The Phenomenon of MPMK

We are eight cousins on my mother’s side. While we don't have any striking physical resemblances , there are some character traits so deeply ingrained that a trained psychologist could pick us out in a crowd. For instance, we all fancy ourselves to be above -average singers and are always to be found humming a tune under our breath. All of us have been up on stage in school, college, workplace or residential association meetings to sing [without ever being hooted off it, if I may add]. A more recent, more resilient bond that ties us is our uncompromising hatred for Shah Rukh Khan. We are the Order of Those that Loathe SRK, our revulsion for the man so deep that we look upon those who like him as being intellectually juvenile. Cousin Rara announced to her betrothed Rahul,’ You must promise to hate Shah Rukh Khan or else not marry me”. Those two went on to marry and while Rahul may not outrightly hate Shah Rukh, he will sure think twice before saying one nice thing about him.
But what strikes me as truly awe –inspiring is our bond via Mazha Peyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu (MPMK). MPMK is a Malayalam comedy flick directed by Priyadarshan and released sometime in the late eighties. Each of us would have seen this movie at least ten times. But if it were to play today on any vague malayalam channel, you can bet we’ll be tuned in. The lines from this movie are a part and parcel of our daily lives. Ask any one of us why we did what we did and you’ll most likely hear “Just for Horror” ( a la' Mohanlal in MPMK). Ask any of us how far it is from Point A to B, and you’ll hear , you guessed right, “Kilometres and kilometers”. Could we conceive of talking about faking accounts without borrowing from that famous lecture on cement manufacture and sale by Jagathy Sreekumar where he says “ In India , lot of cement there. ACC cement, Birla cement, Shankar cement, cement here there everywhere. This one farty rupees for one chaack cement is cheating”. And anyone who cooks up fake accounts can only be a “KALLAI”. What else ?
When my husband Hari ran into Priyadarshan in Chennai, he introduced himself as an MPMK junkie. Apparently, the creator of this masterpiece was fazed. No one had ever told him that MPMK was their favourite film. Beat that ?
At the time of writing this, I'm in Trivandrum enjoying a quiet, lazy day. The jingbang is on its way home. Cousin Baby, the IT whiz, is due to arrive in a couple of days from Bangalore with his architect-turned - homemaker wife Dhanya and their four year old daughter Mythili. Cousin Chechi ( that epithet ‘coz she is the oldest) who is a doctor, arrives from Vizag a week later with daughters Sreedu ,Jaanu and hubby MR Nair who is a Commander in the Indian navy. Next to come would be Rara and Rahul, also with the navy in Vizag. Rara's brother Miju who is Ph.D-ing in Canada and my brother Gopal , a doctor in Sharjah and his family would be sorely missed at our jamboree. Completing the quorum would be our youngest cousin Unni who just passed his 12th and his sister Karthika, an engineer with Infosys, Bangalore. After the initial hugs and hellos, how are you-s and my-job-sucks-does-yours, as soon we settle down on the worn out sofas in our parents’ homes and breathe in the once stifling, now relaxing Trivandrum air and start to unwind, the first sentence out of someone’s mouth will be “ You cannot stay another minute of the today in the house of my wife and daatter. GET OUTHOUSE”. If he is in any doubt of his prowess at comedy, Priyadarshan should come to one of our kudumbayogams.
Hail MPMK.
BTW, if you were in alien custody for this long or are Greek or German and hence unaware of the phenomenon of MPMK, I suggest you beg, borrow, steal (you could also buy) a DVD today and experience the best, undiluted Malayalam comedy ever…