Jallikattu– much more than a bull

 Jallikattu represents India at the Oscars and is a proud symbol of Malayalam moviedom and what it stands for ..authentic storytelling, realism and characters that have a soul beyond stardom and glamour.

While the plot simplistically put is about a group of villagers pursuing a wild bull run amok, the story and the undertones are much more than meets the ‘bullseye’..the portrayal and the symbolic irony of the beast in each human is raw and hits you hard as the story unfolds..it is a reality check for all that is happening around us..

Jallikattu is definitely a stunning audio visual narrative and the voices of the villagers, the forest and the violence that erupts is gripping to say the least. It also captures the misty beauty of the bridges, the trees and the village with elan and speaks a silent story of the forest, its creatures and the greed of the human. And then it traverses beyond the borders of beauty to the skin of humans and the little sparks that are enough to bring down humanity to its knees – a surreal comparison to the reality that splashes across our newspapers…All it needs is a bull to unite, divide and kill – a mischievous parable of the little things that spark outrage in our country.

The recognition also comes well justified for the efforts of the ensemble cast that put its soul into each character and they exude rawness and realism that blends beautifully into the story. A simple reminder that you do not need big names, flashy ‘item songs’ and exotic locations to make a good movie – a truthful story well said is perhaps enough?

The movie stays with you for a while and rakes up a thousand thoughts – of the helplessness of the bulls, the muscle of the powerful, the thoughtlessness of mobs, the focus on the tree rather than the forest, the methodical murder of forests and unsatiating greed of humans..

So no matter what happens at the Oscars, (is it our colonial past that we need the Oscars to finally ‘stamp’ a good movie?) Jallikattu has opened up the conversation of ‘Indian movie’ that goes beyond Bollywood, song-and-dance routines, pastel ‘ghagras’ and almost breaks open the path for more regional movies to have their time under the sun!