R. Sarath has always been a bit of a maverick filmmaker, always thinking out of the box, in terms of themes chosen, issues raised, and even casting. Over the years, Sarath, who won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director in 2000 for Sayahnam (and the Kerala State Award for Best Film), has proven himself to be adept at quietly highlighting “burning issues” of social importance, all woven into deceptively simple tales of the common man.
If Sayahnam is a reflection on the environmental costs of India’s nuclear tests, Sthithi deals with the human costs of the Third World’s dependence on World Bank loans. Seelabati (2005), starring Kavya Madhavan in the lead, is about water scarcity, cleverly concealed in the tale of a village’s steps into modernisation. And The Desire , with Shilpa Shetty and Chinese actor Xia Yu essaying the lead roles, delved into the recesses of the human mind juxtaposed against the boarder canvas of tradition versus globalisation. Now, Sarath, who lets quality rather than quantity speak for his oeuvre, is back at the marquee with his fifth film, Parudeesa , which releases today.
This time too, Sarath has come up with a rather complicated and perhaps controversial theme – that of conflict of belief, the perpetual disagreement between orthodox and unorthodox paths of religion. “Does faith make a man or do actions make a man? Who is a true believer/ follower of Christ?” says Sarat, rather cryptically, when asked about the premise of the movie.
Parudeesa , which means paradise in Malayalam, is the story of a Catholic parish in a remote and seemingly idyllic hillside village in Kerala. Set in two milieus – Kerala of the 60s and 70s and that of the 80s and 90s – the film unfolds through the conflict of ideals between Father Aanjalithanam (played by Sreenivasan), an orthodox priest, who is the last word in the parish, and a firebrand verger named Jose (Thampy Antony), who believes that Christ was “the original revolutionary.” Both of them believe that their way to God is the true path, the only path.
As he sets out to bring a change in society, increasingly Jose finds himself facing opposition at every turn, and that’s not only from Father Aanjalithanam but from within the parish and the extended village community too. The catalyst for the conflict is feisty Theresia (Swetha Menon), an umarried maid who works in the kitchen of a nearby convent. Jagathy Sreekumar also has an important role in the film, as the powerful secretary of the church committee.
“Contrary to controversy, the film is not a critique on Christianity. In fact, it’s a tale of the glorification of Christ. The theme is actually applicable to all religions everywhere,” Sarath hastens to point out.
“I am a follower of great minds such as Buddha, Christ and Gandhi and I like my films to reflect their ideas and visions. Sayahnam was my tribute to Gandhian ideals and The Desire reflects Buddhist principles. And now Parudeesa is my take on Christ’s philosophy,” adds the director.
Parudeesa is being produced by Thampy Antony under the banner of Kayal films. Author Vinu Abraham has written the script and Ouseppachan and Issac Thomas Kottukapally have composed the music.
