Mukhaputa - Movie Review/Roopa Iyer, Baby Sania, Anand Theertha and others

Mukhaputa (The cover page) is Roopa Iyer's directorial debut and she also plays an important role in this issue-based film which has been screened at many international film festivals and won the best film trophy at the Ireland film festival and South Africa in addition to the Silver Sierra Best Feature Film in California International Film Festival.

A lot of research has done on the subject while writing the script and the hard work is seen on the screen. HIV-afflicted children are also entitled to a good life - this forms the main message of the film.

Gowri (Roopa Iyer), a Ph.D student, meets Bhavathi (Baby Saniya) who comes to learn traditional dance. Gowri becomes very close to Bhavathi and gives her all her attention. Suddenly, Bhavathi's parents commit suicide. Gowri is shattered and decides to take a drastic step in her life by adopting the child against the wishes of her fiancé and family members. After a few years, Gowri finds that Bhavathi is HIV positive. She doesn't give up but continues to fight for Bhavati. But society ill-treats the child. The doctors also hesitate to treat the child and she is also ostracized in school. Finally, Gowri decides to give Veda training to the child. What follows is a well-narrated depiction of how Gowri fights against all odds, society and family.

Roopa Iyer has given a brilliant performance as Gowri. Apart from a few lengthy and repetitive dialogues, everything in the film is perfectly placed. However, the show-stealer is Baby Saniya for her realistic and brilliant performance. A really touching climax and some feel-good tunes complement the script. But at many places, the film become preachy due to long lectures.

But overall, the debutante has made a bold move by making such an extraordinary effort in her first film. Not many in our commercially oriented film industry would choose to make movies on issues that actually need to be addressed. A must-watch film!