The Malayalam film Valatty: The Tale of Tails commences with a song, signalling its aim to portray the world of dogs to humans. Debutant director Devan, who also scripted the film, was reportedly seeking to narrate the story from the “perspective of dogs”. Nevertheless, the end result displayed on the screens was an old-fashioned and cliched narrative seen from a typical human perspective, but presented by a plethora of animals on screen.
World cinema has seen numerous attempts to feature anthropomorphic animals; Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated comedy, Fantastic Mr Fox, is one of the personal favourites of this writer. However, when it comes to this genre in Malayalam cinema, there are not many films to boast about, though certain elements can be seen in movies like CID Moosa. In this context, Valatty stands out as a unique attempt. The film, however, does not truly transport a viewer to a "dog's world" as promised by the makers.
It seemed like the makers initially scripted a conventional and cliched romance story centered around a Tamil Brahmin girl named Amalu and a Catholic boy named Tommy. Later, they substituted the human characters with dogs. However, there was no genuine effort to contemplate or understand the true nature of dogs and convey it effectively using a human language system. The film's concept held promise, considering the pressing issue of stray dog menace in Kerala. However, a highly predictable storyline and weak dialogues hamper the film.
In Valatty, Tomy (voiced by Roshan Mathew) and Amalu (Raveena Ravi) are a golden retriever and cocker spaniel, respectively. Their cross-breed and "inter-religious" romance lead to concerns of "shame" being brought upon their respective foster families, prompting them to decide to elope. During their journey, they encounter a naadan (indie) dog named Karidas (Soubin Shahir) and a rottweiler named Bruno (Sunny Wayne), and find themselves entangled in a significant problem created by some evil humans.
The human-animal conflict itself lies at the core of the film. However, the film marks a division between “good humans” and “bad humans”, and makes it a fight between dogs and bad humans—so that these animals could break from the clutches of bad humans to be under the submission of good humans!
Getting the right expressions and actions from animals to narrate a story is no simple task. The filmmaker, however, managed to achieve a commendable outcome from the dogs. Had the film lived up to its promise of being a "grippy and peppy" tale, as suggested by its posters, Valatty could have offered a completely different and more engaging experience.
With only a few exceptions, the cinematography in Valatty appeared unimpressive. Considering the film's unique perspective of giving a voice to the canines, there was a real opportunity to explore imaginative and innovative cinematography techniques. However, the cinematography department's contribution to the film's narrative remained rather minimal. On a brighter note, Varun Sunil's work in the music department was decent.
As a viewer, Valatty personally left this writer feeling disappointed. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that it was a one-of-a-kind experiment in Malayalam cinema, and Friday Film House deserves appreciation for its commitment to catering to such experiments in the industry.
Movie: Valatty
Director: Devan
Voice Cast: Roshan Mathew, Raveena Ravi, Sunny Wayne, Soubin Shahir
Rating: 2/5
