KANNUR: “I have worshipped and prayed with folded hands to theyyams right from my early childhood. When I got a chance to do a film, quite naturally, I conceived a film focusing on theyyam. I think, as a beginner, my attempt to direct a regional language film which reflects the language, culture and power structure of North Malabar, unique in its rich indigenous artistic heritage, has been successful.”
The words of M T Annoor, director of Kalchilambu, the Malayalam feature film selected for the Indian Panorama 2010, indeed, reflect his devotion to the world of cinema and theyyam alike. Talented film makers often spot seeds of better cinema in the myths associated with theyyams in Malabar.
And M T Annoor, born and brought up in the land of theyyams, has taken much pains to make use of one such myth. Annoor has two decades of experience as a stage actor and playwright, but Kalchilambu is his maiden work as a film director.
Kalchilambu tells the story of two different generations interwoven together by the thread of customs and tradition.
All forms of theyyam are believed to be incarnations of the brave heroes who died fighting social evils. Here also, the main characters, Kannan and Jayadevan, who represent different periods of time, are heroes in their own rights.
Karthika was the daughter of an upper caste ruler of a land in which the lower caste people were oppressed by untouchability. She had proved her talent in dance, music and Vedanta.
Kannan was the nephew of the Peruvannan, ‘Janmari’ (chief of rituals and theyyam performer), entitled and bound by duty to protect the tradition and rituals.
Kannan and Karthika, who had respect for each other on account of their creative artistic talents, united in love disregarding caste difference.
As a consequence, Kannan was executed by the ruler, and Karthika went missing. The rituals and theyyams of the Vannan community were banned in the land, resulting in tensions between upper caste and lower caste communities.
Twenty five years later, a young man resembling Kannan appears in the land.
He, Jayadevan, becomes instrumental in undoing the communal tension and reintroducing the banned theyyam performances in the area. He was believed to be the reincarnation of Kannan.
Vineeth takes the roles of Kannan and Jayadevan while Samvrutha Sunil plays Karthika.
Says M T Annnoor, “on reading the screenplay done by M Sukumarji, the name that came to my mind as the hero of the film was that of actor Vineeth, who is also a dancer and belongs to the land of theyyams.”
Vineeth had taken pains to learn the art of theyyam spending several days under a Peruvannan, a theyyam maestro.
Fortunately for Annoor, the entire cast including Madhupal, Sreeraman, Mala Aravindan and Subha and those offered him technical assistance were all well-acquainted with theyyams.
