Long ago, but not very long ago, in 2019 B.C. (Before Covid!), Mr.Bee , I and GBee, then an only child, flew to Maldives, for our summer vacation. (Do visit Maldives if you love to travel, because, nothing beats the quaint little cluster islands! Nope, Tourism Department of Maldives has no idea I am promoting their country. It’s just goodwill.)
Anyway, while we were returning to the airport, (There will be a detailed post about our travel, soon), we met a fellow Indian, a doctor at that. She was serving the people of Maldives. It is my privilege meeting her, because, anyone working on an island, for people’s health needs all the respect one can give! The said doctor , KV became a very good friend of mine. (I don’t make friends easily. I am an introvert and introverts generally treasure their friends.)
We have stayed in touch and I hope to meet her again some day. She stays in Pondicherry, so I need to plan well ahead to visit her!
Meanwhile, KV once suggested all her friends to watch Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey! (a Malayalam movie on Disney Hotstar) As soon as she did, I watched it, sacrificing my precious sleep and I don’t mind it one bit.
It is one such movie you should never miss. What a movie!
Movie Name: Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey!
Released in: 2022
Actors : None that I know of. (No Malayalam Super stars in the movie)
Queen Bee watched in : December 2022
Firstly, if you thought the story has hints of patriotism, since the title is the lyrics of our Indian National Anthem, then you are greatly mistaken.
The movie is about Jaya, a lower middle class girl from Kerala, whose life decisions are always made by her father and maternal uncle and after marriage by her husband. She is not even allowed to study as per her choice. Her uncle is against her studying away from home and manages to convince her dad that studying in a local college is the best choice for Jaya.
She adjusts to a course, falls in love with a lecturer there, who in fact encourages her to study well. Turns out, he is not as good as he lets on, he is a possessive guy who is also abusive. (Yuk! Possessiveness and abusive nature are both repulsive, in both men and women.)
Like all Indian parents,once her love story gets out, she is soon married off to the first guy her parents find for her. I liked the subtle emotions the heroine Jaya shows, like how she is frustrated when her uncle is crying during her bidaai. (He was the one who spearheaded her marriage!)
The initial days of her marriage show that her husband Rajesh is a guy of routine, who hates trying anything new. It is, personally, so off putting and exasperating at once. He eats the same food every single day! I mean, how is that even possible? If someone takes the pain to cook something new each day, they should be appreciated for putting in effort. But Rajesh begins to abuse Jaya! (Maybe the song from Saaho, Saiyya Psycho, would have been apt here!)
At first, he feels bad that he slapped Jaya. He takes her out on a date to appease her. But the same story keeps happening in a loop, slapping her, taking her out.
Jaya’s mother in law and sister in law, who stay with the newly weds, have no say in the house. Jaya reaches out to her parents and they tell her to shut up. Just when we begin to think the movie is going to take a routine turn, Jaya shows us what a topper with a will of steel can do. She gives back what she gets, the abuse, to her husband! (That is the moment which made me sit up and watch!)
From this point on, the movie is on an upward curve. It is more like who will let their guard down first and who will win.
I really loved the acting of the lead pair. Jaya made me admire her grit and determination, Rajesh made me want to kick him repeatedly. Top class!
Even when everyone is against Jaya for turning against her abusive husband, only her brother seems to understand her, which was unexpected. We never see much bonding, but, when they have a common enemy, it shows, blood is truly thicker than water! (In typical Telugu movie style, it is called Rakta Sambandham!)
The one scene that I liked a lot is the one, where the egoistic, chauvinistic hero, (I have never used such adjective for a movie hero, ever!) finds his mom and sister in the kitchen. His mom had been a young widow, his sister had been abandoned within a year of marriage by her husband. But both manage to survive, because women are mentally strong. The hero is already defeated, because, he knows he can’t survive as a single man!
Thankfully, it is not a sob story. It is more about women empowerment and teaches us without being preachy and I love it more for that! If you are up for watching a movie, why not go ahead and watch Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and you can thank me later!
P.S:
- The most important thing that one needs to remember is that women listen! So be careful about what you talk around her. She may look homely and demure, but she packs quite a punch and she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to!
- This is one such movie which gets top marks for the effort, the story, the presentation. I watched the movie when I was feeling low and it instantly cheered me up. Why not watch it and decide on my credibility?
- The other malayalam movies that I love are Mohanlal’s Drishyam (Sorry Venkatesh, I love the original better, even if I saw it a lot later than yours!) and Ayyappanum Koshiyum.
- Bidaai or Vidaai is the process of sending away one’s daughter after marriage.
- Dear friends, if you ever meet someone who is being abused or if a victim confides in you about his/her partner being abusive, kindly help and support them. Even a famous actor like Johnny Depp was abused by his wife, so men and women can both be victims of domestic abuse.
