In Punnapra and Vayalar areas of Travancore, around
thousands of families were involved in the industry of Coir production from
Coconut fiber. The daily wages for them would probably not fill their daily
meals. The Communist organization, which
was crippling out there, raised a mood for these helpless people to stand up
and fight for their rights. Soon it became a great wave. That could be considered as the rise of Communist Party in
Kerala which has vast acceptance even now. The Punnapra-Vayalar massacre occurred in
1946.
Divan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, the king of Travancore who was
ruling with the help of British, used Police and the army to fight against
them. It was transformed into an armed
struggle when the military withdrew it with loaded guns. Workers sharpened dried coconut shells and created them into
weapons with spears to defend the army. Thousands
of workers were killed. At last, Travancore Government won the battle. For the civilians, it was a failed struggle. But it set up a strong foundation for the communist movement
in Kerala. Poor suppressed people and lower
castes worked together for the Communist Party.
Only nine years after Indian independence Travancore, Cochin
and Malabar regions were joined to form the state of Kerala. But even before, at the beginning of the 1950s, the Kerala
People's Arts Club (KPAC) was set up to promote and popularize the party all
over Kerala by conducting plays raising communist ideology. Plays like ‘Ningalenne Communistakki’ (You made me a Communist) were
staged. It also spread with their most popular songs. Communist Party grown enormously with the support of the
working class, people marginalized on the basis of caste and the exploited
masses by the capitalists.
The whole agricultural lands of Kerala were under the
custody of upper caste Nairs, Christians, Muslims and Namboothiris then. The
poor families of the lower castes and intermediate castes made huts on the edge
of these lands and farmed for the landlords. It continued almost like a slave
society. The descendants of these families were born as slaves of these
landlords and girls were sexually exploited as well. Education was totally
denied for them. The Communist Party promised these
people liberation from all these disasters if they come in rule.
In the first general election of Kerala in 1957, the
Communist Party came to power with a majority of votes winning in 60 seats.
It was one of the world's first governments
elected in a democratic way. People
who thought themselves as ardent, filthy rich, high caste got highly disturbed
of this result. It
also made the landlords and the richest furious. Coming into rule, communist
government drew up a resolution for giving a portion of the land to the farmers
in which they carried their cultivation. A new education law was also introduced to easily educate these
communities. The landlords, the rich and the educated businessmen panicked
about these two changes. They
were worried that all their lands would soon be written down to the farmers. Most
educational systems were controlled by the Catholic shrines. They feared that education would no
longer be under their authority. All joined together and took a big fight against the
Communist Party. This struggle was called 'Vimochana Samaram'(Liberation struggle).
Struggles took place in
public places. It went up to a level of firing on the Protesters with government’s
order. It led to serious controversies when a pregnant fisher woman was killed
in this gunfire. Newspapers, the only media to understand current things, were
in the hands of the aristocrats. They blazed this message and used it against
the government. The pregnant woman's death ignited the fire inside public and
aggravated the situation. People believed that Communists were behind the murder.
In Angamaly, police opened
fire against a violent mob who attempted to attack the police station which resulted
in the death of seven people. These two incidents marked Communists
as murderers among public. At the end,
using all the economic power and with the immense support of media the
Communist Government was dismissed and the state
placed under President's
rule.
However these events helped the Communist organization to become a strong
political party in Kerala.
As mentioned earlier,
the theater revolution started by Kerala People's Arts Club (KPAC) played a
major role in the development of the Communist Party. Their
plays and songs became very popular. Those who opposed the Communist Party also
sang those songs. In mid 1950s when cinema was widespread as a mass media, most
of the artists were from Communist theatre background. Thoppil Bhasi, veteran
playwright of KPAC, turned out to be a screen-writer. Left lyricist P.Bhaskaran
stepped into film direction.Though born to a high-caste pedigree popular poet
and song-writer Vayalar Rama Varma also became a communist by virtue of its
policies. To uphold the legacy of Punnapra-Vayalar Struggle which also happens
to be his place of birth, he intentionally renounced his name Rama Varma as
'Vayalar'.
‘Neelakkuyil’
(Blue Cuckoo) released in 1954 was the first ever Malayalam film which
reflected communist signs. The duo of P.Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyat, who later
directed ‘Chemmeen’, were the creators of this film. An upper caste Nair
falls in love with a girl from a lower caste and she becomes pregnant. He
refuses to marry her as he fears being ostracized by a conservative society. Giving
birth to the child, the girl commits suicide. The Nair is then married to a
native woman. But eventually they accept the child as their own. The
film ends with a strong refusal to caste distortion. It
was a great victory in that period when it was nearly impossible to think of
such revolutionary social opinions. ‘Neelakkuyil’
stays to be an important film in the beginning of Kerala's Communist thoughts.
Even without ruling
power, party was growing. Naxalite movements were rising up
in Kerala. Naxalites killed many and majority of them were
killed as well. Their origin can be traced to
the split of the Communist Party of India into CPI and CPM. These are
considered to be noteworthy political events of Kerala. In the same period, most Malayalees got addicted to cinema.
For this reason, they chose cinema as a media to propagate Communist movements.
'Thulabharam'(Holy
Offering) directed by A Vincent was the first film to have a ‘communist hero’. It is the film adaptation of a KPAC play written by Thoppil Bhasi. The film received huge success in Kerala. It tells the story
of a woman
unwillingly married to the communist hero whose actions adversely affect both
of their lives leading to a tragic end. He’s killed in the struggle for the
party. Not to live for family but for the society was the hero’s attitude. Till
date this film is remembered for its eminent success and many awards it received.
With the tremendous
success got for films like ‘Thulabharam’ commercial values were the only
attractions of film producers. The handful collections ‘communist films’
grabbed prompted them to produce more of such films. The ardent fact that even
if ten percent of party volunteers watch the film, it would maintain a decent
collection also encouraged them to create numerous communist films. A film
called ‘Punnapra-Vayalar’ was made centering the martyrs of Punnapra-Vayalar
uprising! A spicy masala mix with commercial elements like sex!! The KPAC play ‘Ningalenne
Communistakki’ written in 1952 when made as film of the same name in 1970
was produced by a person totally disbelieving communist ideologies.
P.Bhaskaran, creator of
‘Neelakkuyil’, produced another film called ‘Mooladhanam’ with a
complete story of communist ideas. ‘Anubhavangal Palichakal’
(Experiences and Slips) released in 1971 directed by K.Sethumadhavan
also stands to be a real communist film with its genuine plot and artistically
impressive making. The film spoke decisively about the
human struggle between family and society.Then came films like ‘Vimochana Samaram’
(Liberation Struggle) and ‘Neelakkannukal (Blue Eyes) but lacked
quality when comparing to ‘Anubhavangal Palichakal’.
‘Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol’ (When the River Kabani Turned Red)
directed by PA Backer dealt with the naxalite policies. Kabani River is the only river in Kerala's
Wayanad region. Naxalites killed some landlords there. This was a picture taken
amidst those events. On the
first day of shooting the film, Indira Gandhi enforced the Curfew Act (state of emergency) declared across the country) in India. The scenes in the context of the political
opinions were very secretly shot in this film during that critical situation.
T V Chandran, one of the left-wing directors of
Malayalam who later directed several films, was the leading actor in this film.
‘Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol’ was widely spoken without commercial
objectives.
In 1980s, number of
bad commercial films appeared under the label of Communist films. Those
were films good for nothing with just the protagonist as a Communist. It had
all the commercial ingredients like dance, songs and action sequences. Sphodanam,
Kodumudikal, Raktha Sakshi were some examples. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s 'Mukhamukham’ (Face to Face) was the only truthful communist
film of that season. Sadly it was least discussed unlike his other films though
it happens to be a quintessential communist film. It is absolutely funny to
note that the director of steamy films like ‘Ancharakkulla Vandi’ &
‘Sathrathil Oru Raathri’ had also made some ‘communist’ films. Another one
of that kind was ‘Sakhavu’ (Comrade), a typical steamy film which
had no connections to the title. Communist cinema of Malayalam travelled like
this. Many communist films like ‘Maattuvin Chattangale (Change rules) remake of 1981
Tamil movie ‘Sattam Oru Iruttarai’
(Law is a dark room), which starred Vijayakanth in lead role, all aimed the
commercial aspects alone.
Prominent director
Lenin Rajendran contested in Assembly elections twice representing Communist
Party. His film ‘Meenamasathile Sooryan’ (Summer Sun) focused on
communist theory. Mohanlal and Geetha starred movie ‘Panchagni’ (Five Fires) directed by Hariharan in MT
Vasudevan Nair’s script was set in a naxalite storyline. Inspite of a usual ‘communist
hero’ this film highlighted a naxalite militant girl Ajitha as its protagonist.
Mammootty and
Mohanlal's early days also saw a number of communist films. In I.V.Sasi’s
communist film ‘Adimakal Udamakal’ (Slaves & Owners) they appeared
together. It portrayed the strikes held against a factory without much
commercial compromises. And it was a successful film too. In 1990 with Mohanlal
in lead role ‘Lal Salam’ (Red Salute) got released. Two
young friends & devoted members of Communist party get into a clash when one
of them goes in a different way to make money. This film was also successful.
In 1995, Mammootty
played the character of a die-hard activist of communist party in ‘Ormakal
Undayirikkanam’ (Memories must exist). This film was directed by
T.V.Chandran in the backdrop of ‘Vimochana Samaram’ (Liberation Struggle) of
1959. It enlisted the victory of Liberation Struggle over the one who remained
for killing ideology. It can also be counted as a real communist cinema though
very much under-rated. Again with Mohanlal in lead role ‘Rakthasakshikal
Sindabad’ (Salute to Martyrs) directed by Venu Nagavally came after ‘Lal
Salaam’. It showed the extreme commercialism in communist films.
EMS Namboodiripad was
the Chief Minister of Kerala's first Communist government. A weaver was an
adherent of EMS. For him EMS was a
great leader, whose death was unthinkable. Learning the death of EMS
from TV news puts him in mental misery. He recollects the nostalgia of those august days where
they worked together. This was Priyanandan’s film ‘Neythukaran’ (Weaver)
released in 2001. Murali acted
the title role and won National Award for Best Actor. A documentary film about the foremost
communist leader A K Gopalan as ‘A.K.G’ was made by Shaji N Karun in
2007. Indeed, a vain attempt!
Madhupal’s first film ‘Thalappavu’
(Turban) in 2008 had Pritviraj playing a naxalite protagonist. Decades ago in Wayanad, a naxalite named
Varghese was killed in betrayal by a police officer and was unnoticed. Only
knew that Varghese was missing. Years later, the
policeman’s public confession revealing him to be the culprit behind Varghese's murder at the same spot created exalted turbulence all over Kerala. ‘Thalappavu’
told this story. In 2013, ‘Left Right Left’ was
directed by Arun Kumar Aravind and written by Murali Gopi, the son of late legend
actor Bharat Gopi. This film artistically depicted the colossal decline of
Communist Party in Kerala. It should also be said that the
radical communists completely boycotted this film.
‘Vasanthathinte Kanal
Vazhikal’ released in 2014 with Samuthirakani as lead. Film released
as a biopic emphasizing the life of esteemed communist leader P.Krishna Pillai
who worked day and night for the people. He lived a humble life. But it can
also join the line of amateurish communist
cinema. Life of iconic personalities like P.Krishna Pillai could not be filmed anything
worse than this. Communism related films were few in numbers for the past
decade. But
so far this year has three films: - ‘Oru Mexican Aparatha’ (A Mexican
Standoff), ‘Saghavu’ (Comrade), ‘Comrade in America (CIA)’. I
have nothing to comment on these films.
This is the
cross-cutting of films that have appeared on Communism in Malayalam cinema
hitherto. Apart from a few pictures, the films that have actually taken over the
communist thought are less. Most of the films were made for taking advantage of
the commercial possibilities of Communism.
Whatever the policy,
its practical performance and success is important for me. I
was a deep communist supporter from the age of seventeen. But that hope is not
there for me today because I’ve observed the Communist Governments that have
been active in Kerala, Bengal and Tripura. I have noticed how Indian communists
used their power.
I think the people who
attained power, promising “The left is coming, everything will be alright”,
have resolved nothing. Perhaps people in Kerala experiments the left and right in
an interval of five years. The left plans are made without right or postpones
the plans of the right. Both functions like either sides of a coin.
Communism is a massive
thought created in the incredible human dreams of having equal rights for the oppressed
and depressed. Emigrants are not slaves. He should also get his own land. His children
must get regular education. Communism was designed to ensure these things. But
even after sixty years everything lasts as mere day dreams, like a movie's
scenes.
6-Aug-17
