Pa Ranjith production Seththumaan screened at IFFK - Review

 

The Pa Ranjith production's director Tamizh’s debut movie Seththumaan, based on a story by Perumal Murugan, was premiered at the International Film Festival of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram edition. The story  written by Perumal Murugan as short story Varugari (Fried Meat) was  written by him for the screen. A Tamil film buff who attended the IFFK writes what she felt about the movie. She suggests that those from TN can catch the film when it comes to  the IFFK venue in Palakkad. She prefers to keep name out of the review for reasons of her own. Here is what she mailed us :

In a scene the orphaned grandson ( actor Ashwin) Kumaraesan telling about his first day in school asks the grandfather Poochaiyappa ( actor Manickam) whether it is wrong to eat meat as the school teacher sniggered at him and asked Do you eat all kind of meat ?. The grandpa's answer reflects the mindset of the Dalit who knows the heirarchy and the hypocritic attitude of the bosses. He replies - The ones who eat and relish meat do so discreetly.

Thefilm little short of 2 hours tells about the caste divisions and their functionality and rules that decide what should we eat . The film shows how the lower caste compromise by which neither they nor the ones who want to crush them are  winners or losers.

Seththumaan, or a pig, kicks off a problem as the upper caste Vellapayyan for whom Poochaiappan works wants the latter to kill the animal and cook pork for him.  Vellapayyan's wife is horrified and says Poochaiappan is the influencer for her hubby to crave for pork. A pig rearer is in no mood to satisfy the secret craving of the upper caste landlord.

Instead of rage, grandpa handles it in a way that keeps the lower caste and upper caste ego intact.

The film's highlight is  the conversation between the grandfather and grandson. Though the old man dreams that his orphaned grandson would be boss one day , he knows that only by staying on the right side of the upper caste can he survive.

Cinematographer Pradeep Kaliraja does capture the mood of the film but many a scene and especially the climax needs to be trimmed. A good add to the list of films that bring out the realities of the caste system.

Editor's Note : Hope this get's a theater to screen. Probably ,will as it is a Pa Ranjith Neelam production.