In Search of identity - g sidharthan

Ajayan has always used his plays to probe the identity issues of those forced to the margins by mainstream society. Be it his wellcrafted ‘Oru Dalit Yuvathiyude Kathanakatha’ based on the novelette by M. Mukundan or ‘sidhartha’ based on Herman Hesse’s work.

        And he continues to do so in his debut film ‘Bodhi’, which is loosely based on ‘chandalabhikshuki’ by Kumaran Asan and ‘chandalika’ by Rabindranath Tagore. “Both these poems delved into the caste issue. However, I wanted to go into the history of ostracism based on caste. That’s how I came across Ambedkar’s work ‘Buddha and Dharma’. My film takes the path between the Buddha and Ambedkar, says Ajayan.

Taking on the System

        The film tracks the life of Mathangi, a woman from a backward community, who is not allowed to draw water from the public well. She is shocked when Buddhist monk Aanadan asks for water to quench his thirst.

        That was the beginning of her journey to find her self and identity. She leaves behind the bondage imposed by society and takes on the system.

        She believes initially that her attraction towards Anandan is carnal, only to realize that he is just a tool in her path he is just a tool in her path to deliverance. Ajayan’s film, takes off from this storyline and brings in the politics of the subaltern.

        More than once does the film depicts Buddhist monks under attack. It also shows Prasenajith, a Kshathriya king, challenging the Buddhist group on where to place them socially, as the ‘Manusmriti’ had defined only four social compartments.

Interestingly, the Buddhist monks who are depicted to have won over material worries and bounding are seen fleeing, screaming, whenever they are attacked. At one point, a group of armed tribals comes to the rescue of a Buddhist group under attack. “I wanted to dispel the much accepted notion that the Buddha was a pacifist. I prefer to treat the Buddha as an activist. The film starts off from where Ambedkar ended”. The film ends with footage of Ambedkar and his followers embracing Buddhism.

        The journey of Mathangi, portrayed effectively by Pooja, a student of the School of Drama, Thrissur, is divided into four segments-Neeru (Water), Nadi (River), Pragnja (Intellect) and Yatra (Journey).

        For a film that took more than two years in making, ‘Bodhi’ still has much chiselling to be done. There are many portions where the impact of theatre dominates over the art of film; especially in the scene where Prasenajith, portrayed by Ramesh Varma, renowned theatre person and head of the Department of Theatre, Sree Sankaracharya Universityof Sanskrit, attacks the Buddhist hermitage.

        “Moving on to  film was a decision taken deliberately, as I have always found it hard to organise repeated staging of plays. Now, I have the freedom to take the film, and its politics to palces”, says Ajayan.