It takes an animal to bring out the beast in us!

Jallikattu (Malayalam, 2019)

Director: Lijo Jose Pellissery

A simple story of a raging buffalo which escapes the slaughterhouse forms the basis of this film. Many in the village are dependent on the buffalo - for the butcher, it is money that it can fetch; for the rival group, it is free meat for their taking; for gangsters, it is a time to show their machoism; for the father whose daughter is getting engaged, he needs to feed his guests; for the ex-convict, it is time to settle a score with the butcher, and the pastor needs to feed his congregation.

Jallikattu is primarily a Tamil tradition, where brave youngsters in a celebratory mood try to tame a raging bull to clutch on to the bag of coins tied to its horn. Hence the name; Jalli @ Salli meaning coin and kattu is a tie-bag. This practice was started as a form of finding the best bull to improve the stock of cows in ancient times. Unfortunately, over the years, it has become a blood sport of sort. Bulls were drugged, and their eyes were sprinkled with chilly powder to blur their vision and agitate them. That was the reason for its recent ban. The practice was later reinstated. Detractors who opposed the prohibition cited concerted international conspiracy to ruin Tamil Nadu's dairy stock and industry and to bring in European brand of dairy cows.

The moviemakers probably decided to name this movie 'Jallikaatu' anyway because that is how the escape of the buffalo had become - everyone joining in the melee to get their hand on the prized bull.

The exciting thing about this story is that all characters are complex. Everyone comes to the scene carrying with them their baggage. Nothing is white or black. Nobody is either good or bad. There is some kind of flaw in everybody. One thing we notice is that everybody is loud, violent and animal-like, much like the beast they are hunting down. In fact, the buffalo is not posing a danger to any of them. Still, the people in the village are making it the single most important thing in their lives that they can afford to spend a couple of days on nothing but apprehending the animal on the loose.

The policeman in the story also has a back story. He has to do his duties as if he has everything under control. In reality, nothing is under wraps. In his home front, he has had it with his demanding wife who keeps harassing him every minute of the day, even when he is busy carrying out his police work. He thinks he has control at work, stumping his authority behind his uniform. He soon realises that the respect that the police receives is only there when people bow to authority. In a mob situation, there is no law and order, only chaos and exhibition of Man's primal instincts.

There is only chaos throughout the movie. Everybody is shouting, and there is pandemonium so every now and then. But within the chaos, there is order. The people still manage to devise strategies to capture the beast.

Equality, equity vs removing the barrier, but
enjoying the view from where you stand!

As the movie advances and ends, the viewers soon come to the realisation that we, as a species, have not evolved much from our days of cave dwellers and hunter-gatherers. Like primal hunters, we want to keep all our hunt to ourselves. We refuse to share even though we have more than we can chew.

Deservedly, this film is India's nomination to the 2021 Academy Award in the category of feature films. The subtle use of sounds, of a cappella music and the excellent lighting adds on the scare value to the music. The cinematography is mind-blowing, and the setting of props, as well as the angle of photo shots, are groundbreaking. 

There are no heroes here in this film; only villains. And they are the people who are worse than the amok beast that they are hunting down. Inserted between scenes are sarcastic vignettes about life. The law seems to be a farce when it appears to be more protective of animals than people. We need a permit or a court order to shoot down a raging animal even it can potentially kill a human. A pacifist calls for protection of animals, but not when his property is damaged. I guess laws are only for others - 'anywhere but not in my backyard!' 

There is subtle communist bashing too as I can see, as evidenced by the occasional flashing red-hued sickle-bearing flags. The innate greed that lurks within us cannot stomach seeing another prospering without lifting an eyelid. We demand equity only when the hurdles are stacked against us. We do not complain when they are in our favour.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.