The road less travelled

Debutant Renjith Chittade’s 'Pathinonnamathe Sthalam' is a hard-hitting road movie that meanders into the lives of tribal people and the untamed beauty of Wayanad.

August 25, 2016 10:24 am | Updated 10:24 am IST - Thiruvananthapuram

A still from 'Pathinonnamathe Sthalam'

A still from 'Pathinonnamathe Sthalam'

Renjith Chittade’s debut film Pathinonnamathe Sthalam (Nailed to Suffer), produced by Keraleeyam Collective, is a film that portrays the state of the underclass whose lives are marginalised and made invisible by our power and greed.

Pathinonnamathe Sthalam is a road movie and it depicts the events and encounters that James, a taxi driver in Wayanad, comes across on an Easter day. Hesitant to take up a driving assignment on a holiday when he should be spending his day with his family, he is coaxed to do the same for professional as well as personal reasons. He is an ambitious young man like any other settler whose roots are shallow and is always on the lookout for opportunities to make a quick buck. And the most tempting offers today come from the burgeoning tourism industry that banks on natural beauty and profit.

James’ first customer is an NRI who is scouting for an ideal site to build a ‘meditative’ resort. This investor is accompanied by a young photographer whose job is to capture the natural beauty of Wayanad to convince prospective investors who live far away. His meandering journey uphill through the winding paths and hairpin bends is a typical one; for him any ‘place’ is a potential ‘site’.

A place has history and memories, while a site is just another real estate piece of land that can be bought or sold for profit. For James, this first journey uphill is a mental trip he is used to. In stark contrast, the next one he stumbles into is a journey of a different kind: a middle-aged auto rickshaw driver pleads with him to take a sick old man to the city hospital, to which James reluctantly agrees. For this, he has to digress from the macadam highway to the uneven muddy roads leading to the interiors of Wayanad where the tribals and poor vegetate. Although James fails in succeeding in his mission of saving the old Moopan’s (tribal leader’s) life, this trip is a transformative one, as he willingly agrees to take the body back to the Adivasi settlement. Though James misses the Easter prayers with his family, the journey he embarks on is a spiritual one resonating with the torments of crucifixion as well as hopes of resurrection.

This movie through the winding Ghat roads of Wayanad takes the viewer on a poignant journey though the ravaged landscapes in Kerala, whose natural wealth and beauty is being systematically plundered and its cultural identity and historical depth denied any expression.

The film begins and ends with the image of the old man, chanting and dancing in trance, whose rapturous steps and chants resonate with pangs of primeval memory and relentless suffering, and surging pleas for redemption.

Though, on certain occasions the shoe-string budget of the film shows through in technical aspects, the urgency and empathy of the filmmakers transcends such glitches. This is a film that appeals to our conscience, prompting and prodding us to take a look into ourselves.

(A column on cinema that veers away from the commercial format)

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