Moonwalk: Malayalam film tribute to Michael Jackson is a nostalgia trip into 1990s. A very personal watching experience

In the last scene of Moonwalk, the tribute from Malayalam cinema to Michael Jackson, I spotted my dance instructor from the 1990s in the role of a breakdance competition judge. As I walked out of the cinema hall after the show, a bunch of new-generation YouTubers were asking opinions from the departing audience. Such audience reviews are now the norm in the movie industry of southern Kerala state, and can make or break films. For a moment, I felt like talking to the YouTubers, but I walked away, with a limp from my newly acquired back pain. As I stepped out, I felt the passage of time that affected my feet, which once tapped to songs from Michael Jackson and plenty of others, and doing signature breakdance steps such as 'wave', which is among the main meme-worthy scenes of Moonwalk.

More than just another movie, Vinod AK's directorial debut was a nostalgia trip for people like me, who were young, restless and rebellious in the 1990s.

It was an era when the Indian government's globalisation and liberalisation policies introduced the college-going youth to western music and dance. Michael Jackson was the undisputed king of pop, both as a singer and dancer. Breakdance, and later hip hop, were emerging as the new dance forms in Indian cities and towns. Tuning in to western music, wearing baggy pants, growing our hair long on the front (called shade) and back (called tail), riding bikes, and learning breakdance were part of the lifestyle and trends of the 1990s youth, almost a rite of passage for our times.

The story of Moonwalk - a group of friends bonding over breakdance and taking inspiration from Michael Jackson to form a troupe - is the distillation of that subculture of music and dance in some parts of Kerala. It is almost unbelievable when looking back, as to how this essentially American culture swept us by our feet, quite literally.

It happened because of several reasons, most depicted in the film: the availability of music cassettes and VHD tapes, either sent or smuggled from the Gulf or elsewhere by relatives of Malayalis, the search for something different from the regular small town existence of Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, and even a streak of rebellion, that made many of us pierce our ears and wear ear-rings, as shown in the film, and seek out and aspire for a culture bigger than ours. It helped me relate to the nostalgia, as even the language, which we call Trivandrum slang, was on point.

As shown in the film, many of the dance troupes struggled to find stages, as it was quite a contrast from what Kerala - or for that matter India - was familiar with, culturally and musically. It was a sharp contradiction to see breakdance performances amid temple festivals, church events, or college functions. Dancers and musicians who looked up to the West for inspiration were often scorned and publicly ridiculed, or even attacked, all of which is shown in the film. The humiliating haircut that the troupe members received at a police station is quite possibly based on a real incident or incidents.

The film had some dance moves that were relatable, though the choreography, framing, and editing could have been better. Then there is the limitation imposed by music copyright, which meant that none of Michael Jackson's songs, which we danced to in those days, could be used.

The film's storyline also tried to incorporate the reality of racism and caste discrimination, by positioning a youth from a fisherman's family as a key dancer, the troupe's true inheritor of Michael Jackson and subsequent leader.

The dancer, in Michael Jackson costume, being asked to carry a jackfruit on his head as an errand, is reflective of the times he lived in: Life happens amid all the fantasy ride. Reality hits hard at the end of it all.

Many of the dancers went to different pastures eventually. Some went outside Kerala, or abroad, for further studies or jobs, carrying with them memories of a few great days and nights, while only a few stuck to their passion, becoming dance instructors, choreographers, directors and producers.

The film, shot in 2020, almost didn't release till the top director-producer duo Lijo Jose Pellissery and Listin Stephen came on board as producer-distributor.

In doing so, they helped not only bring a movie to the audience, but also leave behind an almost ethnographic documentary of a time that many youngsters of the late 1980s to 1990s from the sleepy southern town hold dear in their memories.

While the film is not perfect, it needs to be appreciated for the effort that went into re-creating such a unique era of our young days.