13 GREAT MOVIE METAPHORS IN MALAYALAM CINEMA

Symbolism is a very sticky business, both to use and to comprehend, yet if cleverly done could be greatly rewarding. Intelligent films in Malayalam have always had a rich tradition of symbolism to address ideas of social, psychological, ideological or religious bearing using brilliant metaphors. These parallels have in the past not only added layers to our thought processes, but have also been enriching our taste over the years. Following is a list of some of the greatest metaphors used in Malayalam Cinema, some of which bask in plain sight, while others, you got to dig a great deal to even locate.
Maybe it wouldn't make an awful lot of sense to those who haven't watched these films already.

13. The Glass Unicorn in Akale (2004)

The collection of delicate glass animals that Rose so compulsively treasures is a metaphor for her fragile self. The glass unicorn- a mythical horse with a horn distinguishing it from other horses- is her favorite piece in the collection that represents her dissimilarity from other girls and the fantasy she lives in. Later when Fredy accidentally breaks the horn off of the unicorn, it reflects his failed attempt to make her ‘normal’. Although credits for the symbolism wholly goes to Tennessee Williams who wrote the play the film is based on, Shyamaprasad did a good job visualizing it.

12. The Butterfly in Papilio Buddha (2013)

The rare and endangered species of butterfly found exclusively in the Western Ghats is used here as a metaphor for the displaced and oppressed Dalits. The identity struggles of this tribal population hopelessly battling for foot space in a fanatic world that is eager to grab their lands is synchronized here with a strong political rebuke. Another recurring motif is of ‘Buddha’ likening it to Buddhism that the subjugated lot embraces in order to escape cast oppression.

11. The Magnifying Glass in Bhoothakannadi (1997)

The watchmaker’s magnifying glass is a metaphor for his heightened fears that more often than not seem baseless to others. For instance he lights torch in broad daylight for his fear of snakes. He sees the world through this glass that also brings him in conflict with reality. The ‘hole’ in the prison wall that opens up a new world for him in captivity also adds layers to this window of hallucination. It is these vistas of life that he frames within his psychological magnifying glass that leads to his eventual breakdown.

10. The Railway Lines in Samantharangal (1998)

In Samantharangal, the disparities in values and predilections of two generations are said through the deteriorating relationship between a principled father and a pragmatic son whose ideals running ‘parallel’ to each other never agrees to reconcile. The parallel views are reflected in the title, setting and the fate of characters in this Balachandra Menon film through ‘railway lines’ that forever runs parallel to each other. The father is a stationmaster, and the premise for the climactic mayhem is also set on the tracks.

9. The Wall in Mathilukal (1989)

The eponymous ‘walls’ in Adoor’s adaptation of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s novella of the same name, is used as a metaphor to the confines of freedom and thereby of a world imprisoned within walls. Initially it is just a barrier in the prison that separates the protagonist from his love interest, but eventually in light of his reluctance to leave when released, it is revealed that he sees the world outside as bound by taller walls, reminiscing the colonial rule, campaigning against which is what got him in in the first place.

8. The Fruit in Guru (1997)

It shouldn’t come as a revelation that ilama-pazham, the enormous fruit that is the central motif in this fantasy film is used as an allegory to religious beliefs as it is pretty much spelt out. In the land of the blind, when the blindness caused by the pulp of the fruit is eventually cured by the seed within, it is established how the clue to liberation from blind religious servitude lies within its core values. The movie makes a strong statement against the prevalent communal violence that has been gnawing our society from within.

7. The Rolling Shutter in Shutter (2012)

Given the nail-biting suspense that builds over the course of the film leaving little mind space for much else, many perhaps failed to notice the metaphor for societal hypocrisy straightaway. The eponymous ‘shutter’ that sets the premise locking the protagonist in the knotty predicament, is an allegory to the closed eyes of a moralist with double standards. He who squints at even the slightest liberty enjoyed by his daughter, covertly ventures to click with a prostitute in the refuge of the said shutter leading to the confinement and the traumatic events thereof.

6. Rain in Thoovanathumbikal (1987)

In Thoovanathumbikal Padmarajan used rain as a metaphor for love in the life of Jayakrishnan that directly reflects on his dicey relationship status with the enigmatic lover, Clara. In addition to the parallels with the events in his life, rain is clearly used as a tangible character that empathizes with his predicament so much so that the slightest mood swing is reflected in the overcast sky and the intensity of the drizzle. This is one of the earliest examples where rain was associated with love and passion in Malayalam films.

5. Electricity in Oridathu (1987)

The film discusses in detail the probable impact of modernization on people and culture through events leading from the electrification of a rural community. Here electricity is a metaphor for ‘progress’ and hence change in society, and the habitual resistance of man to any change is brilliantly portrayed through the analytical understanding of G. Aravindan’s genius. The movie has often been criticized for being anti-progressive, but the societal inertia shown is only natural and the public response in the film can easily be interpreted as the shortsightedness of a selected few.

4. Kathakali in Vanaprastham (1999)

                    

In Shaji N. Karun’s psychological magnum opus, the line between life and art is way too muddled, and there are various instances of Kathakali dance routines forming metaphoric basis for real life as well as of real life doing the same for the art. One such case is when Arjuna, one of the many characters Kunjikuttan enacts on stage, forms the basis of a hypothetical construct by Subhadra whom she falls in love with and even conceives a baby with while totally unmindful of the artist inside the makeup.

3. Mother & The Dead Body in Amma Ariyan (1986)

John Abraham’s melancholy journey of a mission to deliver bad news has two very heavy-duty metaphors. The first equates “mother” to “mother land”, one of them fretting for her children and the other for her citizens. The second one draws parallel between the “dead body” and the “lost cause” that today’s youth unites and fights for. Amidst the ever-growing clique that joins to deliver the information to his mother, there are other great direct and indirect blows made on a failing system. 

2. The Rat Trap in Elipathayam (1981)

Adoor’s symbolic ode to the fall of feudal system is an internationally acclaimed film with remarkable cinematography. The titular ‘rat-trap’ that is used in the film to constantly ambush rodents from the once prosperous homestead is a symbol of the isolation and paranoia felt by the central character who is oblivious of the changing time and the decline of the feudal system outside his mansion. It also draws parallels with the fate of the trapped rodent but expanding any more on that could be a spoiler to the troubling climax.

1. Nature in Kanjana Sita (1977)      

One of the bravest moves in the history of Indian cinema was to interpret the mythological character Sita as Nature (Prakriti). And the tricky fete justifying the complex Prakriti-Purusha concept was successfully accomplished by the art-house fiend G. Aravindan with the help of a bunch of amateurs form a tribe in Andhra Pradesh that claimed to be descendants of Rama. While the wonderful metaphor for the leading lady of one of the most celebrated Indian epics is interpreted as nature, her physical absence cleverly liberates her from the limitations of a particular location, form and voice.