Karie review: Shanavas Naranipuzha's film on caste biases worth its weight in gold

Karie (2015) is a hard-hitting Malayalam social drama that looks to highlight how deeply caste is ingrained even in today's society, which many of us claim to be modern and progressive.

It tells a simple, yet powerful story, which primarily revolves around three men from different communities. The interpersonal relationships of the characters are determined as much by their personal qualities as much as they are determined by the importance they attach to each other's caste.

Gopi Keshav and his colleague Bilal are on their way to the residence of Dineshan to hand over some money to the parents of the latter. While Gopi is from an upper caste, Dineshan is from a lower caste and works for Gopi in a foreign land on a temporary visa.

By the time, Gopi and Bilal arrive at Dineshan's place, Dineshan's parents are busy preparing for some rituals to appease the gods in the hope that Dineshan will find favour in the eyes of authorities.

But an unfortunate accident caused by Gopi and Bilal results in the man who has to perform the Karinkari rituals sustaining a serious injury. Overcome by guilt that Dineshan's pooja to please the gods might come to a halt because of the accident they caused, the two choose to make amends by finding another man to perform the Karinkari rituals.

Despite looking long and hard, they are unable to find a replacement. Finally, they find one person and the rituals eventually begin. However, something happens that stalls the ritual. What that is has been brought out emphatically in Karie.

Director Shanavas Naranipuzha, through his characters, beautifully showcases the power structure in society as a result of the caste system and delicately, but decisively drives home the point that nothing has changed even after all these years.

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The injustice meted out to those from lower castes continues to exist even today. This fact doesn't strike you once in the film, it does time and again and with such force that it is highly unlikely that anybody who watches the film will ever miss the point. The film highlights the fact that caste is associated with everything from the names of individuals to the colour of their skin to their professions to the musical instruments they play to the festivals they celebrate and the rituals they practice.

What adds to the beauty is that many would think that for one to make a film with such strong points and content, the maker would need to show a reasonable amount of violence. But no, not Naranipuzha, who, on the contrary, laces the significant content with dry, witty humour in such a powerful manner, that the point is made and convincingly at that.

Take for instance this particular scene in which the father of Dineshan provides directions  to a lost driver. He asks him where he is looking to go and then directs him to a three-way junction and tells him which road to pick among the three. The driver then asks Dineshan's dad, how many kilometres would his destination be from the three-way junction. To this, Dineshan's dad softly replies, "I don't know. I haven't measured it."

Sequences filled with sarcasm and laced with wit can be found throughout the film. Naranipuzha has used both to good effect to make a powerful film.

The film also brings out the irony in society turning a blind eye to the fact that its upper castes look to utilise the services of those it considers low caste, but does not permit them to enter temples meant for upper castes.

The film has good performances coming from all its artistes. Ramachandran's camera and Sudeep Palanad's natural music enhance the impact of the film.

Overall, Karie might mean black, but it is worth its weight in gold!

Karie was screened at the Kazhcha Indie Film Festival 2017