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Updated: November 26, 2020 1:00:30 pm
Jallikattu is directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery. (Photo: Lijo Jose Pellissery / Facebook)
Last year, many mocked when Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy was named India’s official Oscar nominee in the Best International Feature Film category. The Ranveer Singh-Alia Bhatt combo on an aspiring rapper from Mumbai’s neecha nagar was a staggering success, and the creators and her divine cast failed to hide their jubilation. But did he have the right recipe to cut it to the most coveted shindig awards in the world of cinema? Predictably, the film was out of the game in no time. That year rightfully belonged to Bong Joon-ho, who was already a rock star in his home country of South Korea, but not as widely known in the West other than movie junkies, like Quentin Tarantino, who stumbled upon the planet. BJH always. In other words, a highly entertaining yet disturbing dystopian world that Joon-ho had created to highlight his vision of all that is wrong with our society was finally getting much needed attention overseas. In other words: Parasite ka time aagaya. This year, India is looking for blood. Buffalo blood, if you like. Official selection of India as Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu is a groundbreaking Malayalam hit that belies a strong statement against human violence.
The film follows a buffalo who has gone mad in a Kerala village, escaping from the butcher Varkey’s (Chemban Vinod Jose) knife and landing directly in the blazing fire. The rough, sweaty men of the village and their hair-snapping machismo (note the opening scene and the detached shots of male eyes) might belong to a Sergio Leone Spaghetti, but here they have fun with black humor (discussing food in sexual details, stalking women or chasing the animal in a primitive way) and are aided by hair-raising images and dazzling sound design that have become Lijo Jose Pellissery’s hallmark. Through the metaphor of a primeval animal, something Bong Joon-ho did with the compelling Okja or Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni did with the 2008 Marathi film Valu, albeit in a lighter vein, Pellissery seems to blur the line between man and beast, between violence and innocence and what, ultimately, our gentle cruelty says about the human being. The animal, it can be safely said, is frightened by looking the best. Explaining the germ of the film, Pellissery told Film Companion: “The idea of the space between the animal and the disappearing man excited me.”
Mollywood Nights
Pellissery, 42, has been called a pioneer for introducing a new voice and a new creative vigor to the Malayalam film industry. Pellissery’s debut, Angamaly Diaries, ripped a page out of a young town’s diary, and became unduly famous for a single ending that compared it to the Hollywood gangster epic Goodfellas. What explains Pellissery’s passion for absolutely fantastic climaxes? His latest, Ea. But. Yau, featured a surreal, Bergman-like ending with the protagonist slipping into the afterlife, while Jallikattu’s final shots take you first into the dark cavern of human depravity.
Lately, Malayalam cinema has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance. It’s at. But. Yau is a fundamental part of this cultural moment. As well as titles like Ustaad Hotel, Kumbalangi Nights, Bangalore Days, Premam, Sudani From Nigeria and Oolu which helped break the language barrier and managed to migrate to Hindi speaking parts of India, thanks to OTT platforms, festivals cinematic and word-of-mouth. Before that, there was the unconventional Kammatti Paadam who breathed new life into the fading gangster genre and the thrilling Drishyam, starring a superstar (Mohanlal) who plays the most unusual common man willing to go out of his way to protect. his daughter from finishing. behind the bars. In Kerala itself, these films boasted big names (Fahadh Faasil, Prithviraj, Nivin Pauly, Sai Pallavi, Dulquer Salmaan, Mohanlal). Few know them and their little gems outside state and regional borders, but their meaningful content and out-of-the-box approach to cinema is attracting new audiences even as monolithic Bollywood is increasingly losing its storyline. Would it be wrong to suggest that Hindi films are stuck in the impossible cycle of summer blockbusters, brainless sequels and crippling star systems – tangled and chained by their own myth? While Bollywood is an unrepentant fiction, Mollywood is more real and recognizable, focusing on the storyline and its possibilities and on the stars who are versatile, ready and willing to break the mold. They may have clay feet, but unlike their Bollywood counterparts, they reserve it for sculpting and honing their acts.
Pellissery’s Cinema
What else is so special about regional cinema? Why did Mollywood Nights replace Bollywood Nights? We can respond by paying hymns to what is so special about Pellissery’s cinema. Pellissery is a Mollywood New Wave cheerleader, which also includes influencers such as Rajeev Ravi, Aashiq Abu, Dulquer Salmaan, Anjali Menon, Sachy, Fahadh Faasil, Prithviraj, Nivin Pauly and many others. In his seven films to date, starting with 2010’s Nayakan, Pellissery has forged an aesthetic that blends the credibility of art cinema with the spread of the mainstream. On screen, he nonchalantly blends his Christian upbringing and imagery with a feel for local idiom and human behavior filled with ironic humor, fantastic situations and extraordinary images. In his previous film, the excellent death farce Ea.Ma.Yau, gave new meaning and grandeur to the Latin Catholic funeral, while Angamaly Diaries wowed critics with its raw beauty, tough swag and underworld prowess. . It was time for Pellissery to transcend borders to become better known outside of Kerala. The fame of Jallikattu’s Oscars could help, even more if he wins. In broad daylight and in cold blood, amen.
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