A Bridge of Contention!

I have always been quite vocal about how big a fan I am of Director K G George. Ditto is the reason why I did not hesitate to grab Panchavadippalam when I saw the VCD on sale at a second hand books shop in Kochi.

I remember vaguely having seen Panchavadippalam as a kid. Though I enjoyed the comedy, I was not old enough to enjoy the satire that this one is- and that too easily the best satire ever made in Malayalam Cinema. Panchavadippalam is a cartoonish satire that attempts to bring to light the corrupt way of functioning of the local bodies in the state and how they use politics and party to further their personal agenda. It also skilfully shows how benefits extended by the Government end up in the hands of the non deserving and mocks the bureaucracy for its indifferent attitude to the common man.

The story creditted to cartoonist Yesudasan unfolds in a small village that has Dushassanakurup (Bharath Gopi) as the Panchayath President and Ishak Tharakan (Tilakan) as the leader of opposition. Mandodariamma (Sreevidya), the better half of the President literally rules the Panchayath and the President is always mocked by others for this. We have Panchayath members like Rahel (Sukumari), Shikhandi Pilla (Nedumudi Venu) and Barabos (Innocent) who will switch sides to derive benefits. Add to it the local tea vendor (K P Ummar), the local prostitute Poothana (Shubha), Rahel's husband Aabel Mappilla (Jagathy Sreekumar), the conman swami Sheershasananada (V D Rajappan) and the representative of the common man, the paralyzed Kathavarayan (Sreenivasan) whose only interest in life is to listen to speeches by political leaders.

The Panchayath President is losing his hold over the panchayath and to better his reputation, Shikhandi Pilla creates stories that the Panchavadippalam is in trouble. Steps are taken to reconstruct the bridge and along with it for some Maramath works at the residence of the Panchayath President, Shikhandi Pillai and Rahel. There is a big fight between the ruling party and opposition on who gets the contract for reconstruction and finally all differences are settled. Jeemoothavahanan (Venu Nagavally) wins the contract to reconstruct the bridge and he gets engaged to Panchali, the President's daughter. The bridge is inaugurated on their wedding day and collapses as soon as the villagers try crossing the bridge. In the bargain, the paralyzed Kathavarayan ends up losing his life.

With a tight script by K G George, witty one liners by Yesudasan and an excellent performance by an ensemble cast, Panchavadippalam succeeds in driving its point very well. Its been close to 25 years since the movie had a theatrical release but the issues are still relevant. The sequencing, scenes and dialogues need to be seen to be believed and there is no way you can control your laughter as Panchavadippalam unfolds before you.

Its easily the best political satire ever made in Malayalam Cinema and you would not know what you are missing until you watch this one...