Pada (transl. Army) is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language political thriller film directed by Kamal K. M. (who directed I.D.) and starring Kunchacko Boban, Joju George, Vinayakan, and Dileesh Pothan.[1] The film is based on a true incident that occurred in 1996 when the then Palakkad collector was held hostage.[2][3][4][5] The film was released on 11 March 2022 and opened to widespread critical acclaim.[6]
| Pada | |
|---|---|
 Official Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Kamal K. M. |
| Written by | Kamal K. M. |
| Produced by | Mukesh R. Mehta A. V. Anoop C. V. Sarathi |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sameer Thahir |
| Edited by | Shan Mohammed |
| Music by | Vishnu Vijay |
Production companies | E4 Entertainment AVA Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Budget | ₹4 crore |
Premise
editThe film is based on a true incident that occurred in 1996 when the then Palakkad collector was held hostage. Pada begins with showing how five men in different places planning for something big to be done by them which might trigger a revolution. The group arrives at their destination, and waits for the collector to come. After a day's wait, they get into collector's chamber and forcibly ties him by chasing others around him out. On the collector's insistence to reveal, they identify themselves as 'Ayyankali Pada', activists working for the welfare of tribals and their current resolve is to keep the collector as a hostage and bargain with the current government to repeal the controversial Adivasi Land Amendment Bill. The miserable plight of Adivasi community is drawn more literally on the screen through the exchanges between the collector and the five men, the former however sympathizes with their plight and align with their cause.
Cast
edit- Kunchacko Boban as Rakesh Kanhangad (based on Ramesh Kanhangad)
- Joju George as Aravindan Mannur (based on Ajayan Mannur)
- Vinayakan as Balu Kallaar (based on Babu Kallara)
- Dileesh Pothan as "Kutty"/Narayanankutty (based on Vilayodi Shivankutty)
- Arjun Radhakrishnan as Ajay Shripad Dange IAS, District Collector Palakkad (based on W. R. Reddy)
- Prakash Raj as Chief Secretary N. Rajasekharan IAS
- Unnimaya Prasad as Mini K.S., Kutty's wife
- Indrans as Com. Kannan Mundur (based on Mundur Ravunni)
- Salim Kumar as Sessions Judge, Justice Thankappan Achari
- Jagadish as P. Krishnakumar IAS
- T. G. Ravi as Adv. Jayapalan, (Mediator)
- Savithri Sreedharan as Kunji
- V. K. Sreeraman as then Kerala Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar
- Shine Tom Chacko as Sadik Hasanar, Collector's Gunman
- Gopalan Adat as Usman
- Sudheer Karamana as Babu Chacko IPS
- Dasan Kongad as Kumaran
- Kani Kusruti as Sheeja P.K., Balu's wife
- Hari Kongad
- K Rajesh
- Sibi Thomas as CI Roy Joseph
- Bitto Davis as DySP K. P. Thomas
- Vivek Vijayakumaran as Sachin Aggarwal IPS
- James Elia as IG K Chandran IPS
- Sajitha Madathil as Padmini Ramachandran
- Gopan Mangat as K. Ravi
- Kottayam Ramesh as DGP
- Shankar Ramakrishnan
- Devendranath Shankarnarayanan
- Unni Vijayan
- Kannan Nayar
- Sunil Annur
- Rajeevan Vellur
- Haris Saleem
- Nithin George
- Ishitha Sudheesh as Rosa, Balu's daughter
- Davinchi Santhosh as Azad, Balu's son
- Santhosh Keezhattur as N. P. Ravichandran IAS
- Raavi Kishore as Malini, Ajay Shripad Dange's wife
Soundtrack
edit| Pada[7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | 28 March 2022 | ||||
| Recorded | 2020–2022 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 42:31 | ||||
| Label | E4 Entertainment | ||||
| Producer | Vishnu Vijay | ||||
| Vishnu Vijay chronology | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
The original soundtrack is composed by Vishnu Vijay.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bus Scene" | 01:32 |
| 2. | "Intro" | 01:14 |
| 3. | "Planning" | 01:09 |
| 4. | "Vinayakan Intro" | 01:01 |
| 5. | "Bomb Making" | 01:12 |
| 6. | "Chackochan" | 01:21 |
| 7. | "Collector Gun Point" | 02:03 |
| 8. | "Collector Intro" | 01:01 |
| 9. | "Interval" | 01:16 |
| 10. | "Collector At Gunpoint When Door Opens Scene" | 01:59 |
| 11. | "Crowd & Indrans Scene" | 01:31 |
| 12. | "Dileesh Pothen Talks To Collector Being Tied Scene" | 01:11 |
| 13. | "Drinking Water & Eating Banana Scene" | 01:15 |
| 14. | "Higher Officials & Prakash Raj Meeting Scene" | 03:10 |
| 15. | "Indrans & Police Group Scene" | 01:10 |
| 16. | "Prakash Raj Office Scene" | 01:42 |
| 17. | "All Sitting Idle Scene" | 01:32 |
| 18. | "Crowd & Police Tries To Break In Scene" | 01:06 |
| 19. | "Police Planning With Map Scene" | 01:02 |
| 20. | "Prakash Raj Talking To Adv On Phone Scene" | 02:00 |
| 21. | "Adv Going Upstairs" | 01:49 |
| 22. | "Adv Sits For Discussion Scene" | 03:10 |
| 23. | "Collector Coming Out Scene" | 01:56 |
| 24. | "Travel With Adv In Car Scene" | 05:58 |
| Total length: | 42:31 | |
Production
editThe film began production in 2019 with Kunchacko Boban, Joju George, Vinayakan and Dileesh Pothan.[9] Mammootty was reported to make a cameo.[10] Shooting finished by August 2019.[11]
Reception
editThe film released to highly positive reviews.[12][13]
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Pada is a lesson for students of cinema on how to keep a true story engaging even for a person who has read the facts, including the sensational climax, available to the public." She added, "...Pada steers clear of cinematic loudness. In this, it is far removed from formulaic, machoistic commercial Indian cinema of all languages, which substitutes hollow, violent machismo for valour."[14] but said there was a "frustrating deficiency" of gender diversity in the film. Vetticad ranked it eighth on her year-end list of best Malayalam films for the publication.[15] Anna Mathews of A critic from The Times of India gave the film a rating of four out of five and said that "Basically, writer-director Kamal KM used a striking incident in the State's political history and converted it into a good cinema with a compelling, thought-provoking screenplay, perfectly captured scenes that convey not only the very different times but also the working of our government offices, and great acting. This is a highly recommended film for all".[16] S. R. Praveen of The Hindu called the film "a sympathetic portrayal of the justified anger of the oppressed".[17] Gautham VS of The Indian Express opined that "The movie is a powerful political statement and throws light on the policies of changing governments, be it the left or the right, who diluted the tribal laws over the years in favour of corporate interests by taking away the rights of tribal communities over forests".[18] Sreeju Sudhakaran of LatestLY gave the film a rating of 4/5 and wrote "Kunchako Boban’s Malayalam Film Is Bold, Arresting Callback to a Revolt Against Systemic Indifference".[19]
References
edit- ^ "Pada is a question directed at society: Kamal KM". 10 March 2022.
- ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (24 February 2022). "Director Kamal KM makes his comeback to cinema with the multi-starrer 'Pada', based on a real-life incident that shook Kerala". The Hindu.
- ^ "Pada Movie Review & Rating: ശക്തമായ രാഷ്ട്രീയ ചിത്രം; പട റിവ്യൂ".
- ^ "PADA MOVIE | സെന്സറിങ് പൂര്ത്തിയായി; U/A സര്ട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റുമായി 'പട' മാര്ച്ച് 11ന് തിയേറ്ററുകളില്". News18 Malayalam. 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Pada First Review : 'കാഴ്ച്ചയുടെ ഗംഭീര പടവെട്ട്'; പടയുടെ ആദ്യ പകുതി പ്രതികരണം ഇങ്ങനെ". Zee News Malayalam. 11 March 2022.
- ^ "Kunchacko Boban-starrer 'Pada' to release on March 11 - Times of India". The Times of India. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Pada (Original Background Score) by Vishnu Vijay".
- ^ "Pada (Original Background Score)". Spotify. 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Evolving as an actor with each film: Interview with Kunchacko Boban". OnManorama.
- ^ "Mammootty to make cameo appearance in 'Pada'". The News Minute. 12 December 2019.
- ^ "Kunchacko Boban's 'Pada' wrapped up". The News Minute. 5 August 2019.
- ^ "Loved 'Pada'? Check out these Malayalam movies based on real events". The Times of India. 15 March 2022.
- ^ "Director Pa. Ranjith heaps praise on 'Pada', says he is impressed by the screenplay". The Times of India. 15 March 2022.
- ^ Anna M. M. Vetticad (12 April 2022). "Pada movie review: Captivating thriller on a real-life fight for Adivasi rights and the fury of the oppressed". Firstpost.
- ^ Anna M. M. Vetticad (26 December 2022). "Best Malayalam Films 2022: A year so good that keeping this list down to 10 was impossible". Firstpost.
- ^ "Pada Movie Review: A gripping story of '90s activism". The Times of India.
- ^ Praveen, S. r (12 March 2022). "'Pada' movie review: A sympathetic portrayal of the anger of the oppressed". The Hindu.
- ^ "Pada movie review: An enraged fist raised at apathetic state regimes". 11 March 2022.
- ^ "Pada Movie Review: Kunchako Boban's Malayalam Film Is Bold, Arresting Callback to a Revolt Against Systemic Indifference". LatestLY. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.