It is said that history is always written by the victor. What is left unsaid is that it can also be slanted to favour the rich and the famous. Northern Kerala's history is also the history of the famous Chekavars, masters of the art of Kalaripayattu, one of the oldest martial arts in the world.
Tales of brave warriors and beauteous maidens are told all over the world. In Kerala, these took the form of Vadakkan Pattukal, the ballads of Northern Malabar. One such tale is that of Aromal Chekavar, a warrior of the 16th century, a name to reckon with amongst the bravest of the brave. His life and death have been chronicled many times, each succeeding generation adding to the tale until it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Legend has it that Aromal Chekavar, a scion of the famous Puthooram tharavad, and his equally famous sister Unniyarcha, were masters of the art of Kalari. Chandu, brought up by their father, struggles to be on par with his more talented cousins. As they grew up, Chandu fell in love with Unniyarcha, who rejects him. Flicked on the raw by both her rejection and his envy of his cousin's superior skills, Chandu, betrays him.
As was usual amongst the Nair clans, rich men hired well-known warriors to fight for them. Aromal is hired to fight for a man who has a property dispute with his brother. In the resulting duel, Aromal's sword breaks off at the hilt. When he accuses Chandu of betraying him by weakening his sword, Chandu kills his wounded cousin with a kuthuvilakku ( a traditional oil lamp). Chandu is later tracked down and killed by Aromalunni, Unniyarcha's son. So goes the legend.
This is the background without knowing which you cannot truly appreciate this movie. The story has been told and re-told many times, but Malayalam litterateur MT Vasudevan Nair decided to write a script that looked at the legend through the eyes of the reviled.
Set in the 16th century, the story begins when two youthful warriors come to the gates of Chandu's residence and challenge him to a duel.
Tell him I taught you well
Duel, or else
When he learns their antecedents, Chandu (Mammootty) remembers his past - one that he has tried hard to forget.
I know that land
Kannappan Chekavar (Balan K Nair) brings the orphaned son of his estranged sister to his home Puthooram Veedu. He is accepted by the young Unniyarcha, but Aromal, the eldest son of the house who is already at the cusp of young adulthood treats him with contempt. The young Chandu prays fervently that one day his name will also be sung in the annals of the famed. (This is a nice scene in the movie, because, we as the audience, know that his wish will be granted, but with a twist.)
As the Chekavar begins to train his nephew along with his son, daughter and other pupils, he is entranced to see how quickly his nephew picks up their traditional martial art. Aromal is not pleased to see country cousin rise in his father's estimation. Little Unniyarcha, however, admires this kind-hearted cousin of hers and treats him with an affection that is balm to his love-starved soul.
I hate him already
The dissonance in the relationship between Chandu and Aromal (Suresh Gopi) only increases as the boys grow up to manhood. Aromal's fame begins to grow as he takes part in tournaments across the length and breadth of the land; Chandu is less flamboyant, preferring to defer to his illustrious cousin, both out of a respect for his abilities and because of his undying gratitude to his uncle. His uncle however, knows that his nephew is a far superior warrior to his son, and tells him so, much to Aromal's chagrin. His father's praise does not endear Chandu any to Aromal, and they stay as far away from each other as possible.
You are the better warrior, and I know it
He may have got the ring, but you have my blessings
Unniyarcha (Madhavi) and Chandu's childhood affection has deepened into love.
We are in love
I saw you watching me
(Yes, and I sang a song too...)
However, Aromal, whose dislike of Chandu has only increased over the years, pledges her troth to Kunjiraman (Sreeraman).
I do not approve! Take this money and get out of my sister's life!
To make matters worse, Kunjunooli (Chitra), another maiden who has made her interest in Chandu very clear, is married off to Aromal.
Aromal marries Kunjunooli
Dejected at the turn of events, Chandu leaves home and makes his way to Tulunad (present day Karnataka) where he undergoes training under Aringodar (Captain Raju), a Kalari warrior of repute.
Aringodar Chekavar
In the meantime, Unniyarcha, whose heart still beats for her lost lover, sends him a message asking him to meet her at night when her husband is away. A lovesick Chandu does not hesitate - he traverses miles on horseback and swims across raging torrents to meet his lover. Unfortunately, Kunjiraman comes back. Frightened for her reputation, Unniyarcha pretends she is being molested. Cornered, Chandu has no recourse but to leave. However, the night has earned him another shameful sobriquet - pennmohi (lecherous) Chandu.
The mad dash through the night
And the swim
We meet at last
He made me do it!
Devastated by what he sees as a double betrayal, Chandu rides back to his Guru and tries to lose himself in training. One day, a feudal lord comes to the Aringodar's doorstep, asking him to represent him in a property feud with his cousin. It is to be a duel with his brother's representative, a fight that can have only one outcome. As fate would have it, the cousin begs Aromal to fight for *him*.
Feudal Lord 1 with Aringodar
Feudal Lord 2 with Aromal
Kannappa Chekavar is perturbed. He knows well enough that while the Aringodar is a warrior equal to Aromal in ability, he does not have the experience. Besides, Aromal has a temper. And unlike Chandu, to whom the sword is an extension of himself, Aromal's sword is only a weapon. He offers to fight for the naaduvazhi (ruler), but when the ruler balks, asks him to find another mercenary. Aromal, who comes there, accepts the offer and makes the naaduvazhi pay through his nose for the honour. Frightened for his son, Kannappa Chekavar begs his nephew to be Aromal's second. Chandu is in a dilemma. On the one hand is his uncle to whom he owes so much; on the other, is his Guru.
Unniyarcha tilts the scales - she promises him that if he became her brother's second, and they came back victorious, she would leave her husband and become his, even if her brother objected. No one could fault her for keeping her word. It is as if he's seen a vision of heaven. Chandu agrees.
Bring my brother back alive and I swear I will be yours!
As his second, Chandu takes Aromal's swords to the blacksmith for strengthening, and sharpening. However, Kunji (Geeta), Aringodar's daughter, is both frightened for her father's life and jealous that an enemy victory will take Chandu away from her. She bribes the blacksmith to weaken Aromal's swords by inserting a wooden rivet into the hilt instead of the metal one.
Kunji - Aringodar's daughter and the deux ex machina
The duel begins. Aromal's mastery over the art of sword fighting is no match for Aringodar's experience. He begins to fall back, and to make matters worse, his sword breaks off at the hilt. As his second, Chandu begs time off Aringodar to replace the weapon. Cognisant of the unbreakable rules of honour and combat, and the respect that a Chekavar gives to the ankathattu (the platform where the duel is fought), Aringodar agrees. As he turns away, unguarded, weapons lowered, Aromal kills him by throwing the half-broken sword at him. A distraught Chandu returns to their camp, only to find his cousin accusing him of the vilest of betrayals. A fight ensues, a weakened Aromal loses his balance, trips over the traditional lamp, and is fatally wounded.
Stop! He needs a new weapon
Oops, looks like he didn't!
"The blacksmith betrayed us." "The blacksmith? Or you?"
Damn the lamps
He betrayed me!
The news of the Aringodar's death has already spread far and wide, and people hurry to Aromal's camp to congratulate him. There, they find the bloodied warrior breathing his last in Chandu's lap. His last words are "Chandu chathichu" (Chandu betrayed me).
Chandu escapes the fury of the mob and goes to find the blacksmith, who confesses that he had deliberately weakened the sword upon Kunji's orders. With death in his heart, Chandu storms the Aringodar household, where Kunji, hearing about her father's death, has already hung herself.
Chandu has nowhere to turn. He returns to his childhood home, where he is faced by a grieving Unniyarcha - her brother's death has turned her love into a deep, undying hatred. She vows that her son will avenge her brother's death.
I swear my unborn son will avenge his uncle's death. (She does swear a lot.)
And now, years later, Aromalunni (Unniyarcha's son) and Kanappanunni (Aromal Chekavar's son) have come to fulfil her vow. The night has passed; Chandu is still reluctant to battle two inexperienced boys. However, they are not willing to listen and Chandu is unwilling to pick up his sword against children. An adamant Aromalunni still stands his ground - he will not go back without the head of the enemy. It is a promise that he has made his mother.
Mom hates you!
So what is new?
Chandu is defeated too. Aromalunni could have been his son if the fates had not willed otherwise. He cannot bear that Unniyarcha's son will ever face defeat. Despite everything, his love for her has never ceased to be. He makes the final sacrifice to end a life with which the fates had played dice.
There's not a man alive who can kill me...
so I will have to kill myself
...because you are the son I never had
We see the tale play out through Chandu's eyes, and come back with a sense of unease - maybe there really is more to the story than we always knew? Maybe he wasn't the coward he is always portrayed to be? Maybe he is more to be pitied than censured? Like another legendary hero, Karna of the Mahabharata, maybe Chandu's is also a tale of a man cursed by the fates?
Mammootty's Chandu is definitely one of his best performances. It won him a well-deserved national award for best actor that year. He is a man tossed aside by life, fated by circumstances to always be second. He is weak in his love for the one woman he cannot have. And that weakness loses him the women who love him - Kunjinooli and Kunji. Finally, he is a man who is defeated by life itself. Madhavi plays Unniyarcha, sympathetic, lovelorn, arrogant and vengeful by turns. Watch her eyes flash as she excoriates him for her brother's death. She is a fantastic actress and the scene where she changes from a woman in her lover's embrace to a distraught wife, afraid for her chastity is hers - the shell-shocked Chandu and the angry Kunjiraman are but foils to her distress. Suresh Gopi's Aromal is a man who yearns for his father's approval, and therefore susceptible to the well-placed barbs of his cronies. He is arrogant, yet respectful of his father's frailty; a brave warrior, yet not beyond stooping to deceit to win duels, whether it is for a tournament or a duel unto death. He is famous, yet fated to die a dishonourable death (in this version). Well-directed, well-scripted (T Hariharan / MT Vasudevan Nair), and a lot of attention paid to detail (the Kalaripayattu scenes are a joy to watch, the lead actors, including Madhavi, trained in Kalaripayattu before they began shooting), this is a movie that really is a must-see. Ravi's (yes, the hindi music director) music only added to the whole movie experience. MT Vasudevan Nair also picked up a national award for his screenplay.
It is a film that cast its characters well, each actor fitting in the part he or she plays so well that one cannot think of any other person doing that role. This is true of the supporting actors (Sukumari, Balan K Nair, Sreeraman, Capt. Raju) as well.
I must thank one of my readers for giving me the impetus to write this review. bollyviewer, this one is for you. And to please you, there are more than enough sword fights.
