Kozhikode: The striking realistic story of plantation labourers across the Kerala-Tamilnadu border on the Western Ghats was brilliantly portrayed in the Tamil movie Western Ghats (Merku Thodarchi Malai) screened at the Kozhikode International Film Festival (KIFF) on Tuesday. The film by Lenin Bharathi drawn attention at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) for its rawness and politics of land. It features the life of a landless resident Rangasamy who travels to the neighbouring cardamom plantations for survival.
His biggest dream is to have a piece of land and do farming by himself with dignity. Ranga and wife Eashwari work several years to save some money, but they lose the entire wealth in the most unexpected manner. In a turn of fate Rangasamy is jailed with few other people and when he returns, like many sons of the soil, he becomes a labourer in his own land. The film narrates how the toiling class become a pawn in the hands of a capitalist system and the merciless face of money lenders. ‘Western Ghats’ was shot with villagers who practically have no formal training in acting. Antony and Gayathri play the lead characters.
Today’s films
@ Tagore
9 am - Man of Flowers-Australia-Paul Cox
11.30 - Looking for Eric-UK-Ken Loach
2.30 - Kathakali-Malayalam-Saijo
5.00 - Taste of Cherry-Iran-Abbas Kiorastami
7.00 - Red Butterfly Dream-Sri Lanka-Priyaatha
@ Mananchira Square
6 pm - Ardh Sathya-India-Govind Nihalani
