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Stephen (Samuel L Jackson) from Django Unchained has always fascinated me. A traitor to his race, the complex character depicts how any form of oppression needs support and acceptance from the oppressed to be in effect. Stephen can’t stand the sight of Django Freeman (Jamie Foxx) on a horse. He detests the black bounty hunter sitting at the dinner table with his white masters. He comes across as more racist than his master Monsieur Calvin J Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). While Stephen is aware of his actions and pretends to be a perfect slave to be in power at Calvin’s household, debutant director Christo Tomy’s Ullozhukku deals with a similar but more complex allegiance between women and men in upholding patriarchy, where the former aren’t even aware of their conditioning that works to serve the male’s ego and protect his ‘honour’ at any cost.
The plot of Ullozhukku is similar to Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog: Two. The second part of the iconic film series is about a hapless wife with a crushing moral dilemma involving her bedridden husband. She has an extramarital relationship and gets pregnant, and seeks the prognosis of her husband’s doctor to decide whether or not to keep the child. In Ullozhukku, Anju (Parvathy Thiruvothu) is in a similar dilemma. The difference is that the husband here passes away, which doesn’t necessarily bring her the freedom, which would have happened to the woman in the Polish film. Things are more complex here because most women in India are not just married to their husbands but to their entire families. Even after his death, the supposed honour of her husband haunts Anju and cripples her from reclaiming her freedom.
It is not the men who call the shots in the film. In fact, male actors have very little screen time, which is dominated by the brilliant performances of Urvashi and Parvathy. The most powerful character in the film is Urvashi; as Leelamma, she becomes the stand-in for the male ego, who refuses to let go of Anju even after her son dies. However, there are far more bothering secrets that tell of how women hurt each other in the name of family honour, which is in turn services male ego.
Patriarchy, most often than not, is spoken about as a massive external institution enforcing itself on the women. Hence, our caring moms and aunts and their contribution to the cycle of control is often overlooked. Ullozhukku is about one such mom, who is a cog in the wheel of a machine that works against them in every possible way. However, the film tries to empathise with her and other women in it. Hence, it is hard to hate any woman in the film despite what they do to Anju.
Urvashi and Parvathy make some profound heartbreaking moments and the way their relationship evolves throughout the film makes up for a moving tale of camaraderie. On top of it all, what makes Ullozhukku a great drama is the tactful writing, which becomes evident within a few seconds into the film. The first few minutes are a sort of prologue to the tragedy. We first see Anju as a salesperson in a textile shop, exuding a sensuous shyness while looking at her lover, who walks in as a pretend customer. Within a few seconds, she is in the arms of another guy, her husband. Her expression now is far from being shy. It is now the face of a non-committal partner.
With just those few frames, Christo Tomy achieves a lot. He tells what was Anju’s life before and what it has become. His ability to tell us a lot while showing less is what makes Ullozhukku an incredible drama despite it being set in a few locations revolving around a few characters. Every scene has something going on on the surface and something beneath it, thus living up to its title.
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