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Empuraan and Ramayana



Maggie and I will be watching the Malayalam movie Empuraan tomorrow. The tickets are booked. The movie has created a lot of controversy in Kerala and the director has decided to impose no less than 17 censors on it himself. I want to watch it before the jingoistic scissors find its way to the movie.

It is surprising that the people of Kerala took such exception to this movie when the same people had no problem with the utterly malicious and mendacious movie The Kerala Story (2023). [My post on that movie, which I didn’t watch, is here.]

Empuraan is based partly on the Gujarat riots of 2002. The riots were real and the BJP’s role in it (Mr Modi’s, in fact) is well-known. So, Empuraan isn’t giving the audience any falsehood as The Kerala Story did. Moreover, The Kerala Story maligned the people of Kerala while Empuraan is about something that happened in the faraway Gujarat quite long ago. Why are the people of Kerala then upset with Empuraan? Because it tells the truth, Maggie says. Yes, truth hurts. The Kerala Story was dismissed by Malayalis as utter rubbish, while the truth of Empuraan hits the increasing right-wingers right in their sternum.

I will bring here my review of the movie tomorrow. 


And from the day after, this blog is going to deal with the great Indian epic, Ramayana, in 26 posts that will appear from 1st to 30th April as part of an A-to-Z challenge that I have taken up. Since I have to comply with the requirements of the English alphabet, my posts won’t be in the chronological order of events as they happened in Valmiki’s narrative. The first post will start thus: The Sarayu carried more tears than water. Ayodhya was a sad kingdom. My reading of the epic has the Sarayu as a sad observer as well as helpless participant of the whole panoply of actions perpetrated with the intention of upholding Dharma. Is Dharma more important than love and relationships? Well, wait for the letter D.

I’ve not done any scholarly study of the epic. My childhood was replete with stories from the Ramayana because Malayalam literature had an abundance of them and I, like all my contemporaries of the Baby Boomer generation, studied them at school. Later, when I was teaching at Sawan Public School, Delhi, I was gifted a copy each of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata written by C R Rajagopalachari. I read them happily. Now, as a retired man in his mid-sixties, I have had ample time to study the tragic story of the seventh incarnation of God Vishnu in sufficient detail.

My reflections on the epic are literary and not spiritual. One of my friends warned me of the rising Hindu fundamentalism in my own state of Kerala when he came to know my theme for the A-to-Z. “You have a peculiar knack for hurting people’s sentiments,” he cautioned.

I don’t intend to hurt anyone’s any sentiment. My intention is to understand the epic from my point of view. The only genuine way of understanding any book is that, I believe: from one’s own point of view. Rama emerges as a tragic hero in my understanding. Like the Shakesperean tragic heroes, Rama has an inbuilt flaw which even Valmiki acknowledges. Rama was not only a god but also a frail human being.

In my second post, Bharata asks the earth to split and devour him as it did for Sita. “Is this the same Maryada Purushottam whose sandals I placed on the throne, acknowledging my unworthiness to rule as long as he lives?” Bharata is stunned by Rama’s demand of Sita to prove her purity yet again, years after her ascetic life in the forest with sage Valmiki and her twin sons. The Sarayu carries Bharata’s tears too.

The Sarayu’s sorrows are what I bring here from April 1.


x

 

Comments

  1. Hari Om
    No doubt your review of the movie will be frank... did you see the first of the series (as I understand this is Lucifer 2)? I would not watch such movies, where the baddy is made the hero and justifies evil actions, simply because they are only slightly less bad than other baddies. It is quite a different thing from where sometimes reprehensible actions are required in order to preserve virtue. (For example, a surgeon is not accused for using his knife as its intention is good, as opposed to the street thug whose intention with the knife he wields is anything but.) It will be interesting to read if you find any redeeming features for the main character and story thread, irrespective of any 'insult'.

    As to assessing the Ramayana as a literary v spiritual excercise, I suspect you will find yourself splitting hairs. My breath is bated.... YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I watched Lucifer and wrote about it too:
      https://matheikal.blogspot.com/2019/04/lucifer-and-some-reflections.html

      About hairsplitting, no, I'm more likely to be poetic. I find many things very amusing and baffling.

      Delete
    2. A former student of mine counsels me not to waste time on this movie which he says is no better than a 3-hour instagram reel.

      Delete
  2. Apart from all buzz about and around, I have a hunch that your student is right, given its mega-budget and the disproportionate propaganda around. Also gross and grotesque distortion of historical events. Perhaps also disingenuous mixture of politics and religion. Awaiting your promised review. I was thoroughly bored with Bahubali.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bahubali didn't interest me either. This one may have brought in the ugly politics with commercial interest. But the fact that the Gujarat riots changed India's destiny for ever cant be ignored. Let me see how this movie deals with it all.

      Delete
  3. he Mahabharata enchants me more due to its human-centric portrayal of characters, contrasting with the Ramayana's divine focus. This makes me eagerly anticipate your A2Z series to read your perspective. Our epics' generosity towards critics and retelling keep them alive even today. Your recent Twitter post has already triggered my interest. I'm looking forward to the full picture! All the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right. The Mahabharata has more human interest. Too many gods and superhuman rakshasas make Ramayana an exotic tale belonging to another world altogether. I'm not approaching it as a critic, however, but as a learner. But i do have a terrible critic within me who I hope will be subdued this time since I'll be dealing with someone who is a god for millions of people and these millions now decide what others can think, write, do, wear, eat...

      Delete
  4. For me movie with lot of buzz I seem to disappoint in them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right too because at our age we'd prefer more contemplation than action perhaps.

      Delete
  5. Intrigued by the upcoming tale of Sarayu’s sorrow. Every time I read the Ramayana from a new perspective, I discover something new. Excited to read your take on it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you're going to be here with me in April.

      Delete

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