The Metaphors in Virumaandi

THE METAPHORS IN VIRUMAANDI

Virumaandi (2004) written and directed by Kamal Haasan is the story of how 24 people were killed in a small village in the Theni district of rural Tamilnadu told from the perspective of Virumandi Thevar (Kamal Haasan) and Kothala Thevar (Pasupathi) using the Japanese Master Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant “Rashomon” storytelling style where the same incident is shown from multiple perspectives. Virumandi is shown to have been awarded the death penalty for being the Accused No 1 in the murder charge as well as for raping and killing Annalakshmi (Abhirami) and Kothala is shown to be serving a life sentence for being an accomplice to the heinous murders. A lawyer/researcher, Angela Kathamuthu (Rohini) who is trying to remove the sentence of death penalty after her father received it for killing her husband James to save her, is shown to be the person interviewing them and hearing their stories. The plot moves ahead to address various issues like the importance of agriculture and water resources, the inhumane nature of the Capital Punishment as well as how people in authority, for their personal reasons suppress and hide the truth thus treating innocent people with injustice.

The essence of this post is not to go in detail into the parallel plotlines, acting performances; screenplay or cinematography, for it would be a folly to dedicate just one post to all these factors that make this movie a masterpiece. The purpose of this post is to look into the directorial nuances, mythical metaphors and the complicated cinematic universe that the filmmaker Kamal Haasan has beautifully crafted through the course of this movie.  The setting of Virumaandi is in down South Tamilnadu against the rural background of two small villages called “Chinnakolarpatti” or “C.K.Patti” and “Nallamanaickanpatti”. Since the setting is rural in nature the storytelling method used by Haasan is intertwined with the daily lives of the people as well as strongly taking inspiration from the myths and folklore of the people as metaphors that drive the plot ahead.

THE SETTING OF THE MOVIE

The movie is set in the rural regions of Theni, Madurai, etc and the conventional sights that are visible in these areas are very artistically brought out by the director as well as the art director. Right from a live “Jallikattu” event, panchayats that take place under a tree and riots that break out due to feuds and internal conflict based on land, caste or revenge between the villagers is portrayed in a very realistic fashion. The movie is very raw in nature and the problems the villagers deal with are as old as humanity itself, appropriately, the solution taken up by them too are ancient viz. bloodshed and violence.

The equation that drives life in these villages is primarily caste. As it may already be ascertained from the names of the protagonist and the antagonist, the story yet again revolves around the Thevar community (Thevarmagan being the first movie that Kamal Haasan acted in that dealt in detail with the Thevars, check out my blog post on the same topic for more information). This story takes the narrative one step further and deals specifically with the “Kallar” and more specifically the "Piraimalai Kallar" sub-sect of the Thevar community. The corrupt and evil policeman and sub-jailer shown in the movie, Peikaaman (Shanmugarajan) does his work based on his caste because even though he is posted in the village of Nallamanaicker (Napoleon) he works for Kothala Thevar due to their common caste affinity. Further, he is so conscious about his own caste identity that he goes on to prod Angela Kathamuthu, who at that point is an academician present there for research purposes, about her caste and place of birth to which a directorially nuanced answer comes “Kilavenmani”, Kilavenmani being the place where there was a massacre of the Dalit community by the landlords for striking against low wages in the 1960’s, the expression on Peikaaman’s face after hearing her answer sums up his psyche and motives. The reason why a lot of importance is placed on the caste equation is because the underlying metaphor of the movie is strongly inspired by the folklore and the mythical gods that the people of the Piraimalai Kallar community fervently worship.

THE GODS OF THE STORY

Before moving towards the specificities of  the movie Virumaandi, it is pertinent to note that the culture and religion in South Tamilnadu, as it is in most of the states of India is very quintessential and complicated, moreover when dealing with the Thevars who have an ancient lineage dating back to the Pandyas that ruled the erstwhile “Tamizhagam", it is all the more personal and of deep sentimental value. The Aryan narrative of the Holy Trinity in Hinduism has been appropriated into Ancient Tamil folklore beautifully through the Guardian deities Muniyandi, Mayandi and Virumandi. Muniyandi being part of the class of Lord Shiva, Mayandi of “Mayan” or Lord Vishnu and Virumandi being that of “Viruman”, “Viruma” or Lord Brahma. How do these gods play a role in the movie Virumaandi? To answer that question, we need to understand the story of the “Karumathur Moonuswamy Temple”.

KARUMATHUR MOONUSWAMY TEMPLE

It is believed that Pechiyamma the equivalent of Goddess Parvati came to South India along with her consort Lord Shiva and Viruman or Virumandi. When she entered the Karumathur forest which is about 20 Kms away from present day Madurai, the evil spirit Peikaaman who was one of the gatekeepers at the Madurai Azhagar Temple tried to chase her away, in the ensuing conflict, her brother Virumandi saves her from Peikaaman. She asks Viruman to stay with her but Viruman refuses and explains that he wishes to go back to Kerala, but fearing the return of Peikaaman, Pechiyamma imprisons him inside a pit as a source of protection. She also promises him that the people will worship and do poojas to him 6 times a day and on the last Friday of the Tamil Month of Aadi or the “Aadi Velli” a Ucchi Poojai will be conducted and three goats will be sacrificed to appease him. Since Virumandi, Pechiyamma and Lord Shiva are present in the temple, it is known as the Moonu Swamy temple (Moonu means three in Tamil). To this day it is believed by the people that Virumandi is living inside the pit, and when the Kaanda Mani (huge temple bell) is sounded during Aadi Velli, the pole that stands atop the pit shakes as Virumandi wakes up and attempts to metaphorically “come out” of the pit.

When one looks closely into the song “Andha Kaanda Mani Osai” in the movie Virumaandi we can hear the high priest singing “Andha Kanda mani osai ketturuchu, enga kaliyugathu swamy veliya va, enga vaaku padi Aadi velliyila Pooja ethukolla saamy veliyava” this loosely means, “the Kaanda Mani has been sounded, come out Oh Lord of the Kaliyuga, as per the promise given by us we have organized a Pooja, come out and accept it!” The song continues, “Peikaamana adakki vecha Virumaandiya, Pechiyamma koopudura”, which means, “Pechiyamma is calling you, Oh Virumandi who vanquished Peikaaman!” 

This song serves both as a sequence that brings to life the Uchi Poojai at the Karumathur Moonuswamy Temple as well as a song that hints at the audience that the protagonist Virumandi is being compared to the God Virumandi and that this comparison will play a vital role in the movie. The next verse of the song is directly addressed to the protagonist Virumandi instead of a song sung at the poojai, “Sandappa Sandaikaman marubadi ezhundha, thanjama naanga enga povom?” which translates to, “Where will we go if the ferocious Peikaaman resurfaces?” 

The song is very authentically depicted right from the factual and environmental circumstances as well as the portrayal of the traditional “Kodangis” (“Ko” in Tamil inter alia means God and “adangi” means present in, the word Kodangi therefore means the one in whom God is present) or those people selected supernaturally to be the voice of God. Subtle hints at the metaphorical significance is given at this stage of the movie through the song, but the true nature of the metaphor is understood completely only during the climax.

PAYOFF OF THE METAPHOR

From the Aadi velli sequence at the Karumathur Moonu Saamy temple and the song “Karumathur Kaatukulla” the audience gets acquainted with the Gods who play an important role in the movie. Skipping directly to the climax sequence, we see that Angela Kathamuthu, who is now metaphorically donning the role of Pechiyamma, is being hunted down by sub-jailer Peikaaman because she has filmed him confessing to a few prisoners and jail staff that he was the one  who framed Virumandi and wrote the chargesheet for the rape and the murders. She helplessly turns to the only person around who is not under the command of the sub-jailer Peikaaman to save her, Virumandi. At one point in the sequence we see that Virumandi is locked inside a specific room in the prison and has to escape, Virumandi at the helm along with some other prisoners break the door open and charge outside to kill Peikaaman.

The directorial nuance of Kamal Haasan is beyond words with respect to this scene because; the first time the audience hears the powerful verses of the “Andha Kaandamani Osai” song is during the Ucchi Poojai on Aadi Velli day where the God Virumandi is called to come out of the pit to accept the sacrificial goats, and the only other time this song is heard by the audience is when our protagonist Virumandi breaks out of the jail room to attack Peikaaman and save Angela Kathamuthu. The difference in the latter scene is that the verses of the song are altered to now sing “Garbhagraham vittu saamy veliyerudhu” which means “Our God is exiting the sanctum sanctorum!” Therefore, in this impactful way director Kamal Haasan sets-up the metaphor at the start of the movie, further, in a few speechless minutes brings to life the metaphor and creates a jaw-dropping, goosebumps inducing climax sequence.

The language of cinema is more often than not subtle in nature, revealing layer by layer what the Director has conceived in his or her mind, but these revelations sometimes go unnoticed by the audience in the greater scheme of things. Even though Virumaandi was a box office hit in 2004 and the fact that it won the best Asian Film Award at the Puchon Film Festival in South Korea, the directorial refinement and the intricacy of the cinematic universe that Kamal Haasan has created in this masterclass of a movie is yet to be truly celebrated by a great majority of people.