What director Kamal KM has achieved with the material has a lot to do with the effortless combination of Vishnu Vijay’s music, Shaan Mohammed’s editing and Sameer Tahir’s cinematography.
What director Kamal KM has achieved with the material has a lot to do with the effortless combination of Vishnu Vijay’s music, Shaan Mohammed’s editing and Sameer Tahir’s cinematography.
Most responses to injustice often act as a pressure release valve because, while staying within the accepted limits of civil society, one-sided protest quells pent-up anger. Sometimes there are acts that step out of this safe zone and victims of harassment put their lives on the line, which they consider to be an appropriate response. Foot One such is the cinematic chronicle of a real-life incident, now almost forgotten in Kerala, although the issues raised are as relevant now as they were then.
On October 4, 1996, four men claiming to be members of the ‘Ayyankali Pada’ walked into the Palakkad District Collector’s office and held them hostage for 10 hours, crippling the administrative machinery of the entire state. They had only one demand: the state government should withdraw the amendments made to the Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition on Transfer of Land and Restoration of Settled Lands) Act, 1975, which seeks to return all land taken from them to tribal people. was enacted to by settlers after 1960. Over the years, successive governments had diluted the law and the 1996 amendment was the last straw, prompting four tribal activists to take a daring act to bring the government to the discussion table.
Foot
Director: Kamal KM
Cast: Kunchako Boban, Joju George, Vinayakan, Dilish Pothan, Prakash Raj, Unnimaya Prasad
In Foot, Kamal KM recreates the events of that day to raise the larger question of tribal land segregation. his first film Identification Written around the search for the identity of an unidentified laborer who had collapsed at his workplace. Here too, the protagonists are from marginalized sections, struggling to survive. We get a quick, but permanent glimpse of his background in the frenzied preparation before the day of action. Balu (Vinayakan) borrows his younger daughter’s wristwatch, as timing is important, even as she asks him if he is going to sell it too. Aravindan (Joju George) tells a line about his helplessness when a lottery vendor prompts him to buy one. It seems that Rajesh (Kunchako Boban) is the only one with a history of violent acts, while Kutty (Dilish Pothan) is busy pacifying his wife Mini (Unnimaya Prasad), who learns about the plan.
The script snaps straight into the hostage situation without wasting much time on set up. Inside, it is a relentless shift between various tense situations, which gives no respite to the audience. On the one hand, the dynamics between the captives and the collector (Arjun Radhakrishnan), sensitive to their demands, are constantly changing, while on the other hand the Chief Secretary (Prakash Raj) and his team are trying to calm down. under the prisoners. Outside, an unknown team of police officers is searching for a way in.
Kamal is sure of the material he is working with, be it in the political sense or in the technical sense. Background research is also evident to get the smallest details of the day. The fictional element or cinematic liberties he takes do not take away anything from the core issue raised by the film. But what he achieves with the material has a lot to do with the effortless combination of Vishnu Vijay’s music, Shaan Mohammed’s editing and Sameer Tahir’s cinematography. One drawback may be the presence of a lot of actors who don’t have special roles, especially Shine Tom Chacko, Karamna Sudhir and Jagdish.
Foot It is a sympathetic depiction of the justified anger of the oppressed.
Pada is currently playing in theaters