Insha Is A Goodhearted but Dull Story Of Humanism

Insha(Neestream , Malayalam)

Starring Prathana Sandeep, Directed  by Siju Vijayan

Rating: **

 Sometimes  the  best of intentions can   go to waste, specially if  you have  no  backup hardware  for your emotions. Insha  is heartfelt emotionally flush but finally too  aimless and dull to   put forward  the dreams  and yearnings of  a  13-year old  girl, well played  by  young Prathana Sandeep.

At the cusp  of  puberty, one would expect the girl’s immobile  condition to secrete  a chaos of dreams  and  yearnings. But none  of that. No  curiosity  about  life and, ahem, sex. All  Insha wants  is to see  the sea. Just  a hop away  from the  ocean , her wheelchair-bound existence has  robbed  her of  all rights to step out of her  home. Her bully  of an uncle who (could do  with some tutoring in  child rearing) wouldn’t hear  of Insha  taking an afternoon out with her  supportive friends who then  have to plan her  secret  outing lest Uncleji gets to know.

It is baffling why Insha  would not be  allowed to go out with her  friends  specially when they are  so caring and  attentive. The  director  constructs his  case  for  Insha’s “normal”  joys on inexcusably  shaky grounds. The  child actors  playing  Insha’s  chums are so   cloying in their sweetness that the  mood  of  the proceedings begins to  get progressively  annoying.

 By the time a tragic  turning-point is reached in the lifeless plot, it is too late to breathe fire into the  dying embers  .Tragically a  film founded on the noblest  of intentions  resembles  propaganda  for the paraplegic associations’  annual fund-raising  event. Insha’s  desire to  witness the waves(after seeing the seas) is so  mundane  it  makes no sense  to make it  the central crisis of  a  plot  woefully bereft  of real drama

The  acting is largely  of the  so-what-is-my-next-line  variety . There is  little resonance or lucidity  in  the characters  .And that that includes Insha’s  kind grandmother and forever-hysterical mother. A female  teacher keeps dropping in with sugary homilies. She has no idea how to improve the  girl’s  restricted movement so she can fly higher that fate willed.Not even a  warning to the  bullying uncle.

At the end life seems to have worked out well  for Insha.We see her blissfully  settled with  a partner(her childhood chum), the  coveted sea-view at her toes .Barring the  girl who plays  the title role  the children though  natural  are  sadly  devoid of  charisma. The  film is turgid in tone  and  severely restricted  in its persuasions.Somewhat like the protagonist in her wheelchair.