Sufiyum Sujathayum: Amazon releases continue to disappoint

First, it was Ponmagal Vandhal, followed by Penguin, and now Sufiyum Sujathayum. All three south Indian films exclusively released on Prime Video are disappointing. While Sufiyum Sujathayum is not as bad as Penguin, it isn’t as well-written unlike other new-gen Malayalam films. I think that’s where the film really fell apart, the writing.

Sufiyum Sujathayum is a film that explores the relationship between a Sufi, whose name isn’t revealed in the film, and Sujatha, a mute girl played by Aditi Rao Hydari. This is a story about the doomed relationship between the two, obviously, because of external factors. Let me be honest, this isn’t something new. A doomed relationship between a Hindu and a Muslim has been long explored in Indian cinema. The reason I was more interested in this story is because of the mute character, Sujatha. It's more of a representation of how the voice of the people who are involved in relationships which the society doesn't accept is not cared for.

A poster of Sufiyum Sujatayum.

Writer-director, Naranipuzha Shanavas, has explored this relationship through a series of inter-cutting between the past and the present. However, I couldn’t quite invest in any of the characters. This could be because of the lack of depth in these characters. All of them felt like one-note characters. They lacked layers and complexities. Even the relationship between the Sufi and Sujatha had the same problem. Their relationship is the most important part of the film. Only if we are emotionally attached to the relationship can we yearn with Sujatha for closure. But I felt distant from the relationship. I could see that the director wanted me to respond in a certain way, but I was completely detached from it.

Added to this is the choice of inter-cutting between the past and the present. This doesn’t work when the characters and the conflicts are poorly written. For instance, while I’m trying to emotionally respond to the relationship, the film cuts and brings me back to the present. It’s more of a vicious circle. I don’t know whether the writing felt bad because of the choice to intercut between the past and the present, or whether the intercutting seemed bad because of the poor writing.

What did work for me is the music by M. Jayachandran. Since the lead character is mute, the way the film sounds becomes all the more important. Because it’s through signs and dance that Sujatha mostly expresses her feelings. I enjoyed the music, even though at places I felt it was unnecessary. Dev Mohan, the Sufi, and Aditi Rao Hydari who plays Sujatha do give out convincing performances with the little depth that they have been given.

Considering that the theme of love has no boundaries such as religion, caste, nationality, gender, etc has been long explored, the film could have been much better if the writing of these characters and conflicts had more layers to it.

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