A few months ago I started watching movies and decided to write a review for every movie that I watched. However, as many things with life it never happened. But last night I watched #pariyerumperumal and here I am...
Pariyerum perumal is one of those special movies that you know will make you talk about it everywhere and to anyone who would listen. One of those movies that immediately gets a place on your favorite list of movies ( that's saying a lot for someone as snobbish and as flaky as me).
The movie does not have a " story" per se. But each character in the movie come with their own stories. Stories narrated on the screen and hidden. Each character is layered. The director leaves many things unsaid but you understand.
True a dog dies horribly in the movie...you shed tears for the dog and also for the society that does not let an animal live only because it's been raised by a person from a lower caste. The movie is unapologetic about discussing caste. In a movie industry which is so obviously casteist and where movie after movie is released praising the system and the dominant castes, it was refreshing to see a movie that handled the issue of casteism and caste atrocities with such honesty. We do not get a dalit hero. Rather, we get a hero who has his dignity, fights for his rightful place in society and refuses to bow down.
There are no cringe moments in this movie.There were no sexist jokes, no objectification of women, no "hero" who beats up hundreds of men. The father of pariyen on asked why his son chose to introduce another man as his father replies in a matter of fact manner that his son is perhaps ashamed of him because of his profession. He is effimiate, dresses up as a woman and dances in village festivals in skimpy clothes. The father isn't ashamed of who he is. He owns it. ( I love the song). In a later scene the mother tells pariyan how his father had been insulted, harassed and molested in the past and explains how "stupid heroism" on the part of the son isn't going to help anyone. I like this aspect of the movie....nobody needs the hero to " save" them.
Neither the poverty of the hero nor his low status is exoticised or romanticized. And neither is everyone from the dominant caste shown as a villain. The college principal is a dalit and there are students in the same college who are dalits and refuse to be beaten down. There are bits and pieces everywhere in the movie that speaks dalitism. Blue is everywhere. It was a nice touch to name the kabbadi group "Illayarajakal" after the composer/music director Illayaraja. And, thankfully the movie does not show the hero having become a successful lawyer or a judge (especially, in one song). Also even when there IS a song where the hero angrily reflects on the injustices meted out to him, he does not go around causing bloodshed and mayhem). It is a reflection of the society and nothing is exaggerated. It does disappoint you as a copious consumer of Indian movies, but its one of those good disappointments. It tells you not to assume and be open to the possibility that sensible movies do get made.
The villain (apart from the caste system that kills and maims) is terrifying in his normalness. Perhaps it's a nod to how normalized casteism is in our country. How we have become immune to the horrors of honor killings. As the director shows, its hot news one day, only to be replaces by news of another killing the next day. Everyone's a victim and Mari Selvaraj beautifully showcases that. It isn't just pariyen or his ilk that get beaten up. The women from the upper castes get killed too. The men too walk around in fear ...fear of losing their honor, their women and their position in society. Their false, pseudo and stupid bravado hurts everyone, including themselves. The movie is a lesson on how honor is misunderstood and misplaced. And how the blaming of women and the lower castes has been a constant and will continue to be so.
The movie flows smoothly, no major plot twists and turns and the climax is no different. It succinctly sums up the entire movie. No one has a change of heart, the hero does not have any illusions of having brought about a change in society. He is mature and clearly explains how nothing will change unless everyone is treated as equals.
The movie was so good that I am willing to overlook the grating voice of the heroine, her stupid accent and the fact that the director has chosen to go with a fair skinned girl. Unless, of course it was a subtle dig at the industry.
And karuppi....made me cry and cry and cry some more.....
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