Ozhivudivasathe Kali (An Off-Day Game) has a strong Andrei Tarkovsky influence running through it. Maybe director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan is a fan, maybe he is not. It doesn’t matter. But his use of nature, the mountains and endless streams of water serves similar purpose. First up, they form a great visual tapestry for a film that is essentially a buddy movie set in a no man’s land deep in the mountains where five friends get together to drink and make merry. The other more important purpose is that they are used to represent passage of time or even to give us some time to process what we learn about the characters and what they themselves are going through – which is all just over a few hours. Also, did I tell you Sasidharan loves long takes and the latter part of the film is essentially one single take?
The first time we see the lot they are gathered under a bridge over murky waters for a few pegs. It is a couple of days before election and the campaigns are coming to a close. Each one of them is part of the government service or an election worker. The banter is typically male, bordering on some friendly ridicule and gradually tuning into blatant sexism and misogyny. They then decide this won’t cut it and a member of the group offers a getaway place he knows (there is a dialog soon after, that goes,”trust the Brahmins to find places like these!”) and they decide to go there on election day. Voting is optional for them. It is a dry day owing to elections but the clouds are pouring down. Before all this, Sasidharan focuses on the footage of campaigning, communist symbols mingling with the lotus of the BJP and ending with a shot of that red murky stream with small fishes. Make of that what you will.
Sasidharan then shifts to the vast expanse of the Western Ghats with a seemingly clear water lake nearby. The small fish have moved to a bigger playing field. They have a caretaker and a maid/cook who becomes the cynosure of their alcohol addled eyes. They take turns at catcalling and harassing her as she cooks and cleans for them. But Sasidharan is also careful in not making the characters one note. Our first impressions of a character are not the last impressions. We see Vinayan (Pradeep Kumar) approaching Geetha (Abhija Sivakala) first but later a conversation on consent totally changes our perception about him. These conversations interspersed with the trees, the forest and the water are makes the film. A short conversation on elections, voting day and politics breaks out and we soon cut to the lake which was once clear, now has bottles and filth floating on top of it. It has also inundated a home. If the five friends are the powers that be, Narayanan (Reju Pillai) the caretaker and Geetha represent the common people. One takes a bold stand while the other becomes victim to their charms. But the powers that be are themselves divided. They have a Brahmin among them, couple of them belonging to the upper caste and then there is Dasan (Baiju Netto) who is ridiculed for his too dark skin. At first, this came out of nowhere but when you look back, things fall into place. Dasan is the one who is forced to climb on the tree to cut the jack fruit. Dasan is the one who is forced to kill the rooster they’ve brought for lunch.
The others won’t even touch it.
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For an eye that was only following these people (there is even a God’s eye view shot of the group on their way to the getaway cottage) and registering events, Dasan’s sort-of-monologue sticks out like a sore thumb. The childhood game they play too takes simplistic turns but it is definitely not predictable. But Sasidharan is not interested in becoming a putschist. He is here only to tell a story (this one is based on a short story by Unni R). Ozhivudivasathe Kali is a tremendous achievement in terms of form and aesthetics. It is also well served by actors without their off-screen baggage when it comes to what they do and say.
In Sasidharan, you see a filmmaker with surety of purpose, someone who can marry various local issues into an allegory and tell it in a language that is universal.
Cast: Nisthar Sait, Baiju Netto, Abhija Sivakala, Pradeep Kumar, Girish Nair, Arun Nair
Director: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Ozhivudivasathe Kali was reviewed at the request of the filmmakers. The review was not paid for by anyone associated with the movie, and Silverscreen.in or the writer do not have any commercial relationship with the movie.
(Featured image via IMDB.)