In Malayalam, there is a saying "Kunnolam aagrahichaale kunnikkuruvolam enkilum kittu" which means that "only if you dream for a mountain, will you get a seed". This is the message Lady Superstar Manju Warrier's Udaharanam Sujatha projects towards the audience, along with the strong theme that circumstances and life situations should never decide anyone's future.
Directed by debutante Phantom Praveen, Udaharanam Sujatha means 'the example of Sujatha' and the movie is a remake of the Hindi movie Nil Battey Sannatta which has also been remade in Tamil as Amma Kanakku. Charlie director Martin Prakat and actor Joju George produces the movie for the debutante who has worked as assistant/associate director in the movies Mariyam Mukku, Charlie, Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho and Sakhavu.
Udaharanam Sujatha is all about Sujatha, a domestic help whose sole dream is her daughter's bright future. Her daughter Athira, on the other hand, does not see any brightness in her future and feels that it would be better to end up as a domestic help like her mother. Sujatha takes shifts at many houses, does odd jobs at various small-scale industries to accumulate the money required to put Athira through college. But Athira's lack of interest in studies forces Sujatha to join her school as a student in the tenth grade. The following events, filled with emotional and heart touching moments, and a pinch of humour form the plot of the movie.
Praveen has succeeded in evoking a detailed and lively picture of the life of a domestic help/single mother who struggles to bring up her child and make both ends meet. Moreover, he has succeeded in conveying every emotion and creating tearjerkers with conviction and involvement. The screenplay has been written beautifully and has a natural Malayaliness to it.
As the title suggests, Manju Warrior is in every electron of Udaharanam Sujatha. In a deglamorized look, wearing low-priced sarees, she delivers a subtle and well-polished performance. Anashwara Rajan, the debutante who plays Sujatha's daughter Athira matches up-to-the highly experienced and talented Manju Warrier with her natural and raw acting. Joju George adds subtle and gentle humour with his mannerisms as the headmaster of the school Athira and Sujatha go to. Veteran actor Nedumudi Venu gives a refined portrayal as George Paul, an employer, mentor and confidante of Sujatha, while Mamta Mohandas does a beautiful and simple cameo.
Perfect cuts by Mahesh Narayan, revitalizing and invigorating music by Gopi Sunder and the simple yet beautiful frames which have the beauty of the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram in its soul makes the movie a delightful, uplifting and gladsome watch.