'Chemmeen is our pride'

Chemmeen

, directed by Ramu Kariat starring Sathyan, Sheela and Madhu continues to be an all-time classic of Indian Cinema, the pride of Malayalis. The film brought several accolades for Malayalam cinema and is considered one of the top 100 films in India. However, the Government’s move to celebrate its golden jubilee hasn’t gone down well with the Dheevara Sabha, who alleges that the film insults the entire fishing community of Kerala and also shows their women in a bad light. The Sabha has warned the State Cultural Department against organising the anniversary of the film at any coastal area in Kerala.

However, those associated with Chemmeen and also prominent voices from the film industry find the allegations baseless. We listen in.

Consider art as art
I still remember how the fishermen community protested the day we planned the shoot of Chemmeen in the coastal areas of Alappuzha. Later we shifted the shoot to Thrissur. What saddens me is the fact that even after 50 years, the community still has the same regressive thoughts! Years of education and upliftment have gone waste. We should learn to consider art as art.
— Madhu, who played Pareekkutty

I hope chemmeen is given due respect
The fishermen community should be proud of the movie. It is a film that brought out the troubles and misery the community goes through, the way they were exploited and also sidelined. Chemmeen opened the doors of opportunities for them. It is a saga of love, loss and life, which is talked about even after 50 years. I hope that the film is given due respect.
— Sheela, who played Karuthamma

All Malayali women used to wear mundu and blouse those days
A movie is a movie. I never felt Chemmeen has portrayed women indecently anywhere. Love has no language, colour or creed and Pareekkutty and Karuthamma’s love transcended all societal restrictions. Regarding the attire of the female characters, all Malayali women used to wear mundu and blouse those days. I don’t know why we have to do a post- mortem on a film, which is listed as one of the best movies in India.

There were hardly any romantic scenes between Pareekkutty and Karuthamma in the film. And neither the filmmaker nor the cameraman have shown women in a bad light through the dressing style.
— Latha Raju, who played Panchami

What about the tales narrated in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana?
It is unfortunate that a classic film even after 50 years of its making is being politicised. Chemmeen is an exemplary work of art which should be always appreciated for its content, style of making and technical excellence. It has to be noted that its grandeur has been such that it has been dubbed into more than 30 languages. If the Dheevara Sabha thinks that the film is an insult then what about the tales narrated in our epics Mahabharata and Ramayana? Satyavathi, who is the queen of Kuru Kingdom, was from a fishing community. Vyasa who wrote Mahabharata is her son from Parashara Maharishi before she was married to Shanthanu. Instead of personalising an art form, we should look at it from a broader perspective. I think nothing should hold us back from celebrating 50 years of Chemmeen.
— Madhupal, Director

Our men are responsible and our women are not prostitutes
When Thakazhi wrote the novel Chemmeen in 1956, we did not raise any objections as it was a literary piece, which will only be read by a few so-called elite intellectuals.

But we protested in 1965 when Ramu Kariat and team came to Alappuzha to make a movie on it. The movie is an insult to the entire fishing community in Kerala. The social repercussions of the film on the community were beyond imagination. Though we might have been financially and educationally backward then, we have never allowed our self-respect to be compromised. The film brings out many baseless myths and superstitions, which aren’t ever followed by our community. It says the fishermen whose wives are not chaste will meet a fatal end in the sea. It isn’t true.

Our community is not made up of prostitutes and drunkards. Our men are responsible and they take care of their families.
Have you seen the attire of the fisherwomen in the movie? Their way of dressing is revealing and very vulgar. Women of our community dress well and deserve to be treated with respect. The love scenes in the movie are shown to be happening under a fishing boat. For us, our boats are divine, and we will never indulge in such acts.

Chemmeen managed to create a certain perspective about our community and it is being followed by every other filmmaker. In films such as Aniyathipravu, Amaram, Vardhakyapuranam and so on, they had given us a similar look, which is not at all true. Even now, our children are being abused, mocked and called names with references to the film Chemmeen. Even the dialect used in the movie is wrong and we never use the word kadaaapuram. We speak pure Malayalam and it is kadapuram.
— V Dinakaran,
State general secretary, Dheevara Sabha