The title of the movie is invoked from the Egyptian concept of KaNo matter how progressive our movies have become, filmmakers often shy away from toying with the sexual preconceptions of the audience; perhaps the reason why male homosexuality is still vastly an under-explored territory in Malayalam cinema.
Papilio Buddha fame Jayan Cherian’s Ka Bodyscapes is an anomaly – a beautiful one for that matter. An honest attempt to mainstream the many-splendored gay love, the movie challenges all preconceived notions on homosexuality and misogyny.
Through the movie, Cherian mercilessly bashes the right-wing fundamentalism, and gender politics, which gets molded by the aristocratic undercurrents of the society.
Cherian skillfully touches upon a vast array of subjects in this one-and-a-half-hour movie. The gender inequality that prevails in traditional Muslim communities are also brought to light.
The title of the movie is invoked from the Egyptian concept of 'Ka', which is the vital essence of a human body that distinguishes the living from the dead. In the ancient writing system of Egypt, Ka was represented with a pair of upraised arms. At one particular scene, a lead character is asked to pose like 'Ka', with upraised arms, as a model for a bodyscape.
The plot centers around the relationship between two roommates viz., Haris (Jason Chacko) and Vishnu (Rajesh Kannan). While Haris, a painter, is aware of his sexual orientation, Vishnu, a staunch follower of Hindutva, resents his feelings.
Haris makes Vishnu pose as a model for a series of bodyscapes he creates. The paintings also include one in the posture of Hanuman. But instead of Sanjeevani, Vishnu is asked to pose with a pile of gay literature including IPC 377. Slowly, they develop an affection towards each other.
Parallel to their love story runs the tale of Haris’ friend Sia, who hails from an orthodox Muslim family. Though she comes from a section of society that withholds women from coming to the mainstream, Sia is not afraid to explore her sexuality and break the existing taboos.
From the 'Kiss of Love' movement against moral policing to the napkin protest where sanitary pads were mailed to a private company in Kochi that forced strip search of women to find out the person who left a pad at the toilet, Ka Bodyscapes zooms into some revolutionary triggers of change in Kerala.
As the trio refuses to conform to the existing norms, the society haunts them with their failed morality: Ka Bodyscapes is their struggle for survival.
