THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Yugapurushan’ is a skilful blend of research and artistic imagination. A well-defined narrative structure, adroit handling of the script and a stellar cast combine to offer a remarkable visual experience.
R Sukumaran moulds the movie in such a way that it can rightly be called a director’s film. The film chronicles events that span four decades of the life of Sree Narayana Guru. The swish of the whip and shrill wailings of the oppressed reverberate in our ears as the protagonist in his mid-30s meditates in a cave. Images of oppression flash across the screen and the plot slowly unfolds. As the protagonist embarks on his spiritual odyssey, fictional and real characters are introduced to sharp-focus on events that marks the Guru’s life.
The director, who also scripted the movie, has given shape to some characters to reflect the social milieu of the times. Characters such as Koran, Savithri Antharjanam and the drunkard Paramu add to the movie’s appeal. The film uses a rich visual language to discuss serious issues like inter-caste marriage, untouchability and oppression of the downtrodden.
Savithri, the brazen Brahmin girl, tells Koran, “Marry me. Let me be the beginning of a change”. A timid Koran shudders at the idea. But their union stirs up turbulence through which enters Ayyankali, the fiery reformist before whom the upper castes cringe. Then follow characters such as Chattambi Swamigal, Dr Palpu, T K Madhavan, Kumaranasan and the rebel, K C Kuttan. ‘Thalai Vasal’ Vijay portrays the Guru with conviction -- sagacious demeanour, saintly gait and much more. His presence in the film as the soft-spoken spiritual and social revolutionary is towering indeed. R Sukumaran never tries to show the Guru as superhuman but as a humane leader moved by the sufferings of the masses. K C Kuttan storms into the scene where a low-caste girl is denied admission to a school. However his rambling tirade against social evils detracts from the film’s otherwise solemn mood. But Kuttan becomes a true acolyte of the Guru as when an enervated Guru firmly grips his hands and strokes them with love. Paramu, the drunkard played by Jagathi Sreekumar, never looks facetious and adds a genuine tinge of humour to the movie.
The film that begins with the consecration of the Siva idol at Aruvippuram concludes at Kalavamkodu with the mirror consecration. ‘Yugapurushan’ comes across as a creative work of great intensity, with the director reading a note of disappointment into the Guru’s twilight years.
The Vaikom Satyagraha and the ‘Redeemer’ boat tragedy are memorable scenes in the film. Art director Krishnan Kuty helps the ‘tharavadu’ at Chempazhanthi, the Varkala Sarada Ashram and the temples look all very real on the screen.