Ris(c)e of Kammattippadam. (Review of Malayalam movie Kammattippadam (2016))

Civilizations in all parts of the world were always questioned on the bases of their modes of progress. During the earlier stages of human society man’s primary concern was survival. From that initial stage of survival we have come so far and have reached stages where ancient men if by some chance are to witness, can only marvel at the progress their later generations have achieved. But there will also be a vain search from their part to see the crops that were borne out of mud which for them have been the life giving manna. Centered on it they dreamed dreams, shaped their lives, raised their children and died decent deaths of effort and satisfaction.

Rajeev Ravi’s new attempt is a commendable work that raises some important questions regarding human development standing from a physical, cultural and educational level. Here in the movie, the gang of Kammattippadam outlive society’s all kinds segregation by forming a group comprising youth from all religious and cast divisions that purely depends on the base of friendship alone. Right from the very beginning we cannot help but notice director’s clever use of caste codes. A vendor asks whether the girl’s color is ‘black’ before selling a necklet, the upper class boy who takes revenge on his peers and Ganga’s song akkaanum maamalayonnum… echoes caste matters so symbolically.

Balan and Ganga (Gangadharan), heads of Kammattippadam gang who belong to lower castes are represented in the movie as the first from their caste to overtly question societal segregation through open confrontation with the upper caste. Their machismo is boosted by the upper caste. This unfortunate but possibly the only way of living (resorting to violence) is proven detrimental toward the end of the movie. An old generation of theirs who depended purely on the soil cannot help but leave their physical space through sorry deaths without being able to give their later generation any option to live. Like Ganga sings ‘pulayadi makkal njangal kalahichu marikkunnu…’ the new generation fights and die for the upper caste who now live in skyscrapers built and bought with the blood money of people like Balan and Ganga. In fact the lower caste’s initiation to violence is anointed and blessed by the upper caste like Mathayichan, Martin Sir and Surendran Asan who use them against their own people.

The multistory buildings stand in the place of crops the elders of Balan and Ganga cultivated there. Encroachments began with simple fencing ended in filling the physical and cultural space of the lower caste. Today instead of rice modern society minus the lower caste, cultivate towers of greed in the name of development and sophistication. When Balan and Ganga die for their oppressors their wives live off the left over from their way of living. Like Balan’s wife (a converted Christian) they become prostitutes and later goonda leaders. Another generation (Rosamma’s personal bodyguard) springs out of their tradition taking the goonda tradition forward.  They assume machismo and take on the violent tradition.

“The scripting process of the film took 5-6 years. Whenever we discuss the characters they must all look as if they have been just rooted out of the mud and soil. In the initial thought there were only characters of Balan, Ganga and the like. Only after some intelligent and not so intelligent decisions can we arrive at the conclusions whether the film will reach theater, what sort of people will watch it and so on. That’s how we reach Dulqar. Though Vinayakan is a familiar person to us (we had to look) how the devil inside him (metaphorically) could be taken out. Hence the decision to give him a character capable of those qualities. We never knew Manikandan. However after going through numerous selections we got a man with theater background. Theater background must shine like an extraordinary force. That’s what Rajeev has done.”

-P. Balachandran, Script writer about casting on a program aired in Club FM.

Though the movie has shown how the working class is exploited by the bourgeoisies (if we use the traditional terms) it could not completely discuss the solutions to these problems. Nevertheless some clues to societal upliftment are surely brought out. When the burned corpse of Ganga is taken out we see a small girl carrying bag going to school. Though the shot is not stressed much we can assume that the director wants to bring education as a ladder climbing which lower caste can overcome their difficulties and stop being a tool in the hands of upper castes. Krishnan from the upper caste formed an alliance with Ganga and Balan. To Ganga he was not just a friend but like a brother who went over color and physical features, the same matters for which Ganga’s community had always been condemned. Krishnan is a representative from the upper class who unlike his wealthy corporate counterparts joined hands with the downtrodden, loved them and even desired to be part of one of them (through loving and desiring to marry Anumol). Krishnan and Gangadharan, even their names have much to tell. According to Indian legends Krishnan is an incarnation of the Aryan God Vishnu and Gangadharan (Sivan) is a Dravidian God with immense power who is often called the creator and the destroyer. Thus in a changed society there comes a liberator for the downtrodden from the part of their own oppressors. This is a hope this dexterously crafted movie proposes before its brilliant audience. Kammattippadam is a must watch of recent times that comes in the line of movies of literary value and entertainment merit.