SCENE 1
Location: A cinema hall in Kerala.
Year: 1991
Climax scene of the Malayalam movie 'Inspector Balram'
Balram, who kicks down the goons of underworld don Sha, points gun at his enemy and delivers a lengthy dialogue in Hindi which ends like this: “Aur yakin maano, ke aaj tumhara saaamna ek sher se hua hain… aur uska naam hein Inspector Balram.”
Such a lengthy ‘mass’ dialogue at climax was being delivered in Hindi for the first time in a Malayalam movie, but the audience greeted it with thunderous applause despite the subtitles missing. Forget the language as one wondered how Balram, a local circle inspector, could take law into his hands and kill an underworld don from Mumbai so effortlessly. The answer: The police characters enjoyed the privilege, thanks to their predecessors --- some superhuman, others larger than life.
Cut to 2021
From Balram, a tiger who vows to chase down its rival, the stature of the protagonist in a Malayalam police movie underwent a sea change as we reached Nayattu (The Hunt). In it, Maniyan, a hapless assistant sub-inspector, who on the verge of being hunted down by fellow police officers and the system, ends his life by hanging from the branch of a tree. Over three decades, as Malayalam cinema got on to a more realistic path, the moustache-twirling, unwavering and at times brutal police heroes gave way to mere mortals caught in the vortex of circumstances. Not everybody is happy with the trend though.
Malayalam cinema started replacing knicker police (khakhi shorts were worn by those up to the rank of sub-inspectors until 1982) with more serious officers, from the beginning of 1970s. It was the legendary Sathyan who portrayed one of the most dynamic police officers of his times – Rajasekharan Nair, in 'Crossbelt' (1970). Prem Nazir, Sathyan’s contemporary and a superstar back then, performed more undercover roles like those in 'Danger Biscuit' (1969) and 'Kannur Deluxe' (1969). The Nazir-Adoor Bhasi pair have several CID movies to their credit. The image of a stubborn policeman was redefined by Jayan in 'Nayattu' (1980) in which he portrayed sub-inspector Vijayan, a modified version of Amitab Bachchan’s Inspector Vijay Khanna in 'Zanjeer'. After the Emergency and the notorious Rajan case, many police officers were shown having a nexus with politicians and the underworld.
Probably the first ‘realistic’ police officer was Mammootty’s Circle Inspector Jacob Eeraly in 'Yavanika' (1982).
Still, Malayalam cinema stuck to commercial potboilers with the ‘heroic hardships’ and professional challenges faced by policemen as themes. A police officer hand in glove with the underworld and torturing the hero and his family was another ‘favourite cliché’.
Mohanlal, before attaining superstardom through 'Rajavinte Makan' in 1986, had donned police hero roles in 'Ivide Thudangunnu' (1984) and 'Athirathram' (1984). It was through 'Athirathram', in which he played the character of smuggler Tharadas that Mammootty became a superstar. Interestingly, Mohanlal too achieved superstardom by playing the role of underworld prince Vincent Gomez (Rajavinte Makan). Mohanlal performed the role of DYSP Achuthan Kutty, a typical Padamarajan character, in 1986 release 'Kariyilakkattupole'.
It was in the same year that director-scriptwriter duo of I V Sasi and T Damodaran introduced Inspector Balram, one of the most successful police characters ever in Malayalam, through 'Aavanazhi'. Its sequel Inspector Balram was released in 1991 while 'Balram vs Tharadas' appeared in 2006. Greatly inspired by Hollywood sensation 'Dirty Harry' portrayed by Clint Eastwood, Balram was a baddie and law-breaker yet a lovable officer who would go to any extent to discharge his official duties efficiently. Balram is regarded as the first ‘macho’ cop in Malayalam. Perumal, the crime branch officer in August 1, released two years after 'Aavanazhi', cemented the actor’s stature as a police star.
Haridas Damodaran, portrayed by Mammootty in 'Ee Thanutha Veluppan Kalathu' (1990), was another example of a refined officer. Unlike in 'Aavanazhi', Mammootty gave stress to subtle performance. Another police movie which opted for a different treatment was 'Mukham' (1990) in which Mohanlal appeared as Assistant Commissioner Hariprasad against his superior officer Narendran, played by Tamil actor Nassar. In 1993, when 'Dhruvam' was released, Suresh Gopi, with his inspector Nariman, proved the actor has it in him to carry a full-length firebrand cop role. The success of 'Ekalavyan' (1993), in which Suresh Gopy appeared as special officer Madhavan IPS, elevated him to superstardom.
“After Ekalavyan, writer Renji Panicker told me about the heroics of a firebrand police commissioner. That is how ‘Commissioner’ was born,” said director Shaji Kailas.
Shaji said he had been a huge admirer of director-writer duo I V Sasi-T Damodaran and his challenge was to bring in a change. The lathi charge scene in 'Commissioner', shot in front of the University College, Thiruvananthapuram, is definitely one of the best of its kind where Shaji proved he is as good as I V Sasi when it comes to shooting a crowd scene. Another highlight was the signature music that the late Rajamani gave for Bharathchandran. “During re-recording, we thought of a theme tune for Bharathchandran and I told Raja about Sun TV’s signature music. He came up with a theme, which became hugely popular,” Shaji said.
After 'Commissioner' (1994), Suresh Gopi became the most sought-after star for police roles. Mammootty came up with 'The Godman' (1999), but it failed to make a similar impact. So did many other police movies released from 2000 to 2010.'Bharathchandran' made a re-entry as writer Renji Panicker’s directorial debut in 2005 with Suresh Gopi in the title role. Mohanlal’s 'Baba Kalyani' (2006) and Mammootty’s DIG Ramanathan in Vinayan’s 'Rakshasa Rajavu' (2001) and Narendran aka Nari in Renji Panicker’s Roudram (2008) were the three other prominent police roles of that period.
Following the stupendous success of Gautham V Menon’s Tamil movie 'Kaakha Kaakha' (2003) in Kerala, director Vinayan came up with a big-budget police story, 'Sathyam', with Prithviraj in lead. Prithvi was relatively new back then and the movie was only an average hit, yet it helped him land many young and vibrant police characters. Solomon from 'Vargam' (2006) and 'Mumbai Police' (2013) remain his best roles in a police outfit.
Perhaps the most controversial police character in Malayalam cinema is Rajan Zachariya, performed by Mammootty in 'Kasaba' (2016). The Kerala Women’s Commission pulled up the Nithin Renji Panicker directorial for portraying women in bad light. Women in Cinema Collective too pointed fingers at the movie and the Malayalam cinema in general citing its male dominance. Following that, many prominent actors started becoming ‘politically correct’, which eventually led to a dearth of ‘mass’ police heroes in Malayalam.
The paradigm shift from mass heroics to a realistic plane happened through 'Action Hero Biju' (2016) and 'Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum' (2017). While Biju was portrayed in realistic colours, Thondimuthal narrated the tale of a thief and a newlywed couple, with policemen in real life playing many of the side characters. Hidden cameras were placed at police station locations in both the movies.
“In the past, movies used to exaggerate police characters, be it a truthful or bad officer. It was an ‘impression’ that cinema had thrust upon us. In Thondimuthal, that conventional mould was broken as the director wanted to make it as natural as possible,” said the movie’s screenwriter Sajeev Pazhoor.
After Thondimuthal, it was director Padmakumar who introduced a civil police officer, Shahi Kabir, as the writer of Joseph (2018).
“Cinema always reflects the changing political scene. For instance, after Emergency, policemen were mostly cruel in movies while the exaggerated officers had the licence to kill. It continued until 2010. With the changing socio-political scenario, cinema too started to adopt a realistic approach,” said Kabir.
In his second movie too, Kabir narrated a police story. 'Nayattu', a political thriller, bagged several state awards including for the best story. His directorial debut 'Ilaveezha Poonchira' (2022) also revolved around the lives of two police officers at a hilltop wireless station. As a writer, Kabir said that rather than glorifying investigation, he prefers to concentrate on the circumstances that lead to a crime and the psychological impact it has on various characters. No wonder, Kabir rates K G George’s 'Yavanika' and 'Ee Kanni Koodi' (1990) high.
Year 2023
Film: 'Purusha Pretham'
The movie, which was released on OTP, narrates the tale of the ruthless police inspector Sebastian, known as Super Sebastian. Director Krishand selected Prasanth Alexander as the hero who until then was known for his cameos, mainly in 'Action Hero Biju' and 'Madhuraraja' (2019). A police procedural story, it was devoid of punch dialogues and heroism. Yet it was entertaining.
“Police officers are not superheroes, they are normal human beings. We wanted to capture the situations they found themselves in during their mundane work,” said Krishand.
Christopher, the other police story that hit the screens this year, was quite opposite to 'Purusha Pretham'. It came with a tagline ‘Autobiography of a Vigilante Cop,’ with Mammootty in the role of a laidback SP. The film was not a commercial success, but that did not deter the actor from signing another police movie ‘Kannur Squad’ which will release soon. His other recent police characters were that of an undercover officer in 'Masterpiece' (2017), a down-to-earth Manikandan in 'Unda' (2019) and a casteist bigot 'Puzhu' (2022). Mammootty, most of whose 20-odd police characters are firebrands, has opted for a subtle approach for his recent roles.
This raises a question whether Malayalam cinema get another dynamic cop. Yes, say makers of even realistic movies. Apart from Mammootty’s 'Kannur Squad', Nivin Pauly is planning a sequel to 'Action Hero Biju'. That means, such stories are still possessing that inviting hook for an actor, leaving lovers of mass masala police movies hopeful.
“Such movies will happen. The society believes in police force and the very thought that policemen are present to safeguard justice gives the people a sense of security. Celebrating it on a big canvas can still give the audience goosebumps. I know some children who wished to become police officers after watching Commissioner. The trend will continue,” said Krishand.
Just wait and see!
(The writer is a freelance journalist based in Kochi)