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| K.G. George |
Choosing a first post has been difficult! Lots of topics,
movies, technicians, artists come to mind, but since I have put the
“unconventional” tag in my blog, I decided to dedicate my first post to one of
the best directors in Malayalam who is unrecognised by the majority of
movie-going public today – K.G. George and his excellent “Panchavadi Palam”
Panchavadi Palam was released in 1984 and came after the
highly rated K.G. George movies Yavanika (1982, this movies actually pushed
Mammotty as a hero), Lekhayude Maranam oru Flashback (1983) and Adaminte
Variyellu (1983). Panchavadi Palam is a political satire that caricatures
politics in Kerala. If people are asked which is the best political satire in
Malayalam, the easy answer is “Sandesham”, a cult-classic in itself, but people
often forget this gem made in 1984. Ironically K.G. George gave one of
Sreenivasan’s first roles in Panchavadi Palam who later wrote Sandesham.
Panchavadi Palam has a great ensemble cast including Bharath Gopi, Nedumudi
Venu, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Sreevidya, Sukumari, Venu Nagavally,
Alumoodan, Innocent, Ummar, V.D.Rajappan etc. The script and dialogues are by
K.G. George and noted cartoonist Yesudasan based on a short story by Veloor
Krishnankutty. Cinematography is by the National Award winning director Shaji N
Karun.
The movie focuses on a village panchayath headed by
Dussasana Kurup (Bharath Gopi) and his main opposition headed by Isahak
Tharakan (Thilakan). The names actually are caricatures of the various
characters. Some of them are Shikandi Pillai (Nedumudi Venu), Mandodhari Amma
(Sreevidya), Yudaskunju (Alumoodan), Barbaras (Innocent), Poothana (Shuba) etc.
The movies main theme is the bridge in the village called “panchavadi palam”
and how both the political parties tries to get maximum “benefits” by building
a new bridge and road while destroying a perfectly serviceable bridge. The
movie hits hard at the dirty political, religious and moral games played by
various parties for their own individual benefits. The movie is an absolute
classic with top notch acting and direction with an amazing script. This movie
certainly deserves to be up among the best in Malayalam, even though it rarely
comes up in any list of best comedies in Malayalam. K.G. George’s genius is
unquestionable before this movie, however, his ability and his insistence on
doing a different genre for all his movies make him the most complete director
that malayalam has even seen. In an interview, he was asked if he would be
making another satire, when the Director responded that he has already done
that genre and he would not be doing it again and this is one quality which
makes K.G.George stand apart from the crowd. If you have not seen this movie,
it is a must see movie and this is a movie that has aged well and most of the
situations in the movie can be easily referenced by todays society also.
