Moonwalk is the latest Malayalam film to invite you on a stroll with its characters. Vinod AK’s movie has its share of energetic scenes (the theme is dancing, after all), but what lingers are the moments of camaraderie, the small touches, the observational humour.
In a small town in Kerala in the 1980s, a group of teenagers falls in love – with Michael Jackson and his breakdancing. When they watch the dance troupe Zoom Boys perform at a local event, they are smitten with the fluid moves, the manner in which limbs bend at will and most of all, the moonwalking.
The young men set out to become moonwalkers themselves. They grow out their hair and practise hard. Their studies suffer. Some of them have disapproving parents. At least two members of the group are older, and from a lower class and caste, which invites scorn.
There is time for love too, this time of the human kind. Adoring looks and big smiles are exchanged between boys and girls who find ways to be free from social restrictions.
Moonwalk was released in Kerala earlier this year and is now being streamed on JioHotstar. Written by Vinod AK, Mathew Varghese and Sunil Gopalakrishnan, the film isn’t as well put together as, say, Manjummel Boys or Alappuzha Gymkhana. There’s a randomness to the sequences, and an irksome habit of cutting away from the dance routines, especially in the extended climax.
But Moonwalk has its modest pleasures too. The acting is as beautiful as the dancing. The film evokes nostalgia for analogue technology (cassette tapes, video cassettes, Walkmans) and 1980s fashion (mullets abound).
Composer Prashant Pillai cleverly finds ways to compensate for the inability to use any of Michael Jackson’s music by coming up with his own synth-heavy songs. There are cute moments at the tailor and the hairdresser, who effortlessly adapt to the new craze.
The 116-minute movie doesn’t try to be ground-breaking. Rather, Moonwalk is a sweet slice-of-life story about an American phenomenon entering the consciousness of a faraway place and transforming it. In paying tribute to Michael Jackson, the movie’s dancers find themselves too – a point Moonwalk makes in its own minor way.
