Ka/Pae Ranasingam teaser: Vijay Sethupathi leads a farmland revolution against an apathetic system

With anger rising among farmers across the country, the timing of the release of Vijay Sethupathi's next film is immaculate. Directed by P Virumandi, Ka/Pae Ranasingam will see Sethupathi play a landless labourer who finds himself at the head of a growing protest against the collaboration of political and corporate forces to disfranchise farmers.

The film will be release on Zee Plex's pay-per-view platform at a price of Rs199 on 2 October. The makers have released a teaser for the film, with Vijay Sethupathi and Aishwarya Rajesh at the centre of the unfolding geopolitical storm.

The teaser is set up with the dramatic intervention of Sethupathi's character, Ranasingam, as he battles the government and the police to protect the rights of farmers who are increasingly losing their lands to big corporations. "The politics of the world will revolve around the battle for land and water," Ranasingam says presciently. That line alone gives the film and its story a strong geopolitical context.

The loss of land is not the only topical context that packs a punch in the film. The conflict over identity, defined by ration cards and Aadhar cards, and a people being slowly disfranchised by corrupt bureaucrats using these to their advantage is quite sharp.

Aishwarya Rajesh makes an impact as the woman standing with Ranasingam and leading the way alongside him.

The struggle of farmers losing their livelihoods and lands and falling into destitution even as the apathetic system focuses on registration and data feels current and immediate. The eventual shot of a politician emerging from a car and waving looks very recognizable.

The key element in the film is the protest of the farmers, which is set to begin tomorrow across the country, exactly a week before the reel protest begins on Zee Plex.

Ka/Pae Ranasingam will be released simultaneously in five languages on Zee Plex on 2 October. Viewers can log on to Zee Plex on their satellite DTH service or on the Zee5 OTT platform and use the pay-per-view option. Watch the teaser below and let us know if you are keen to watch this film.