MT's tryst with black, white and everything in between

Contemporary cinema of the 1980s was markedly by screenplays that were bold enough to set a different tone yet rooted enough to adhere to the scrutiny of social ethics without breaking the traditional mould.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) ORU VADAKKAN VEERAGATHA Contemporary cinema of the 1980s was markedly by screenplays that were bold enough to set a different tone yet rooted enough to adhere to the scrutiny of social ethics without breaking the traditional mould. A film that could be stated as an example of this is MT and Hariharan's magnum opus Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. The movie's screenplay was the highlight, sharp as the steely clang of the sword in play throughout the film. The film's dialogues were such a hit that children mumbled it around as power-packed rhetoric to appear as high and mighty as the feudal warlords of Malabar, on whom the story is set. It also undid the famous folklore that pitted Chandu, a 16th-century scion of a warrior clan and cousin to the legendary Aromal Chevakar and Unniyarcha, as a cheat and a man of dark qualities. Post the MT narrative of the folklore, most Keralites began to see Chandu in a sympathetic light as a wronged hero whose version of how he was accused of foul play leading to the death of Aromal Chevakar in a combat arena remained so far shrouded. It was MT's pen alone that helped Malayalis see beyond the dark areas of negative.