03 Offbeat Movies You Must Watch

Expand your worldview with these three offbeat yet amazing South-Indian movies

I often say, watching a good movie is an investment of a lifetime.

Some movies become a part of our life. They ignite us on a deeper level that we cannot forget what message they convey. The learnings shape our personality — the emotion keeps us alive — and the story gives us different lenses to see things differently.

Movies, an anthology of lies on the screen, sometimes touch the personal truth of our life. Some of them are inspiring, some are soothing, and others are quite philosophical.

I love movies that tell good stories with great art. And for that reason, I am a big fan of little offbeat, South-Indian movies. Apart from the all-for-entertainment action movies, south-movie-industry makes incredible films that portray life with artistic mastery.

Today I will tell you about three brilliant, quite offbeat South Indian cinemas that will blow your mind with their immensely brilliant storytelling. I believe, after watching each of them, you will become a more thoughtful person than you were before.

So, keep your mind wide open, and let’s start watching.

K.D. (Karuppudurai)

Imagine you are an 80-year-old man in a coma lying in your bed for the last three months. But the day you gain your consciousness, you overhear that your family is planning to kill you by performing ancient euthanasia or thalaikoothal ritual. What will you do now?

Thalaikoothal is a ritual where the family members kill the elderly-person with an oil-bath in the morning and subsequently force the man to drink glasses of tender coconut water until it results in kidney failure, high fever, fits, and finally, death within a day or two.

Knowing the heinous plan of his family members, the old-man named Karuppudurai becomes heartbroken and afraid. He decides to run away from his own house.

While roaming for a few days, the old-man meets an 8-year-old orphan boy named Kutty, the little genius. Then the magic happens — the old and the young become friends. And the little one forces the old-man to make a bucket list and set out on an adventure to complete it.

At the age of 80, the old-man finally learned how to live a life from a stubborn 8-year-old orphan boy. The two sides of the coin called life are connected emotionally and philosophically on the screen for all.

This 123 minutes amazing film was directed by Madhumitha. And if you have not seen it yet, you must watch it as soon as possible.

Kumbalangi Nights

It’s a story about four brothers (Saji, Bonny, Bobby, and Franky) struggling with their strained relationships. The movie sets in a fishing village in Kochi, Kerala, named Kumbalangi.

It explores the lives of those four brothers, in a dysfunctional house and how they finally get harmony and peace back in their family. We see a variety of themes in it, including family, responsibility, relationships, and love.

The characters evolve through time, and slowly they become self-aware and responsible. Especially Soubin Shahir and Fahadh Faasil did an incredible job in their respective roles of Saji and Shammi.

The scenic beauty of Kumbalangi, the out-of-the-world background score, and the superb acting of the cast made this movie a great watch. There is a nice twist about the character Shammi in the latter part of the movie as well.

This Malayalam-language 135 minutes masterpiece was directed by Madhu C. Narayanan.

If you are looking for a movie that tells more about life and connections, you must watch this one right away.

Charlie

Tessa, a young girl, ran from home to avoid her marriage. Eventually, she rented a messy apartment, where she found a comic strip by the previous resident named Charlie.

The comic strip was telling an intriguing story in sketches; Charlie and a thief were going to steal something from a house, but they stopped seeing something unusual. What was that?

Sadly, the rest of the story was missing there. So, Tessa, driven by her curiosity, started finding the rest of the story, and it took her to many places and to many people whose lives that mysterious man touched in one way or another.

The mysterious man named Charlie has no strings attached. He is a vagabond but knows well how to touch other peoples’ lives and make their existence meaningful. He teaches others to live, enjoy, and explore life in its entirety.

But what will happen to Tessa? Will she figure out the rest of the story and find that mysterious vagabond? Will she grow an indescribable relationship with a man she didn’t meet yet? To know the answers, you must watch this beautiful movie.

This 129-minute film directed by Martin Prakkat was released on 24 December 2015. It is one of my all-time favorite movies. I watched it many a time, and I still do.

If you are looking for a magical movie that can enrich you with positivity and life-philosophy, you should start watching it now.

There are tons of offbeat movies to talk about, but I chose these three as all of them are so dear to me. I believe you will love them too.

So, why wait? Pick one at a time. And have a fantastic cinematic experience.

Happy watching.

If you are interested to read more of my writings, you may read the following one about Coldplay published in The Masterpiece.