‘Seththumaan‘, a Film Festival Darling that marks the directorial debut of Tamizh released on SonyLiv on 27th May, 2022. The film has been winning accolades at several international film festivals and got the right padding when Pa Ranjith came forward to back and present the film under his Neelam Productions banner. ‘Seththumaan’ ‘ is a feature film adaptation of the short story ‘Varugari’ (roasted/ fried meat) written by Perumal Murugan.
The story revolves around an old man Poochiyappa from the marginalised community Poochiyappa played by Manickam and his grandson Kumaresan played by Ashwin Shiva. He takes on the guardian-ship of the little boy after his son and daughter-in-law are murdered for eating beef.
Now why is the film important or why is SonyLiv platforming the film important?
1) The film talks about THE biggest menace of Indian Society – Casteism.
Seththumaan talks about food politics and caste politics intertwining both – i.e. Caste based Food Politics. Not only does the film take a closer look at caste based violence, discrimination and exploitation of labour but also reiterates how education is the only way out. There are several scenes reminiscent of the climactic scenes of Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Pariyerum Perumaal’ and Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Geeli Pucchi’ in the film. It’s high time we get to see Casteism being talked about in mainstream cinema and Seththumaan is one strong addition to the anti-caste movement in Indian cinema.
2) An endearing Grandparent-Grand son bond.
Poochiyappa and Kumaresan are so endearing together. We are shown how the grandfather carries his grandson on his shoulders wanting the best for him. He is adamant on wanting his grandchild hold his head high and see the world as it is, without having to bow down. The chemistry both Manickam and Ashwin Siva share is so cute and reminded us of K.D.(2019).
3) Rich, nuanced, engaging and truly original writing.
The writing takes on itself a huge responsibility of dealing with some of the most stomach-upsetting heavy truths of our country and does emerge victorious in being as nuanced and layered as possible. It is impossible to disengage from the narrative even when the pacing takes its sweet time. Also you know a film is worth it, when Brand Pa Ranjith backs it.
The film acts as a reality check to the delusional, disconnected and highly privileged section of India’s populace today (that includes all of us) on how normalised and highly prevalent is casteism in different parts of the country, 75 years after Independence. Cinema is a powerful political tool and Tamizh has proved it once again.
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