Pada Movie Review: Kunchako Boban and Vinayakan’s Malayalam Film Is Bold, Arresting Callback to a Revolt Against Systemic Indifference (LatestLY Exclusive)

Pada Movie Review: While watching Kamala KM's Pada on Amazon Prime VIdeo, I couldn't help but recollect Anurag Kashyap's recent statement at IFFK 2022. The director of films like Black Friday and Gangs of Wasseypur had said this about Malayalam Cinema, "I make movies in Hindi where we are distorting history while Kerala is actually chronicling the times we live in with their cinema." Watching Malayalam cinema produce some gems of its times with films like Virus, Kumbalangi Nights, The Great Indian Kitchen et al, I could really get what Kashyap meant then. And then Pada arrives and the movie totally reinforces that statement with some hard-hitting pathos. Kunchacko Boban’s Pada, Tovino Thomas’ Naradan, Shane Nigam’s Veyil, Here Are The Malayalam Movies Set To Be Premiered On Amazon Prime Video!

Pada, that came out on theatres on March 11 and has now come out on Amazon Prime Video, is based on a real-life incident that happened in 1996 where four men, who called themselves 'Ayyankali Pada' barged in the Palakkad collector's office and took him hostage. Their demand? To repeal the amended Kerala Scheduled Tribes Act 1975. For the uninitiated, the said act was about giving the ownership of the forest lands back to the adivasi communities. But recent amendments made sure that the transfer is made night impossible, hence the unlawful revolt. When the amendment was brought in, the film informs us that the only MLA who opposed it was KR Gouri Amma (who could have been Kerala's first female CM, if it was not for some blatant display of sexism and her ouster a low point in CPI(M) history).

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Pada begins with this amazing shot of the camera travelling from the city to the outskirts of a nearby forest (cinematography by Sameer Thahir), thereby showing how we are creeping up on jungles under the excuse of development. Can't help with the irony in the next scene, when a little boy breaks down an anthill at the bottom of a tree, reminding how we are also displacing (and killing) animals from their natural habitats in the process.

That boy is the son of Balu Kallaar (Vinayakan), who along with three other compatriots Aravindan Mannur (Joju George), Narayanankutty (Dileesh Pothan) and Rakesh Kanhangad (Kunchacko Boban) are the ones who take on the mission to trap the collector Ajay Shripad Dange (Arjun Radhakrishnan) in his own room.

The first half of Pada is the setup of the hostage drama, that does the job without the need to go into needless melodramatic flashbacks. We get to know the bits and pieces about the main players as they navigate through their barely stable plan in the crowded corridors of the collectorate. We know their purpose, we know their intention and we know their determination, even if we aren't obvious to why Aravindan, Narayanankutty and Rakesh would risk their lives for this mission, unlike Balu, whose sense of displacement is well-established in the opening act. From discussions on hoarding dry fruits for their missions to revelations that no one had even operated a firearms before, the director makes it smartly evident that the 'Pada' may lack the inexperience to pull off what they intended to do but they have the desperate, righteous zeal to make it through.

The second half focuses purely on the hostage crisis drama, with the 'Pada' negotiating their terms with Chief Secretary N Rajasekharan (Prakash Raj), while the government plans to take them down with an NSG team. Both the halves of the film are quite taut, well-paced and despite a lack of tension (especially if you had done your reading on the subject), keeps you involved throughout. The character interactions are worked upon at the cost of character development, but that's what makes the drama so good. Especially when the collector engages with his captors on the unlawfulness of their activities and get schooled in return, or the Chief Secretary keeping his calm and not overreacting to become the hero. I really liked how Kamal KM treats most of its principal characters as human beings capable of empathy, on both sides of the hostage crisis, be it the Pada or even the captive collector himself, who is shown to be honest in his dealings.

There are a couple of scenes I didn't get exactly, like why did the collector stop his bodyguard (Shine Tom Chacko, doesn't get much scope here) from tackling one of the Pada members. Or that twist about about the Pada's weapons in the climax, that doesn't explain the intensity of a blast a few scenes earlier. Still, there are minor problems in what is a totally gripping narrative, that also enjoys the kind of talent it has roped in to play all the roles. The Great Indian Kitchen Movie Review: Nimisha Sajayan, Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Social Drama, Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Is Brilliant!

Kunchacko Boban, Joju George, Vinayakan and Dileesh Pothan are all fantastic in the lead roles. Arjun Radhakrishnan, who played the late DR APJ Abdul Kalam in SonyLIV's Rocket Boys, makes a good impression as the collector, while Prakash Raj brings enough gravitas in his performance as always. Even the secondary characters leave an impact with their limited screentime, like Unnimaya Prasad as Narayanankutty's wife Mini, Savitri Sreedharan's dementia-suffering petitioner, TG Ravi's mediator lawyer, Kani Kusruti as Balu's wife Sheeja, Indrans as Comrade Kannan Mundur, Gopalan as Pada's secret fifth member Usman, and even Salim Kumar as a Sessions Judge brought in late to solve the crisis.

Watching Pada reminded me of Aaron Sorkin's superb The Trial of Chicago 7, despite one being a hostage thriller and other a legal drama. Both the films are based on past incidents where protagonists boldly challenged the system in manners not exactly systemic, and yet both remind you that things have hardly improved thereon despite the 'vikas' the countries made. As we are desperately trying to cling on to the democratic soul of this nation, Pada reminds you that what we had before was a privilege which was never extended to our brethren in scheduled communities for decades.

Yay!

- Gripping Writing and Direction

- Excellent Performances

Nay!

- A Couple of Inconsistencies (That aren't necessarily harmful)

- Some actors like Shine Tom Chacko, Sudheer Karamana and Shankar Ramakrishnan don't get much scope

Final Thoughts

In times when Malayalam Cinema is being hailed for making progressive quality cinema (despite likes of Aarattu), Pada continues to make that flag fly higher with its mission statement and its execution. Kamal KM's film is bold, arresting and brilliantly performed. And if you don't feel a twinge of guilt during the series of footage shown in the epilogue, maybe we have lost our humanity somewhere along with the politicians. Pada is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2022 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).