Language: Tamil
Culture is defined as ‘the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society’. It embodies everything we do and every choice -- small or big -- we make. But just like how history is written by victors, culture is controlled by the privileged. Our history with Caste and Brahminism has ensured that people from the oppressed communities and their lifestyles have been systematically ostracised. Tamizh’s directorial debut, Seththumaan, is an important addition to the legion of films that speak of the politics behind the personal.
It would be more accurate to call Seththumaan, a lifestyle movie. It follows the life of Poochiyappa (Manickam) and his grandson Kumaresan. Poochiyappa, who weaves and sells baskets, is single-handedly raising his grandson. (The parents are killed in a hate crime for consumption of beef) It’s Poochiyappa’s life mission to ensure that his grandson has a better life, away from the pits of oppression that he lives in. “My grandson is like a bird, he will fly away to faraway places and live well,” he says in a conversation. He constantly advises his grandson to study well. ‘It’s not enough to be good, you need to be great… extraordinary,’ he says.
These are the broad strokes. But what holds the film is the details it fills it in with. Sethumaan brings out the complexities in the hierarchy and the system rewards when ‘you know your place’. Even in his most rebellious moments, Poochiyappa is deferential. And his landlord, Vellaiyyan seems to reward that with empathy. But, his relationship with the more outspoken Rangan (who is not willing to take it lying low and thus is a ‘troublemaker’), is very different. There’s always a line, a boundary that separates.
Take Vellaiyan’s desire to eat pork. He constantly mentions the health benefits of consuming it. But he won’t cook it at his house. He wants to get a pig that is ‘clean’ and is fed only ‘clean things’. The rationalisations are ironic and sometimes amusing. And it’s not just Vellaiyan who does it. Poochiyappa does it too. When Ranga asks him to get tea in glasses from now on, Poochiyappa says, ‘I am wondering if I want to drink from the glasses that these men use’. And all of this was set in 2017, during the time Ram Nath Kovind was tapped to become India’s president -- the second Dalit man to hold the office. You can see the parallels -- so much has changed, but so much more hasn’t. Seththumaan’s writing is layered, nuanced, and effective.
It also shows the role of upper-caste women in upholding this ‘culture’ -- patriarchy’s personal mission purely designated to women. Vellaiyan’s wife is caustic about his desire to eat pork. Her relationship with Poochiyappa is also barbed with slights and snubs. All of the men who come to eat pork complain that their wives won’t allow it. It’s a small intersectional insight into the complex functionings of Brahminical patriarchy and its mechanisms. It also makes a pertinent point about how Dalits tend to become victims even if the conflict doesn’t involve them directly. (The film is based on a short story by Perumal Murugan)
Seththumaan refers to the pig as the ‘deer in the sludge’. It’s a symbol of how Dalits have to effectively recontextualise their habits and lifestyles to overcome the taboo they have been forced to carry all these years. The film is made with the tone of a documentary -- there are a lot of handheld and static shots. This takes some time to get used to. But the unvarnished frames really work once you warm up to it. The film is filled with new faces, and the performances are effectively refreshing. Seththumaan is leisurely paced, where it drawls at places. But it never lets go of our attention. And that is its success.
Rating: * * * *
Seththumaan is streaming on SonyLIV
Ashameera Aiyappan is a film journalist who writes about Indian cinema with a focus on South Indian films.
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