What is a 'normal' family?

 Kumbalangi Nights (Malayalam, 2019)

For the longest time, the idea of a family unit, at least amongst the average middle-class family is that it would comprise a father who would predominantly contribute towards the material needs of the family. A mother would always seem to play second fiddle to the patriarchy but would be a tresure trove of love and affection in abundance. She would oversee the everyday running of the household. On the surface, the mother, the wife, seem to live under the shadow of her husband, dancing to his puppet-strings. In reality, however, she has her own ways of controlling the narratives in her own passive-aggressive way. 

In modern times, family dynamics have evolved. Not only have the extended family concept where relatives live under the same roof is getting rarer, one has to put up with single parents and same-gender parents. The notion of a male-domination in households is viewed upon as male toxicity. 

This movie compares two families, one consisting of four sons growing up all in their own ways, rudderless, with neither a father nor a mother. These boys are actually adults, just doing their own things, without any ideas of their future or working towards any purpose in life. They live day to day drinking and earning only enough to sustain their simple lives. Things change when a woman enters their respective lives. A sense of order seems to trickle in. 

This is compared to another traditional family with a mother, sister, and a wife only to be led by a patriarchal figure who exudes masculine toxicity. There is order. Food is always there. The female figures ensure cleanliness is maintained. The ugly side of this family surfaces when the sister falls head over heels in love with one of the brothers from the other family. He is considered too wayward and unworthy of her and her family.

The rest of the story is about how resolution comes in the form of families dousing the rage of an obviously deranged toxic head of the girl's family. The film tends to illustrate that the traditional family is terrible. Responsibilities must be shared by all members of the family, and no one person should dominate over the other.

The cinematography is awe-inspiring here. The setting of a riverside, boats, lush tropical greenery and simple way of living helps viewers to bury themselves temporarily in a tropical paradise, away from the hassle and bustle of their busy urban modern live. Even life in Eden has its problems that need to be fixed.  

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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.

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Opium for the masses

Trance (Malayalam, 2020)

A sucker is born every minute, they say. Probably what they meant was that the rooting reflex was innate in all babies. Stroke the cheek and the baby would automatically turn its head towards the stimulus and initiate a suckling reaction. It also could imply to the many who are suckered up to racketeering and daylight robberies. 

Watching this movie was a sort of a deja vu experience for me. A close relative had discovered Jesus late in life, and she made it her raison d'être to spread His word. And along she went to all four corners of the country praying for the sick and the fallen. She would personally harbour drug addicts and vagabonds in her home to nurse them back to functionality.

I remember her style. To get her congregation interested in her sermon, out of the blue, she would blurt out 'Hallelujah' on top of her lungs to get approval what she was saying. And an often repeated phrase was that Jesus spoke to her in her dreams. How she would in her usual demonstrative form place her hand on the vertex of her client to pray desperately to chase off the devil that plagued them. She looked sincere and was utterly convinced that she was doing something good. At least it kept her sane.

Well, that is not what this film is trying to highlight. There are people out there who target people's weakness and make a living out cheating desperate people blind. Man created religion to give them a tuft of hope in facing day to day uncertainties of life. Religion is supposed to give them sanity when the storm on Earth becomes too overwhelming. It gives them the assurance that their actions of maintaining peace and order will be rewarded, in this life or after. It absorbs the guilt of the mistakes that he commits at the moment of inebriation. There is a fine line between faith giving peace of mind and it being the cause of lunacy. Extremism negates other points of views. There is a loss of mindfulness and the compulsion to cut off other people beliefs. The guilt of not sticking to the true tenets of religion can turn one into a raving lunatic.

It is beyond comprehension how some people are often lulled into submission by putting the fear of God. The world becomes too complicated for some to strive a living that they get suckered into the promise of divinity in negating all the miseries. And they fall prey to their myths. Rather than resorting to critical thinking, they are deluded with blind faith.

This Malayalam movie tells a tale, perhaps not unreal, of a motivational speaker, mired with a sad family history filled with mental illness and a recent suicide of his brother. He is pulled in by a group of businessmen who use religion to dupe the unsuspecting public into evangelical Christianity and faith healing. Viju Prasad is picked up by a talent corp to be given an intensive course on the Bible and is soon christened Pastor Joshua Carlton (JC, referring to Jesus Christ, of course). JC starts doing 'staged' healing that he himself begins to think that he may indeed have healing powers. His bosses are hot under the collar as JC behaves as if he is the brain behind the whole facade.

This film may be the anthesis of 'Mookuthi Amman'. If Mookuthi Amman pokes fun at Hindu godmen, 'Trance' hits up at the bogus media-savvy megalomaniac pastors who victimise desperate patients who are wit's end to find a cure for their advanced maladies. Fahadh Faasil gives a sterling performance as a doting elder brother and a confused healer who is himself at the brink of a mental breakdown. 

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After all these years...

Stories by Rabindranath Tagore

Netflix (26 episodes; 2015)

Even though Tagore wrote these stories more than a hundred years ago, it remains fresh and relevant to today. 

Rabindranath lived at a time when India, as well as the rest of the world, was rapidly changing. His motherland, after missing the bus of the Industrial Revolution, thanks to the British East India Company and the British Empire, was doing catch up. Starting with the First Indian Rebellion @ Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, India had awoken. After being plundered by foreign forces repeatedly, it tried to make social and political changes. Many leaders emerged. Some approached them through political means, others through armed hostility and yet some via passive aggression. Tagore infiltrated the minds with his literary work.

This collection of twenty stories in twenty-six episodes cover a range of issues. The stories were authored by Tagore between 1890 and 1941, just before his death. They talk about the mistreatment of young widows, the evil dowry system, caste system, freedom in terms of Independence and free from incumbrances of life and society. Woman empowerment is a recurring theme, and his characters are mostly strong female characters.


Tagore's seminal novel ' Choker Bali' (Dust in the Eye) starts the series. A young widow tries to seduce the man who turned down her marriage as a revenge to her widowhood and the restrictions imposed on her by society. Atithi (Guest) is about a runaway boy who feels trapped, growing up in a restrictive home environment. He grows up in a zamindar's house only to run away again when marriage is proposed upon him with the landlord's daughter. There are just too much to learn from the world than to be exclusively tied down in one place.

It is a joy to see how each story segues into another. There is usually a common place where the path of the characters of one story meet with another, and the camera leads on to the next one.

'Maanbhajan' (Fury Appeased) is about another woman empowerment story. Left by her husband for an actress, the wife, fascinated by the theatre, becomes a famous actress herself in a poetic 'tit-for-tat' move. 

The series also includes a light comedy (Detective and Dhai Aakhar Prem Ka), a delve into the paranormal (Kankal and Monihara), a retelling of Satyajit Ray's 'Charulata' (Nastarinh), loneliness (Waaris), inclusiveness (Kabuliwalla), familial sacrifice (Shasthi), servile loyalty (Wafadaar), on domineering familial hierarchy (Aparchita and Mrinal ki Chitti) and the futility of vengeance (Dalia).

Rabindranath Tagore differed with some of the views held by Gandhi. Even though both fought for freedom, Tagore also wanted escapism from the clutches of unreasonable traditional beliefs. He also had the impression that we should embrace modernity Interestingly, Gandhi, who opposed the introduction of railways into India, used the Indian trains to disseminate all his ideologies to the masses. Both of them also had contrary outlooks of sex and relationships. Whilst Gandhi experimented with sexual abstinence, Tagore was freewriting about domestic issues and intrafamilial problems.

The series was a feast for the eyes. Kudos for the cinematography for bringing out the best in the outdoor camerawork can do. Viewers are transported back to the 1920s pre-Independent pre-Partition Bengal, complete with the serene and tranquil greenery, the props and costumes that befit the era. It is a joy to view the old Victorian-styled buildings and bulky antique furniture. It is highly recommended.

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No perfect Man!

Pint-sized power barrel

Is it not funny that eulogies tend to paint a rosy picture of the recently departed? They make it sound as if he was such a good person that the world has lost another good man (or woman) that it could do better with. The audience would feel like kicking themselves for not taking the trouble to know him better when he was around.

Whenever somebody passes away, everyone will be expressing their condolence, praising them to high heavens (pun unintended). 

A little help from the 'Hand of God'

I have always thought of this every now and then. It came around again with the recent passing of Diego Maradona, easily the best, if not the second-best footballer ever to be born. (The first being Pele). I was prodded to write this post, especially after a friend sent a Twitter post curated by a fellow Twitter user.

Like a wet blanket, whilst the whole world, football enthusiasts and otherwise, were sending condolences in their social media platforms, he warned netizens to mourn but not to canonise the footballer. He reminded people of him being a poor role model. Despite his brilliant unrooting from the clutches of poverty to shine as a soccer star, he could not escape the hydra of cocaine. Surrounding himself with sycophants, he expressed his support for horrible dictators and terrorist regimes. It became clear that he also had a brush with the law on tax evasion issues and loan defaults. Who can forget his cheats on the field, the legendary ‘Hand of God’ being one? 

With Castro

Nevertheless, there is no perfect Man. Technically, we cannot take Jesus, Mohammad or Rama as being prototypes of Man; Jesus being God himself, Mohammad is the Prophet, and Rama was an avatar of Vishnu himself.

Mortal men are bogged with the adversities and the uncertainties of life. When swayed with unpredictability, he may go astray. I think we should hail the successes of an individual rather than shoot him down with his failures. After all, only the unsinned can cast the first stone. Ugly moulds can be found in all closets.  

In the prophetic lyrics of Chumbawamba's one-hit-wonder song 'Tubthumping' (You never gonna get me down) which seems to make its round as a lockdown parody - He sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the better times!

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No warranty, No guarantee!

Mookuthi Amman (மூக்குத்தி அம்மன், Nose-ringed Goddess, Tamil; 2020)

This movie is obviously a bashing against BJP's imminent entry into Tamil Nadu politics. Since the 1930s, Tamil Nadu politics had been secular (read anti-Hindu). From the time of EV Ramasamy and subsequent leaders of the state, they have always claimed to be atheists. They all fell prey to the British's devious 'divide and rule' strategy. They also subscribe to the now-defunct 'Aryan invasion theory'. They believe that the story of Ramayana is the story of Northerners (Aryans and Brahmins), of King Rama, colonising the Dravidians led by Ravana. What they fail to realise is that Ravana actually hails from the region around modern-day Uttar Pradesh, hence from the North too. He usurped the Lanka kingdom from his half brother, Kuberan.

EV Ramasamy had always been sceptical of the Hindu hierarchical order. His idea was the Brahmins were out to aggrandise themselves and vilify the lower castes. Being a social activist, he started the Self Respect Movement and worked hard towards women empowerment, caste equality, anti-Hindi rhetorics and opposition against Brahminical dominance in Tamil Nadu. Subsequent leaders in breakaway parties also followed the trend.

Hence, the idea of a Hindu friendly party working hand-in-glove with a splinter party in Tamil Nadu gets most of the politicians here hot under their collars. Even though they claim to be irreligious in their outlook, they are often seen to be wooing and appeasing their Muslim and Christian vote banks.

This film may remind viewers of Hindi movies, PK and OMG - where the gullibility of devotees and the shenanigans of godmen are laid open. It tells the depressing story of Engel Ramasamy, a freelance reporter. His family comprises his single mother and three younger sisters. His father had run away soon before the last sister was born. Ramasamy crosses path with a powerful sage, and pretty soon he realises that he needs to fight the sage to save a big plot of land that belongs to his family temple. And the Goddess of the temple manifests in front of Ramasamy to be of aid.

Many viewers are unhappy that the filmmakers decided to paint all Godmen with the same brush - of being power-crazy, devious and cheats. We get an eerie feeling that references are made to Nithyanda (of the 'me-in-you' and 'you and me' fame) as well as to Sadhguru where his Cauvery Calling collection is queried, and alleged tribal land is misappropriated. Ram Baba Dev is not spared either, for his business ventures are also mentioned. There is a scene of a possible conversion of a minor which suddenly gets forgotten in the hullabaloo of the story. A clip of a pastor engaging in spiritual healing got snipped as the director felt it would offend the Christians. What about the sentiments of Hindus, they say? Even though the Goddess proclaims Jesus to be her friend, she becomes 'jealous' when Ramasamy's mother seems keener to visit Thirupathi than her! Is it a coincidence that the protagonist's name combines Ramasamy (EV@Periyar) and Engel (of Frederich Engels who co-wrote 'The Communist Manifesto' with Karl Marx)?

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Slithering cold hearted snakes?

Ular (Snake, Malay; 2013)
Director: Jason Chong

This is a knock-off of the many Hollywood and Bollywood horror flicks. Even the film poster bears an almost near-replica resemblance to Hollywood's blockbuster 'Anaconda (2008)'. Besides that, it is a worthy effort, nevertheless. The CGI effect looks believable. It creates uneasiness; not laughs. The storyline seems credible enough. How different can a disaster movie be? As per usual, it starts with a potpourri of characters landing at a resort island, gleaming from ear to ear, hoping to have a whale of a weekend. Whale, they did not have, but snakes aplenty. The owners of the resort took great pains to keep the news of killer snakes away for the public. To ensure the safety of the guests, the owner did install an electric fence to keep the snakes at bay. As to how Murphy's laws dictate, anything and everything may go wrong when it is destined to go wrong. Thanks to a few mischievous frolicking holiday-makers, the fences fell into disrepair. So, the snakes, who were the pioneer occupants of the island, go on a frenzy to reclaim their island. 

Caduceus and Serpeants on
rod of Aslepius.

The people who rose to the occasion to try to save the day are a disgraced journalist (Lisa Surihani) and her photojournalist colleague ex-boyfriend (Yusri of KRU).

Man's fascination with snakes transcends all borders. Every civilisation, from the Sumerians to the Greeks, have had their brush with our reptilian friend. From the Caduceus to imply successful commerce and skilful negotiation to the twirling serpent on the rod of Asclepius to denote healing and medicine, we have seen Ouroboros which signify rejuvenation, cyclical nature of life and immortality.

Ouroborous

We have towns named after serpents (Nagapattinam), and we have people with snakes-honouring names (Nagaratnam, Nagma). They are amongst the many who have been worshipping snakes for aeons. From North America all the way to the Champas in Vietnam, they have built a symbiotic relationship with the ophidians in sharing the planet.

They are others who vilify our reptilian friends. Snakes, often associated with evil and negativity are often blamed for Man's misery on Earth. After all, it was the evil serpent's enticement that lured Adam and Eve to savour the fruit of knowledge and subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Snake Plissken
Escape from New York (1981)

If you are one of those who take David Icke's conspiracy theories as gospel truths, then you would realise that many world leaders and entrepreneurs who live amongst us are reptilians in human's clothing!

And to top it all, I recently heard on a Youtube presentation by Praveen Mohan, the explorer of ancient Hindu temple about the rock cutting technology and the ancient alien visitation by a race referred to by the locals in Hire Benakal in Karnataka as Moryars. The Moryars are said to be small built highly intelligent serpent-like creatures who imparted their architectural skills to humanity. Humans, awed by their wisdom, started showing their reverence by placing them on a pedestal to honour them.

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