Revisiting Padmarajan’s Koodevide in 2019

What is the yardstick to rate a film? In India, especially in the much commercialised Bollywood, films are often rated on the kind of moolah they rake in, especially after the advent of the multiplexes. My yardstick to measure a film would be its ability to withstand time and how much they can relate across generations—by generation, I mean a decade. Being a 90s kid, I grew up watching some of the finest films made in Malayalam, with great actors like Mammootty and Mohanlal at their peak. However, I reckon the 1980s as the golden era of the Malayalam film industry, especially the latter half.

The coming of age film Koodevide, released in October of 1983, like some of the other Padmarajan films, is a classic. Adapted from Vasanthy’s novel, Padmarajan wrote the screenplay, dialogues and directed the film which was co-produced by Rajan Joseph and Prem Prakash.

Koodevide is set in Ooty (Udhagamandalam)—the film opens with the staff of Good Shepherd School scampering to get the local Member of Parliament, Xavier Puthooran (Jose Prakash), a Malayali, to stand in at short notice as chief guest for a minister who stood them up at the last minute. After soaking in the school ambience, Puthooran wants his wayward son admitted to the school in the middle of the term. Caught off guard, the Principal is unable to refuse the influential politician and, Ravi Puthooran, played by an adolescent Rahman (making his debut) gets admitted to high school.

Entertainment, Movies

By Anand Kochukudy

September 22, 2019

Sathar: The Shooting Star

“Nee oru vasantham, ente manasa sugandham...”

This melodious composition from the Malayalam film Beena (1978) had a young Sathar wooing the then reigning queen of Malayalam cinema—Jayabharathi. When Sathar, who was only a few films old in the industry, seemed nervous filming the romantic scenes, it was Jayabharathi who saw to it that he was comfortable, and they hit it off right away. The duo would go on to tango in a couple more films till they eventually tied the knot the following year, 1979. More on that later…

Sathar, born Abdul Khadar Sathar in 1952 in Kadungalloor was a final year post-graduate history student at Union Christian College, Aluva when he applied to a casting call advertisement in a newspaper. As luck would have it, Sathar was cast as the lead in the film Anavaranam (1976), directed by the legendary A Vincent. The film was a hit and so was his next, Yatheem (1977). Sathar’s entry into Malayalam cinema coincided with that of Ravi Kumar, Ravi Menon and Jose, just as Soman and Sukumaran were emerging as the big stars. The likes of Sudhir, Raghavan, Vincent and Mohan were also around, along with the aging superstars Prem Nazir and Madhu.

Features, Movies, Obituary, Profile

By Anand Kochukudy

September 3, 2019

The Battle for Pala

After days of intrigue, Jose Tom Pulikunnel has been accorded the candidature by the United Democratic Front (UDF) to contest the prestigious Pala seat in the Assembly by-elections due later this month. The Pala seat has been represented by one man, K M Mani, who passed away recently, ever since the constituency came into existence in 1965.

K M Mani’s party, the Kerala Congress (M), split vertically on the question of succession in the aftermath of Mani’s demise between his son, Jose K Mani, and ‘Working Chairman’, P J Joseph, and a tug-of-war ensued as the two factions jostled with one another to prop up their candidates to validate their claims for legitimacy.

While the primary bone of contention between the two factions was the candidature of Nisha Jose K Mani, the daughter-in-law of K M Mani, it was also seen to be a bargaining tactic by the P J Joseph faction to get himself officially declared as the Party Chairman.

Kerala, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

August 25, 2019

Obituary: The Artful Mr. Jaitley

In the passing away of Arun Jaitley, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost an incomparable leader. As the Hindutva party’s moderate face, Jaitley played a vital role in making the “Brahmin-Bania party” respectable among the Indian upper middle class and the urban elite.

In fact, Jaitley’s unparalleled skill to put across the most ludicrous arguments with aplomb was an art in itself. Jaitley could be trusted to give a spin to any setback. With a straight face, he would rattle off seemingly rational arguments to make a virtue out of the indefensible.

In his crucial role as the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister from 2014-2016, (apart from being a full-time finance minister and part-time defense minister), Jaitley had the press do pretty much his bidding. In fact, a senior editor of a prominent daily once told me how they would get memos after certain stories were published and, how he had to instruct his reporters to hedge vital information in their stories—only those who read between the lines and others who knew the policy reporters personally could decipher it.

National, Obituary, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

August 3, 2019

An Enigma called Jacob Thomas

If anyone’s a riddle wrapped in an enigma and speaks in parables, that’s DGP Jacob Thomas. Though it’s not easy to sketch a brief bio of him, I have attempted the arduous task. The self-proclaimed anti-corruption crusader is back in the news as the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has revoked his suspension and directed the Kerala state government to reinstate the officer forthwith.

Jacob Thomas has been under suspension for more than eighteen months now. The DGP was first suspended in December 2017, after he unleashed a scathing attack on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s poor response to the Ockhi disaster. In its suspension order, the government had stated that it found Thomas’ statements at a public meeting on December 9, 2017 ‘inflammatory in nature’.

The suspension was then extended by another six months, now in the name of writing a book which didn’t qualify as a “literary work”, for breaking service rules. Just as Jacob Thomas was due to complete his suspension period, a vigilance case was foisted upon the officer in December 2018, on charges of corruption into the procurement of cutter suction dredger when he was the Director of Ports during the 2011-12 period.

Corruption, Kerala, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

July 30, 2019

Chandra Shekhar: The Last Socialist

Chandra Shekhar, India’s last socialist icon, steadfastly held to his political convictions in a career spanning over five decades. As socialist politics metamorphosed into identity politics in the post-Mandal nineties, and gradually degenerated into family-run enterprises, Chandra Shekhar: The Last Icon of Ideological Politics written by Harivansh Narayan Singh (co-authored with Ravi Dutt Bajpai), Chandra Shekhar’s former media adviser and journalist, and now, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is a relevant read.

Harivansh Narayan Singh observed Chandra Shekhar from close quarters and this is reflected in some of his minute observations. Apart from his own interactions with the socialist stalwart from 1978, the author has relied on extensive conversations with Om Prakash Srivastava, Chandra Shekhar’s friend of over half century, and Zindagi Kaa Kaarawan, Chandra Shekhar’s biographical sketch (by Ram Bahadur Rai and Suresh Sharma) to write the book. The author’s admiration for Chandra Shekhar is clearly reflected in this biography but it does not dissolve into a hagiography

The seven chapters reveal many hitherto unknown facts and facets of a man who didn’t really get his due in Indian politics. The high point of his career was becoming Prime Minister for seven months but it would be grossly unfair to judge him by that short tenure.

Book Review, Books, National, Non-Fiction, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

June 23, 2019

Kabir Singh: A psychiatrist should be on Call

Kabir Singh could well have been a Bollywood original. Such an entitled and boorish character, with anger management issues bordering on psychopathic behaviour isn’t out of place in Delhi (or the larger National Capital Region). It must have been precisely because of this fact that major portions of the film is set in Delhi, with Punjabi characters to boot.

The fact that Kabir Singh is a remake of the Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy doesn’t reflect anywhere in the movie. Director Sandeep Vanga, who helmed both projects, has kept the story, characters, plot line and scenes intact and manages to get Shahid Kapoor to internalise the psychopathic character. But beyond the performances of Kapoor and some of the other actors, the film is a pain for the audience due to its diligence in preserving misogyny and masculine toxicity.

Although there is an edginess to the scenes that keeps you engrossed for some 3 hours (172 minutes), it’s a near-traumatic experience to watch the film. That Kabir Singh, the hero, isn’t likeable even at his best could be why the audience cannot empathise with him. Even before he turns into an alcoholic and substance abuser, Kabir is a thoroughly-despicable and disgusting man.

Movie Review, Movies

By Anand Kochukudy

June 16, 2019

A Slice of History: Splitting to Grow and Growing to Split

Kerala Congress (M) is on the verge of yet another split and in all probability see a near-vertical break-up this evening. Jose K Mani, son of the recently-deceased K M Mani, had sent invites to members of the State Committee of Kerala Congress (M) to meet and elect its new Chairman. It follows a representation made by the Jose K Mani camp to ‘Acting’ Chairman P J Joseph to convene a State Committee within 10 days, armed with signatures of 123 State Committee members (more than one-fourth as mandated in the party’s constitution) to elect a new Chairman and Parliamentary party leader.

Meanwhile, the members of the State Committee owing allegiance to the P J Joseph camp are likely to give it a miss. According to the Kerala Congress (M) Constitution—a document that has gone through many amendments to suit the interests of its leaders—only the Chairman (or, the Working Chairman in his absence) has the authority to convene the State Committee through the General Secretary in-charge of the Office (Joy Abraham).

Abraham has ensconced himself in P J Joseph’s camp post Mani’s demise and has been instrumental in getting a number of State Committee members to switch loyalties. Despite that, the Joseph faction is in a clear minority in the State Committee (the apex decision-making body of the party according to its constitution). The Joseph camp has dubbed the act of convening the State Committee without due procedure an act of indiscipline if not rebellion, and will most likely challenge it in courts.

Kerala, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

May 29, 2019

How Tharoor Won The Puram

In February, I was in Thiruvananthapuram for nearly a week for personal and work-related stuff. My last port of call was writer Paul Zacharia’s apartment on a Sunday evening. When I called him at short notice and requested for an audience, Zacharia initially tried to shake me off—only to finally agree to talk to me for 30 minutes. He was busy giving final touches to his now released debut English fiction—A secret history of compassion. My freewheeling conversation with the writer ended with some political chatter. And I asked him the inevitable: Which candidate was he supporting in the general elections as a voter enrolled in Thiruvananthapuram?

Pat came the reply, “Shashi Tharoor”.

Was he worried about the prospects of the BJP candidate winning if the secular votes are divided? I persisted.

Kerala, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

May 22, 2019

Has the BJP finally arrived in Kerala?

Towards the fag end of the election campaign in Kerala, an advertisement sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) played out on all channels. The fifth in a series of ads for the Kerala BJP, it had the familiar setting of a tea shop with a small group of youth talking politics. One of the young men is seen professing his newfound love for the BJP to his Modi-fied friend but seems unsure if he should go on and vote for the BJP. “Even if I were to vote for the BJP, would they win from Kerala?”

For a long time, many pro-BJP folks in Kerala have faced the same predicament. A vote for the BJP meant a waste of a vote as BJP candidates contested ritually for the third place. However, the 2016 assembly elections saw the contests becoming triangular in a dozen constituencies with the votes polled by the BJP (or their ally BDJS) deciding the winner and loser in many more seats. This was never the case earlier and it presaged a brighter future for the BJP after decades of toil.

The final numbers for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2016, 15 per cent vote share and a solitary win, wasn’t substantial but it did make a difference to the way people looked at the saffron party in Kerala. A lot of hitherto silent supporters of the party began to come out of the closet to publicly declare their love for the Hindutva outfit.

Kerala, Opinion, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

May 15, 2019

What is brewing in Kerala Congress?

Within a month of Chairman K M Mani’s passing away, the power struggle to gain control of Kerala Congress (M) has become intense. While, on the one hand, ‘Working Chairman’ P J Joseph is in no mood to let heir apparent Jose K Mani takeover as the next Chairman and leader of the Parliamentary party, the latter has been playing his moves strategically to outwit Joseph in this game of thrones.

Just as he outwitted P J Joseph following a tug of war over the Kottayam seat in the Lok Sabha election, Mani junior seems to be plotting his moves well in advance. It’s good to recall that the K M Mani and P J Joseph factions of Kerala Congress had merged in 2010 at the insistence of the powerful Catholic Church. Back then, the division of organisational positions were unequal with a 2:1 advantage to the Mani faction. Since then, K M Mani (and his faction) has virtually had their say in all matters and P J Joseph was reduced to a pale shadow of his former self.

Kerala, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy

April 29, 2019

Bogus Voting In Kannur: The Left On The Backfoot

During the mid-2000s, Mamata Banerjee was often asked why her party kept losing to the Left Front despite her grassroots connect in West Bengal. Her standard response was: “scientific rigging”. In the other Left bastion down south—Kerala—allegations of “scientific rigging” (or scientific bogus voting) has been a common refrain by the Congress in the Marxist strongholds of Kannur and Kasargod.

Gone are the days of wanton booth capturing after the replacement of ballot papers with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Yet, people who didn’t mind cutting corners to win seem to have continued to find ways to perpetuate such subversive practices. In many polling booths in North Kerala, particularly in Marxist “party villages” (a euphemism for a village where only the CPI (M)’s writ runs) in Kannur, the very high turnout often evoked suspicion in the past but was passed off as routine for a “politically conscious” electorate.

Opinion, Politics

By Anand Kochukudy