It was a news piece that first piqued his interest. Major Ravi, being an on-key army man, just couldn’t help digging further and what he found was definitely beyond shocking. “It was an article about cellphone numbers on sale. There was a whole racket who collected the contact details of young girls from mobile service centres that were later sold to the bidders. But it was just the tip of the iceberg. The numbers were originally used to lure and trap girls,” says the director whose latest film ‘Karmayodha’ delves deep into the issue.
Unlike his earlier outings, ‘Karmayodha’ has nothing to do with clandestine army operations or military camps. The film, which deals with human trafficking, also examines the breakdown of relationships in nuclear families. “Now we don’t have joint families and most of the grandparents end up in old age homes. Children, when in their teens, are most vulnerable and the lack of proper guidance makes the scene all the more darker. Elders act as a corrective force and their absence will break the equilibrium,” says the director.
As it unspools the scary nexus of human trafficking the film shows what each kidnapped kid has to go through. “It shows how bad they are treated and the emotional turmoil of their parents till the children are traced.” In many cases children are drugged before they are transported, tortured and abused.
“The rackets target girls who are 12 or 13, an age when they can be easily enticed. There are many foreign films and books that deal with the subject. The children who fall victims to this trade are not from any specific strata of the society. They can be anyone from anywhere,” adds the director.
Mohanlal plays Madhava Menon, an encounter specialist who wouldn’t budge to any external pressure. “He is an officer whose mode of operation is different and once he sets out on a mission he is simply unstoppable,” says Major Ravi. The film also stars Mukesh, Sai Kumar, Asha Sarath, Rajeev Pillai, Bineesh Kodiyeri, Aishwarya Devan and Murali Sharma in Major roles.
Major Ravi says he would call ‘Karmayodha’ a socially committed film for the theme it explores and the message it conveys. “The film is highly relevant in more ways than one. It investigates a grave reality and traces the situations that lead to it,” he says. The film produced by Haneef Mohammed will hit the screens this Friday.