Mari Selvaraj’s brilliant Bison (Tamil, with English subtitle options), starring Dhruv Vikram, ranks among the finest Indian films of the year. Must see!
Illustration/Uday Mohite
Mai Selvarj’s brilliant Bison: Kaalamaadan (a deity), marks him out as one of India’s great contemporary directors. In his fifth feature (the Tamil film opened theatrically on Friday worldwide, with English subtitle options on bookmyshow), Selvaraj fully surpasses the promise of his powerful, moving earlier films — Pariyerum Perumal (adapted as Dhadak 2), Karnan, Maamannan and Vaazhai (Banana). He’s a rare master of that most challenging genre, the mindie film — mainstream + indie film — with social realism, tackling issues of caste, with a sports drama, father-son story, gangster saga, and action thriller, with stars/well-known actors, songs, choreographed sports and flecks of romance — all organically fused together, in a rooted, rural milieu.
Bison is a sports drama about a kabaddi player, but he elevates it with so much more. Sure, the film is about caste, but also about how much our society has imbibed the poisonous inheritance of generations of unquestioned prejudice and violent feuds, that can reduce all your hard-won achievements of years to ashes. It is a fictionalised story inspired by Manathi Ganesan, who rose from obscurity to play kabaddi for India at the Asian Games in Japan in 1994, here played by Dhruv Vikram as Kittan. The film opens with the Asian Games, where Kittan represents one of India’s finest players, yet he is asked to sit it out during a key match against Pakistan, until someone intervenes on his behalf. The story of his journey follows as a flashback.
Kittan’s life has been a relentless obstacle course to becoming a great kabaddi player, with opposition from his family, caste politics, gang warfare, and sports politics at the state and India selection levels. Encouraged by his kabaddi coach, Kittan wants to play in the village kabaddi competition, but his father (Pasupathy) is dead against it, because the game is closely embroiled in gang warfare, leaving players at the mercy of rowdies. The rival gangs are led by Kandasamy (actor-director Lal) and Pandiaraj (Ameer Sulthan, director of Paruthiveeran, that we had presented at the Berlinale in 2008). Selvaraj underlines — as Pa Ranjith did earlier in Sarpatta Parambarai (Sarpatta Clan, on Tamil Nadu’s boxing cults), how sports is often an escape from poverty and oblivion for marginalised people worldwide, including people from marginalised castes and Blacks — especially those denied higher education — who power ahead with their bodies, in athletics, boxing, wrestling, kabaddi, etc.
Pandiaraj and Kandasamy are both murderous villains; yet Selvaraj’s nuanced screenplay invests both with a magnanimous sense of fair play and courage: Kandasamy spots Kittan playing superb kabaddi, and despite warnings that “he is not one of the boys”, invites him to join his kabaddi team. Later, when Kittan is away playing kabaddi for Tamil Nadu, his lover Rani’s mean-spirited brother arranges her wedding to another groom, but Pandiaraj stops the wedding. (Spoiler alert) Tragically, both Pandiaraj and Kandasamy pay a heavy price precisely because their fair play doesn’t sit well with other villagers who want to keep the marginalised castes in their place (spoiler ends). Selvaraj goes beyond stereotypes to find redeeming qualities in the worst villains.
Selvaraj’s direction is absolutely convincing. Dhruv Vikram — whose earlier films include Adithya Varma (Arjun Reddy’s Tamil remake) and Karthik Subbaraj’s Mahaan — and who is also the son of Chiyaan Vikram, is powerful, because he remains largely low key and internalised, with minimal dialogue. He keeps running for much of the film — seemingly from the ghosts of his past, those who want to keep a good man down, and even himself. Unexpectedly, yet appropriately then, in the thrilling climax, Selvaraj plays a masterstroke by using an araro song, a lullaby, as if Kittan can finally stop running, rest and savour his achievements. The rest of the ensemble cast are very strong too, including Pasupathy (the father), Pandiaraj (Ameer Sulthan), Kandasamy (Lal), Rajisha Vijayan as the sister, and Anupama Parameswaran as his lover — the women’s roles are truncated — as well as his teacher, Pushpa and her selection boss dad. The screenplay — as well as Sakthi Thiru’s editing — are a masterstudy in fusing disparate elements convincingly and briskly. Ezhil Arasu K’s cinematography is magnificent, balancing sweeping shots with the intimate, and contains a bristling energy. Nivas K Prasanna’s music is a revelation, and Selvaraj’s and Arivu’s lyrics are highlights.
The producers are Applause Entertainment (veterans Sameer Nair and Deepak Segal) and Neelam Studios, ie, veteran Pa Ranjith and Aditi Anand (producer on Firaaq, Paan Singh Tomar, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, Writer). The women crew includes producer Aditi Anand and coproducer Manind Bedi. Bison would rank among the finest Indian films of the year. Must see!
Meenakshi Shedde, film curator, has been working with the Toronto, Berlin and other festivals worldwide for 30 years. She has been a Cannes Film Festival Jury Member and Golden Globes International Voter, and is a journalist and critic. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde @mid-day.com
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