My thoughts on Mandela and Karnan

When we talk about caste oppression we millennials often constrain ourselves in the frameset of reservations in educational and Job opportunities and overlook the dark past and present struggle that is faced by these very communities.

Movies are undeniably the larger medium to tell us these stories and make us acknowledge the atrocities that are winded in our social fabric.

Tamil industry is always known for bringing us these stories live, especially the new wave of directors with their gripping screenplay and their hunger to present in the best possible way.

The recent releases Mandela and Karnan got my attention and these are the stories that need to be told again and again.

Mandela

Plot:

Amid a local election with two rivals vying to win by any means necessary, a barber lands in a curiously powerful position as the single deciding vote. [Netflix]

This is Director Madonne Ashwin's debut movie and he had done a brilliant job of delivering the message on the importance of voting with a mockery and dignified humour.

Must say that Yogi babu's full potential was explored in this movie and the way his role was presented gives a good sign of our future storytelling, his previous roles were confined to body shaming jokes but here I felt like the director did an effortless job in avoiding such and kept the plot with dignified humour while conveying his message.

We have seen stories that mock politicians and stories with star cast hinting at their political entry, sometimes drifting away from the context but unlike those Mandela delivers a beautiful underlying message the importance of vote with an emphasis on cash-for-vote.

Karnan

Plot:

speaks about the oppression faced by socially backward communities which still exists in various parts of Tamil Nadu.[Prime]

Director Mari Selvaraj is here to make an impact with his storytelling, showing the inequality that exists in our society in the name of caste. In his debut movie Pariyerum Perumal, the protagonist lies down taking the insults but Karnan is revolutionary.

The story dates back to 1995, Podiyankulam village doesn’t have a bus stop and they had to walk miles for the nearest bus stop in Melur where they are looked down on and constantly ridiculed for no reason by the upper caste from that village. Director did a brilliant job in connecting all the subplots in the movie to the bus stop and this is where the protagonist rises as a hero in confronting this oppression.

What makes Karna a special movie lies in its Writing, Screenplay, Music and of course the well-played roles. Numerous references are hinted at as a sign of oppression along with the storyline, I especially liked the Donkey metaphor: Karnan frees the donkey, the animal, free from all bondage, runs up to the hill and at the same time Karnan steps into action.

Here is an excerpt from the Film companion on Human conflict in a world of animals [link]

"Though the donkey and horse bear most of the metaphorical load in the film, we get frequent episodes with or intercuts to various other animals. The mere fact that Podiyankulam has an elephant angers a caste group. We get visuals of eagles swooping to steal chickens with Karnan arguing that there’s no point in begging eagles to be kind. That’s the first scene of the film and also it's whole in a nutshell."

The music director Santosh Narayanan adds a layer to the storytelling with his music, ‘Uttradheenga Yeppov’ song has received a special appreciation for its placement in the movie, where children wear masks of the goddess as the village prepares themselves for facing the police force.

This Movie is another addition to Dhanush's endeavour to bring these stories alive and these stories needed to be told again and again.