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Release date:
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November 18, 2016
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Director:
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Nadirshah
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Cast:
Language:
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Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Prayaga Martin, Lijomol
Jose, Siju Wilson, Rahul Madhav, Salim Kumar, Siddique
Malayalam
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“However much paint
you put on an autorickshaw, it will not become a BMW,” says a man to an
aspiring actor in Kattappanayile Rithwik
Roshan. The reference is to the listener’s looks, which in this film is
almost entirely a commentary on the average Malayali’s obsession with light
complexions and contempt for dark skin.
Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan (KRR) is the story of a young man in the
town of Kattappana in Kerala who wants to be a movie star. Krishnan a.k.a.
Kichchoo’s father is a loader. His mother died when he was born, a fact that
Senior holds against him. Kichchoo is taunted by the community – his own
parent, family friends, schoolmates and others – for his skin colour, but their
attitude changes when he bags a small role in a big film. The snide remarks
however return when he spends a decade playing an extra – even if a familiar
face – in Malayalam cinema.
Director
Nadirshah’s film takes us through Kichchoo’s struggles with his career,
unrequited love and the crippling bias he faces at every turn.
Anyone who is
acquainted with Kerala will tell you that in the collective psyche of India’s
most literate state, light is beautiful and dark is inadequate if not ugly. In a 1997 interview, Arundhati Roy told India Today’s Rohit Brijnath this about her growing up years in Kottayam: “I was the
worst thing a woman could be in Kerala – thin, black and clever.” If north
Indians are by and large convinced that they are better-looking than their
fellow Indians south of the Vindhyas, it is equally (sadly) true that Keralites place north Indian beauty on a pedestal
higher than their own. KRR is a
stinging indictment of Kerala’s white colour preference couched in rib-tickling
comedy.
Just as importantly
however, Team KRR unwittingly reveals that
although they have good intentions,
they too have not entirely been able to get past their own social conditioning.
And so, while the
nasty barbs thrown at Kichchoo are never glorified in the narrative, the
casting tells its own story. Kichchoo falls for Ann Maria who is projected as a
beauty. Kani is the next-door neighbour he barely notices although she is in
love with him – she is projected as a plain Jane. Ironically, both women are
played by extremely pretty actresses with one telling contrast: in the role of
Ann Maria is the light-skinned Prayaga Martin while Kani is portrayed by the
dark-skinned Lijomol Jose. The fact that Nadirshah
thinks Martin is a stunner and Jose is ordinary reflects his own subconscious
predispositions.
Likewise, the hot guy in the film (the one Kichchoo thinks Ann is
hooking up with) is pointedly north Indian. And yes, the Rithwik Roshan of the
title is an amusingly distorted reference to Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan
whose looks – light eyes, light skin and tall, muscular frame – evidently constitute
Nadirshah’s ideal of Indian male beauty.
Until the director overcomes his own deep-seated prejudices, there is Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan, a film worth
watching despite its flaws because at least it means well.
KRR is written by Bibin George and Vishnu Unnikrishnan who also wrote the director’s
first film, the 2015 hit Amar Akbar Anthony. Unnikrishnan also plays
Kichchoo while Dharmajan Bolgatty steps into the role of his best friend
Dasappan. They are a hoot together and for the most part their conversations
had me giggling helplessly. The talented supporting cast includes veterans
Salim Kumar and Siddique as Kani and Kichchoo’s respective fathers.
Nadirshah and his actors are blessed with impeccable comic timing, thus
giving KRR an unrelenting pace. Film buffs will enjoy the insights into
the workings of Mollywood and the multiple references to Indian cinema across
languages.
For the most part, KRR’s humour is at once heart-wrenching and
hilarious. It is used cleverly to soften the slap this film lands on the collective faces of the audience who must confront
their own colour obsession while watching it. There is so much to love in it –
the comedy, the messaging, the acting – that its failings hurt more than they
might in a crude, unthinking film.
For instance, KRR is that rare Malayalam film which chides a man
for assuming that a woman was leading him on merely because she was friendly. It is also that rare commercial Indian film that
acknowledges the possibility of a friendship between two people of the opposite
sex after the woman has rejected the man’s romantic overtures. But the film’s
gender politics is confused and disappointing. For example, Team KRR
serves up a running joke about stalking featuring a
likeable comedian, rounding it off
with the common – and dangerous – Indian cinematic cliché of a woman who is at first disgusted by her stalker but then becomes
interested in him.
In a film that is
clearly designed to be sensitive, this disturbing track unintentionally reveals as much about
Kerala’s reality and Team KRR’s
mentality as the story it intentionally
tells.
Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan is entertaining and
moving for the most part. Perhaps a day will come when Team KRR are cured of their own prejudices,
enabling them to make a film that is truly worth celebrating. This one is a
baby step on a dismal cinematic and
social landscape.
Rating
(out of five): **1/2
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CBFC Rating (India):
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U
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Running time:
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140 minutes
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This
review has also been published on Firstpost:
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