Kammatipaadam Might Be The Unsung Brutal History Of Every Big City That Ever Existed

Rome wasn t built in a day. While this popular adage is often used to emphasise that important and great things cannot be achieved in a short period, a closer look reveals a subtext that is not apparent at first glance. It s not exactly like slow and steady wi... “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” While this popular adage is often used to emphasise that important and great things cannot be achieved in a short period, a closer look reveals a subtext that is not apparent at first glance. It’s not exactly like “slow and steady wins the race.” While it can be read as an imperialist motto, the adage also conveys that great empires are the result of strenuous effort. If we look at it superficially, we might see only the efforts of the monarchs, the ruling class, and their troops in building an empire. However, in the construction of every Rome, countless lives are displaced, marginalised and invisibilised. And needless to say, they would most likely be indigenous peoples, as we have seen throughout history. Unfortunately, the opulence of the new Romes and the clamour that accompanies them often drown out the cries and prayers of the displaced, relegating them to the far ends. Thus, even though the story of every Rome is also the story of the exiled, the history written for the powerful rarely acknowledges their struggles, let alone recounts their tales. Don’t Miss | Drishyam 3 movie review: A close shave for Mohanlal, Jeethu Joseph as Georgekutty battles himself Whenever a popular city becomes a character in itself in a movie or show, makers often tend to romanticise it. They mostly view these places through the glass windows of their 23rd-floor apartments and pen odes to them without exploring their various facets, let alone their pasts. The same is true for Kochi as well. Although several filmmakers have tried to explore and depict its beauty and multiculturalism over the years, no one has dared to offer an honest portrayal of its past like legendary cinematographer-turned-director Rajeev Ravi did in Kammatipaadam (2016). “This Ernakulam city of yours… It doesn’t have much of a foundation. It stands on the swamps of Kammatipaadam. It wasn’t built with cement and stones. It was built with blackened, clotted blood. The blood of people like Ganga (Vinayakan),” Krishnan (Dulquer Salmaan) tells Surendran Aashaan (Anil Nedumangad) in the end, underscoring that every great empire, including Kochi/Ernakulam city, is built on the blood, sweat, and tears of the real “owners” of the lands whom the powerful (mis)used, exploited, weaponised, and milked, before discarding them once their needs were met. Must Read | Beyond Drishyam: Mohanlal delivered a whole year of Lalism with 5 performances, a Best Actor award Kammatipaadam stands as definitive proof that one can make a great film without compromising its politics, provided one’s heart is in the right place. Even with its flaws, the action drama stands as one of the finest Malayalam movies of the 21st century. In