Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum director reveals why ‘Nair’ was replaced with ‘Nahar’

In the newly-released Malayalam movie Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha, one of the important characters, played by Sudheesh, is introduced as Nahar. An unusual name to have in Kerala, it still does not seem strange in the beginning, given the film takes on an experimental tone and has many oddities in place. However, it is later clear that Nahar is a euphemism for Nair, a privileged Hindu caste in Kerala. The director of the film, Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval, has now revealed that the replacement had to be made after the Central Board of Film Certification did not allow the use of Nair.

“The film got a certificate of U, with corrections. During censoring, they wanted about 1 minute and 25 seconds of it replaced. We are making films at a time when we no longer have freedom to make them the way we want. The censor [board] had an issue with the use of Nair in the film, so we changed it to Nahar. But if you watch the film, it is very obvious what name [or caste] we are referring to. So why do it at all, it only makes it worse. This is a film that wants to question the caste system, how will I tell it without naming castes?” Poduval said in an interview to The New Indian Express. 

The film is a spin off from the critically acclaimed Nna Thaan Case Kodu, the previous venture of Poduval in which Kunchacko Boban played the lead. The love story of Suresh and Sumalatha, which was a small part in Nna Thaan, becomes the central plot in the new film. Rajesh Madhavan and Chitra Nair reprise their roles, with Sudheesh playing Sumalatha’s father. The film is centred around theatre and is rich in its visual quality.