Unnikrishnan Avala has been nothing lower than a spokesperson for the tribal inhabitants, be it by his documentary The Last Page, his guide Vipareetham or his function film directorial debut, Udalaazham. The writer-filmmaker’s newest work, Thanthapperu — Life of a Phallus, breaks new floor – it options the Cholanaikan community, Asia’s solely cave-dwellers, with over a dozen members performing in the film. The film is in their language, a novel mix of Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu.
This indigenous group lives in Karimpuzha sanctuary in totally different caves, some 45 kilometres from Nilambur in Malappuram district. “Less than 200 members are in the tribe now. They were one of the three tribes featured in my documentary, The Last Page, 15 years ago, the other two being Aalar and Aranadan tribes. There are some unique aspects about them, including their facial features that stayed with me even after I finished the documentary.”
He remembers that the crew had a tricky time bringing them earlier than the digicam for the documentary. “In fact, one of the tribespeople beat up our cameraman because he did not like what we were doing. We could not shoot many things back then. While my first film was in the language of the Paniya tribe that has a bigger population, this one excited me more.”
The undeniable fact that some of them couldn’t bear in mind sure phrases and usages in their language piqued Unnikrishna’s curiosity. “I am sure the language will soon become extinct. This was a major reason for taking up this difficult project,” says Unnikrishnan.
He determined to make a function film and never a documentary since he had struggled to display the latter. “I realised that a feature film will be a better space to talk about the tribe.”
A nonetheless from the film
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Among those that helped him bond with the tribe had been members of the community such as Vinod Chellan, the co-scriptwriter of the film, Bellakkariyan Maneesh, the film’s protagonist, and Vinayan Karimbuzha, one of the actors.
A major side of the film is that it must be understood towards the context of the fiftieth yr of the Emergency (1975-77) this yr, and one of the controversial chapters of the interval – the sterilisation programme. A globally sanctioned coverage for inhabitants management grew to become a compelled initiative throughout this part.
“The government had ordered that it should not be carried out among tribals. But since the health department was given a specific monthly target, they did forcible vasectomy on the economically and socially disadvantaged, which included men from tribal communities, to meet that target. The procedure was done under the pretext of curing their illness and they were appeased with incentives such as cash and token gifts.”
Unnikrishnan provides that no research has been carried out on the influence of the drive on the tribal inhabitants. But a pair of tribals had spoken to him on digicam in his documentary about it.
Unnikrishnan Avala, filmmaker and author
| Photo Credit:
MOHAMED PHOTOGRAPHY
Thanthapperu, he says, reveals how this darkish chapter in historical past continues to influence a tribal community. “Even though vasectomy was not carried out among the Cholanaikans, I have placed my story in that community because, like many other tribes, they have fewer females compared to males. Since they cannot marry people from another tribe, there are many unmarried men. This real-life fact is given a fictional touch in Thanthapperu.”
Udalaazham
Unnikrishnan Avala’s first film Udalaazham tells the story of Gulikan, a transperson who’s introduced up as a boy by his tribal community whereas his sexual orientation is that of a woman. The film was screened at film festivals in London, Melbourne, Madrid, Bengaluru, Mumbai and the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)
The protagonist is Nari Monchan, son of the tribal head, who’s married to Bella (Chincina Bhamini). Since most of his mates are single, he turns into insecure in his marriage. Especially as a result of there exists a customized in the community that if a person can hold a girl with him deep inside the forest with out getting caught, he can marry her. As a end result he turns into overprotective, possessive, and suspicious of his spouse. Certain beliefs about bodily intimacy additionally come in the means of their relationship. Eventually, they develop aside and he or she will get near his pal.
Around the identical time, Nari Monchan, who takes delight in being “his father’s son”, is shocked to study some truths about his paternity, which is linked to the Emergency and the sterilisation drive. The info he study shatter him.
The film additionally reveals how the community has been exploited and misled by the cityfolk. “There is a jeep driver who is their only connect with the world outside of the forest. They sell the forest produce through him who gives them alcohol and tobacco in return.”
Filming was achieved in three phases. “First, we documented where and how the tribal people lived in caves. In the second stage, we took wide-angle shots in and around their settlement. After that we took them to a location where the forest cover starts to take close-up shots.”
Unnikrishnan Avala with Bellakkariyan Maneesh (left) throughout the shoot of Thanthapperu
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
However, it took six years to finish the film. “The reasons are many. They do not come out during the rainy season. During March and April, the men are usually busy collecting honey and other forest produce. The shoot also got delayed because it was difficult to bring them together at one location since they lived in different places. Also, once the shoot started the men were eager to return to their partners. They were insecure about their marriages just like the protagonist. Other than that, they did not come for the shoot if they were not feeling good emotionally.”
A nonetheless from Thanthapperu
| Photo Credit:
MOHAMED PHOTOGRAPHY
Six months in the past, tragedy struck the workforce. Poochakkaran Mani, who performs the protagonist’s pal and his spouse’s lover, was attacked inside the forest by a wild tusker and he succumbed to the accidents. “We were in the final schedule and were supposed to shoot a couple of scenes featuring him. This happened when they were returning after discussing the final scenes with us. Mani was thrown by the elephant while trying to save a child from the animal. It was late by the time they reached the hospital and he could not be saved,” Unnikrishnan remembers.
Only a couple of artistes outdoors the tribe have acted in the film and amongst them is filmmaker Jeo Baby. Cinematography is by Mohamed A, editor is Jinu Sobha and music is by Janaki Easwar and Rithu Vysakh. Production designer is Ambily Mydhily, color grading is finished by Liju Prabhakar and undertaking co-ordinator is Hisham.
Unnikrishnan provides that he’s hoping to take the film to the competition circuit.
