and a lot of emotion. They are enjoyable and they make you think.

One woman realises what a big mistake it will be if she went ahead and married her boyfriend of two years and backs out of it. Another woman gathers around females working in shops on a street in Kozhikode to raise the problem of toilet shortage. A third runs from pillar to post to replace the expensive fish belonging to her neighbour, after accidentally cooking it. A fourth sympathises with an old man who is fast losing his memory and yearns for sweets. A fifth watches in silence as a septic tank cleaner walks into her house leaving dirty footprints.

In order, these short films have been made by Akhil Anilkumar, Kunjila Mascillamani, Francies Louis, Jeo Baby and Jithin Issac Thomas. The films broadly fall under the theme of freedom.

Rajisha Vijayan, who has mastered the art of letting a story revolve around a female protagonist, becomes the woman who breaks off an engagement, and is forced to feel the shame it’s brought the family in Geethu Unchained. Rajisha as Geethu, lets her family and her workmates treat her poorly for her choices, while telling her side of the story to random strangers. Akhil Anilkumar keeps using this adorable tool to quickly let the viewer catch up with what’s been going on. Geethu appears to be on a guilt trip, uncomplainingly accepting all the new rules for her, but it is no sad story. Except for the abrupt ending and the trying-to-be-cute beginning, it is a humourous half an hour.

Kunjila’s segment plunges straight into the heart of the story – a bunch of women climbing gates in the night to build a toilet. It is a familiar story – the real life fight led by Viji, a tailor turned activist, to get toilet facilities for women working in a Kozhikode street. Titled Asanghadithar (The Unorganised), the film does not attempt to paint pictures of overly brave women spitting out lengthy words against their unjust employers. It simply points the camera at the very real lives of a few women, suffering without a toilet to use amid 10 to 12 hours of work. Srindaa is just wonderful in the film, you’d want to adopt her and take her home. She is sweet, innocent, speaks her mind, gets tongue-tied, shows her fear and never backs down. Simply because that is not an option for these women. Viji plays herself in the movie and smoothly fits into the plot, even adding to the humour that the film is rich with.