There is a song by Cat Stevens which goes “where do the children play” released in the year 1970. Watching ‘Rakshadhikaru Baiju Oppu’ reminded me of the song. Living in concrete jungles where children have nowhere to play freely, this movie resonates with its theme that questions materialism, the fast pace of life we live that give scant importance to brotherhood, fellowship and the simplicity of being human. This movie makes us pause a while and think of the kind of life we live today. And this is where ‘Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu’ packs the punch. Ranjan Parmod and team simply impresses. There is this life like flow that is presented and conveyed beautifully. A host of characters linked well and the politics conveyed just makes this a classy movie.

The movie doesn’t have a plot in the conventional sense of the term. There is Rakshadhikari Baiju (Biju Menon) and these young lads his daughter’s age. He is a government employee who goes late to work and comes back early. And as he says, there is not much work to do there. And what does he do in the meanwhile? He dons a lungi and goes to play! We might feel that he is this lazy, good for nothing fellow. But incidents prove otherwise. There are a lot of interlinked stories of these lads and Baiju’s role in it. For instance, the circumstances that make Baiju buy a talented cricketer a cricket kit, instead of buying his daughter an earring. The bookworm boy, a girl who is smitten with one of the ‘lads’ named Unni played by Aju Varghese, the boy who comes to play without his father noticing, who loses his mother as the story progresses, the eccentric lad (Hareesh Perumanna is perfect in the role)  and lots others adorn the plot. The movie strings together situations that happen to them. There are all these thought provoking and heart rending situations in the movie which makes us root for them. The home situations are also interesting. The daughter, wife (Hannah Reji Koshy), parents and sister (Anjali Upasana) all play crucial roles in Baiju’s life. That well scene is hilarious.

Dileesh Pothen plays a character who was once Baiju’s friend who is now a millionaire with three companies. He arrives one day in his fancy Mercedez wearing an expensive coat and shoes. He catches a game with the team. At the end of it, he is also on the ground, his coat thrown aside and shoes in his hands in a nail biting finish. He then says something that resonates. He says that he feels jealous of Baiju and that all his riches is nothing compared to what Baiju enjoys. This and many thoughts adorn the movie. The humour in the movie is also stunning. All these situational comedy at home and play without a single hint of caricatures, clichés, or stereotypes is impressive. The life like characters that merge seamlessly in the narrative is beautiful.

Biju Menon is natural as Rakshadhikari Baiju. All his pesky lads have acted impressively. Vijayaraghavan is also great in the father role. It is interesting to see all the characters fit in so well in his gem of a movie. Deepak Parambol as the sweet mouthing youngster and Janardhanan as the quarrelsome old man are all essayed well. Alancier’s role is again done well. Camera by Prasanth Raveendran is perfect in capturing the suburban life well. Editing is again done well. The songs are situational and furthers the story. BGM is used only wherever necessary and is never loud. Rajan Pramod’s directorial is spot on and he proves himself to be a man of creativity and craft.

There is a potent idea conveyed in ‘Rakhadhikari Baiju Oppu’ without being preachy or judgemental. That final sequence of the protagonist’s request letter with his signature asking where children will play makes us also think about the concrete jungle that we are surrounding ourselves with. This is a must watch movie which will entertain as well as make us think.