Amidst right-wing attacks on Mammootty’s two-year-old anti-caste Malayalam film Puzhu, Ambedkarite research scholar Dinu Veyil expressed solidarity with the megastar, the film’s director Ratheena PT, and writers Harshad, Suhas, and Sharfu.
In his Instagram post, Dinu, who is also the founder of human rights NGO Disha Kerala, wrote that the film is facing hate because it irks the dominant caste by exposing their Savarna privilege. “Caste gives social and other capital to the Savarna Hindu apart from marginalising Dalits and Adivasis. Fighting caste is not just about the rights of the marginalised, but also about ending the Brahminical privileges enjoyed by the Savarnas. The first step towards this is to expose such privilege,” read his post.
Elaborating that while most Malayalam films focus on the problems of the dominant caste households, Dinu added that Puzhu is a much-needed, realistic iteration of Savarna cruelty. “Everyone who believes in democracy must take it upon themselves to end caste privilege. Mammootty, Ratheena, and writers Harshad, Suhas, and Sharfu have demonstrated themselves as responsible artists through their film Puzhu. They deserve appreciation for their effort,” he wrote.
Puzhu was released in 2022 and Mammootty played the Brahmin antagonist Kuttan who murders his sister (played by Parvathy Thiruvothu) in cold blood after learning that she is pregnant with the child of her Dalit husband (Appunni Sasi). The film sparked conversations about caste bigotry in Kerala when it was released and while many dominant caste individuals called it an exaggeration, Dalit activists had duly pointed out that incidents of violent casteism are underexposed in Kerala as part of an effort to maintain a progressive image about the state.
The film recently became the centre of fresh controversy after director Ratheena’s [estranged] partner Sharshad took to a YouTube channel named Marunadan Malayali, alleging that Puzhu was made with the “deliberate intention of insulting the upper caste”. He also accused Mammootty of furthering communal propaganda and called for a boycott of the megastar’s films.
Read: Puzhu row and the absurd rightwing effort to focus on Mammootty's Muslim identity