Malayalam film appeals against fundamentalism

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) From a state that of late has been witness to the fraying of its communal fabric comes "Daivanamathil", a Malayalam movie that implores the youth to denounce fundamentalism.

National award winning director Jayaraj and producer Aryadan Shaukat, whose film "Paadam Onnu, Oru Vilapam" won the best actress award for Meera Jasmine last year, have teamed up to weave a tale describing the rapid communalisation of society, especially in Kerala.

"The film argues that the best remedy for the communal problem is going back to the ethos of the freedom movement. I wanted to tell the Muslim youth that violence is not the way to raise their voice in opposition," Jayaraj said Monday at a press conference before the film's screening at the India Habitat Centre here.

"Being a Hindu, I had to study the subject in depth. But after I went through the details, I was desperate to make the film. I wanted to tell the world that Islam is the only religion that has peace in its name itself," he said.

Talking about the importance of the film in the current social scenario, Shaukat said the basic elements of the film were taken from his own experience.

"The real theme of the movie is my own past. I had a friend during my college days who went through almost the same experiences as the hero in the film," Shaukat said.

Set during the tumultuous time of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, "Daivanamathil", starring Malayalam stars Prithviraj and Bhavana, is the story of a vivacious young girl Samira, who belongs to an orthodox Muslim family from the Malabar belt of Kerala.

Her marriage to Anwar (Prithviraj) runs into rough weather after he leaves for the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh for higher studies and is brainwashed by some of his peers into becoming a fanatic.

By the time Anwar returns, he is a changed man. The scene depicting his return brings out the stark contrast between Samira's romantic hopes and reality.

She sees the handsome Anwar calling out to her in a dream. Startled, she wakes up and rushes to open the door, but what she finds is an Anwar filled with rage against his community's misery.

Soon the inevitable happens and he is sucked into the terrorist torrent - a sequence reminding one of the recent spate of communal violence in Marad in north Kerala and Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram.

Finally, Samira herself becomes instrumental is getting Anwar arrested.

However, the movie does not leave the audience in despair as Anwar transforms back to his old self - thanks to Samira's dedicated attempts - and returns to normalcy but not before losing his wife in a blast, ironically on Dec 6.

The release of "Daivanamathil" had been stayed by the Ernakulam District Court on a petition filed by another writer and director who claimed that the movie has been plagiarised from his story "Musalmante Ayodhya".

However, Shaukat dismissed the allegation as one cooked up by communal organisations bent upon scuttling his message and claimed that the petition by the plaintiff had been dismissed.