Writer: B. Ajithkumar
DOP: Pappu
Cast: Shane Nigam, Nimisha Sajayan, Alancier Ley Lopez, Sujith Shankar
Language: Malayalam
An excerpt from the Newslaundry article series on political violence and killings in Kannur:
“This place doesn’t believe in odd numbers. If one CPM guy is murdered, revenge killing of an RSS worker is not far away. It is the same the other way, as well. Peace prevails here only when the death toll is even.”
This is the backdrop to which the film is set and it is another one of those loose adaptations of Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet' put in a different setting. The would be lovers meet for the first time on a hartal day, which was called after the killing of a left worker which is set to begin a cycle of violence in the form of retaliations and all that. The guy belongs to a family associated with the right (RSS, BJP) and the girl is from a family whose ideology is aligned to the left (CPIM). They don't know it till they fall in love as it more or less blooms in Mysore where they are respectively working and studying. First half of the 150 minutes long film is dedicated to that and second half is the aftermath. Everything is very realistically portrayed without taking any sides and without being preachy.
Since the current left government has come to power in Kerala, there has been a bunch of films that have came out which have largely romanticised the left. This film is not one. At the same time it doesn't vilify them the same way like 'Left, Right, Left' did in an over the top cartoonish way. It just kind of show the reality like the lack of individual and political freedom in the party gramams (villages) and the support system that the party provides for its 'Martyrs' and murderers. This is there from both sides but left being the much larger force has the responsibility to look at the root cause and address it. My limited point about the situation is that, if you promote shit like party villages where you try to have absolute power and control over, and thus eliminate the possibility of a legitimate democratic opposition, then the loony bunch from the right will naturally emerge as your only opposition. This is the course that communist left have taken wherever they have come to power and Kerala remains an exception because there is a balancing force, which is sadly quite communal in its underpinning, from rest of Kerala.
Coming back to the film, it is overall a very good watch where things are said in a subtle manner, be it love or politics. Both the lovers are given equal space and they have performed really well along with all the support characters. Manikandan is being a bit typecast quite lately though. The actor who played the non-uniformed police officer from Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is also there as a character without any dialogue. I also liked the fact that they didn't feel the need to explicitly state who is being the snidy informer for all the attacks shown in the film even though it is quite evident. Revenge of the one-armed lottery seller, I guess. Length of the film can be problematic for some but I found it necessary. There won't be much of a re-watch element to it though. The team behind the film is Collective Phase One in which Rajeev Ravi is also a member.
Rating: 3.5/5
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