Writer-director Kabeer Khurana’s short film The Pawn of Marottichal tells the awe-inspiring tale of how the game of chess transforms an entire village in Thrissur, Kerala.
Based on real-life incidents, the film follows an unemployed Unnikrishnan (Maahir Mohiuddin), who invites villagers into playing the game hoping that they give up alcoholism. A tale of virtues triumphing over vices, The Pawn of Marottichal has a bunch of newbie actors in the cast, except for legendary Hindi actor and Shyam Benegal’s collaborator Mohan Agashe.
Speaking about what drew him into the project, writer-director Kabeer explains, “It is the human story that appealed to me. I am passionate about making socially relevant cinema, films that are rooted in ground reality and can be a mirror to society. I found this story inspirational because there is an underdog angle to it. The story is completely fictionalised, although the basic concept is about chess transforming a real village in Kerala.”
The film is mostly in Hindi with few Malayalam dialogues. It is a strange choice, considering the film’s setting, but the cast manages to deliver their Hindi lines without an accent and any additional training. Kabeer credits this to his casting director Jomit Johny, who picked prolific actors with proficiency in Hindi for the project. “We have screened the film to many veterans in the industry, such as Saeed Mirza, R Balki, Javed Jaffrey, Gauri Shinde, Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra, and Ashutosh Gowariker, and they all liked it.”
While Kabeer insists that the film is fictional, he has also been to the real-life village that carries the unofficial tag of “Chess Village of India”. Speaking about his takeaways from the village, Kabeer says, “I have realised that chess transforms lives in ways you cannot even imagine. For instance, a man who had brain damage and paralysis is now able to think and function well because of his mind being kept sharp by playing chess.”
Kabeer has also put a quirky spin on the name of the village, connecting it beautifully to the human aspect of cleverness about the core story of transformation. One scene sees Aalim (Mohan Agashe) use his rook in a move similar to the ‘pawn sacrifice’ to win a round of chess he plays with Unnikrishnan. Soon after he wins the game, Aalim tells Unni, “Har galat chaal ke peeche ek jeetne wali chaal rahti hain. Issey kehte hain ‘Marotti Chal’ (There is a game-changing move behind every wrong move. That is called ‘Marotti Cleverness’).”
As for Kabeer, it is a light-hearted moment in the film that leads Unnikrishnan down a path of reformation. Kabeer finds it amazing that children who are addicted to their phones in the village play mobile chess, which he says is quite “an enriching sport” in itself. Elaborating on this, he says, “Usually, in big cities, you see teenagers who always play games or use social media on their phones all the time. It is known as ‘doomscrolling’ in today’s day and age. That is not there in the village.”
While the actual Unnikrishnan is a lot different from the one in The Pawn of Marottichal, they both have one thing in common: They love chess. Kabeer only used the reformation part of Unnikrishnan’s life for the film, but he has done his research into the man’s life as part of making the project.
“Unnikrishnan’s story is quite inspiring, and it really moved me. He has gone through a great journey from the age of 14 onwards. He was a Naxalite with a lot of fire in his belly who tried to rob banks to fund his movement, but his elder brother found out about it. And he sent Unni to Bangalore, which is where he started playing chess. He brought his learnings from chess back to his village when he was in his early thirties. Just the fact that he had that spirit of wanting to change the system is something I could also relate to as a person.” While talking further about how Unnikrishnan’s story inspired him at a personal level, Kabeer shares, “I am also a socially conscious person who always tries to change social narratives with my limited capabilities.”
Kabeer also has plans to turn his short film into a full-length feature film. “I made it as a short to test the audience’s reaction to it. Considering the positive response, I am planning to make a feature film based on it. While the short film is like a fairytale, I want the feature film to be rooted, raw, more realistic, and grittier.”
