At a time when the Communists in Delhi are threatening to pull the plug on the central government, a movie is not the first thing that comes to mind. But then, this past week, I caught a refreshing flick on the travails of a self-confessed Commie. Arabikatha is a hardcore political film and a bloody good one, at that.
It’s the tale of Cuba Mukundan, a dyed in the wool Communist party worker. As is evident from his name, the protagonist is a lover of all things Cuban. His role model is Fidel Castro. He also oozes admiration for a Chinese girl. But before that, a combination of circumstances in his hometown Chemanoor forces him to migrate to the Gulf (or gelf as we Mals call it). And he’s forced like millions of his Mallu brethren to do hard labour and earn a living. The thinking-debating Communist gives way for the toiling-slogging manual labourer. He learns life’s hard lessons, the only way they can be learnt. The hard way.
Sreenivasan as Mukundan is not at his best, yet I can't think of any other man pulling off this role. Not even the so-called mega stars of Mollywood, Mammootty and Mohanlal. It says something about both the actor and the industry he works in, that a comedian like Sreenivasan can carry the weight of an entire film on his shoulders. I can't think of too many parallels in Indian cinema, except maybe Nagesh when he paired with KB for films like Edhir Neechal and Server Sundaram.
It's inevitable that comparisons will be made to Sreenivasan's other famous Commie movie, Sandesham. But then Kotapalli Prabhakaran and Cuba Mukundan are as different as cod and caviar. Prabhakaran is a manipulative, conniving, fair-weather Communist who prefers to be a think tank, as opposed to going through the rigours of organised labour. Mukundan on the other hand, is a dedicated Communist who believes in everything the party stands for, including its pet hate, Coca Cola. Sandesham as a movie had much more lighter moments than Arabikatha. It was far more irreverential and precisely for this reason, entertaining. Arabikatha is a whole lot more heavier, yet at the same time, it doesn't get preachy.
It’s a must watch though for Comrade Karat and his friends. The message is simple. Ideals and ideologies are fine. But it takes a lot more to navigate through the cross roads of life. It requires a very essential ingredient called pragmatism. Politics after all is not a JNU debate.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
yes, they might find the movie educative! here's what I came across on the net, Salman Rushdie on ideas...
"The thing I learned most at Cambridge was that you should be as brutal as possible toward ideas but as courteous as possible to the people who hold them. It is entirely proper that people not be discriminated against, whatever damn fool thing they believe. That doesn’t mean we can’t say what horseshit it is..."
Achu I believe saw the film. Doesn't look like it's made any difference. Kerala remains in a capital mess. Easily the worst state government in history.
Wonder how the comrades would have reacted if it was a conditional deal with either the former USSR or China. Wouldn't the sovereignity argument be replaced by workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains?
Post a Comment