Dowry and related crimes snatching women of their lives have been the talk of the town lately. Despite having stringent rules to prohibit the dowry system, the social evil continues to prevail, resulting in innocent women becoming prey to it and losing lives.
Cinema is considered to be a reflection of society and Malayalam cinema, especially in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s has delivered content that reflects the good, bad, and the ugly of society.
June 28 marks the remembrance of legendary filmmaker AK Lohithadas. The visionary filmmaker-scenarist has given birth to several gems. It has been 12 years since
AK Lohithadas
has bid adieu and his wife
Sindhu Lohithadas
remembers him through his works.
“Isn’t ‘
Malayogam
’ a film we all should revisit?” asks Sindhu Lohithadas, while speaking with ETimes exclusively.
‘Malayogam’ helmed by
Sibi Malayil and scripted by AK Lohithadas was released in 1990. Even 31 years after its release, ‘Malayogam’ holds relevance. Nor the cinephiles or the society has become ‘progressive’ in a way it should have been. We still have women like Rema living among us, the ones who lost their lives. And helpless fathers like Rama Kurup, who don’t know whether to blame themselves or society.
The film opens with the scene of a lavish wedding. And then the camera travels through the lives of many women, married apparently and a fitting song “Poothumbi Ponkazhuthil thaali kettanath aaran” plays in the background. ‘Malayogam’ speaks about two men, Rameshan (
Jayaram) and Jose (Mukesh), who are friends, educated, unemployed, living in the same village, believe in different religions, and belong to the working class. Rameshan and Jose are unemployed, have a family to look after, and most importantly sisters to marry off.
The film is indeed a mirror to society and also sarcastic in many ways. Kaliyugam Paramu Nair (Oduvil Unnikrishnan), who is too lazy to run his hotel. Varkey (Thilakan), who is a farmer himself, but doesn’t want his son to become one, as son Jose is educated and should become a Development officer. Damu (
Murali), a toddy tapper, who believes in hard work and denies constraining himself in the caste system. And when he says, “Every job has dignity,” he means exactly that.
We can also see the so-called societal pressures in the film. Varkey and Paramu Nair, both have daughters who belong to the “marriageable age” and cannot find a groom, because of their (grooms') huge demands.
In the initial stages of the film, we can see Jose and Rameshan struggling to find a job, so that they could find grooms for their sisters. And let’s also not forget Subhadra (
Kalpana), who is Rameshan’s elder sister and is married to a police officer, but pays regular visits to her home, so that she and her husband could collect the rest of their dowry. Subhadra’s husband Gangadharan (Jagadhish) is a cop and is aware that the practice of dowry is a criminal offense, nevertheless is adamant about the rest of his dowry -Rs. 25,000 which apparently is what he ‘deserves’.
And the scene where Jose and Rameshan are having a chat about their uncertain future, one can also see how the dowry system is not only deep-rooted in society, but most of them are both its victims and perpetrators. Jose is a
LIC
agent, who aspires of getting a white-collar job so that he could get a bride who would bring a dowry of 50 pavan gold and 1 lakh in cash. “And from that, I would give Rs. 30,000 and 15 pavan gold to each of my sisters and marry them off. And with the rest 20 pavan and Rs. 40,000, I will start a business, buy two tractors for my father, and with the rest I will buy a white Maruthi Delux,” Jose adds.
Mary (Philomina) and Kunjukuttan (Mamukkoya), the two wedding brokers in the village also play a pivotal role in the film. And it is also ironic that Jose and Rameshan decided to open a marriage bureau- Swayamvaram, so that they could catch some fish from the social evil they themselves are victims of!
From women like Rosly (Jose’s sister) not being able to find a groom, because of not being able to give a huge amount of money as dowry to Rema (Parvathy), the daughter of a wealthy man, who wants to marry off his daughter to a doctor and later ending up sacrificing her life, because of not being able to keep up with the doctor’s demand, and not knowing whom to blame for it, the film is a real representation of today’s world.
“‘Malayogam’ holds huge relevance in contemporary society. We can see all of these characters in our society today,” says Sindhu Lohithadas.
She also expresses concern over the recent incidents and shares that marriages shouldn’t be built on financial status. “Instead of discussing how much money either party has, we should try to understand what kind of people they are. It is unfortunate that money becomes the only basis of a marriage,” she adds, signing off.
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