The movie benefits immensely from its strong ensemble headed by a terrific Pashupathy. The real-life story which the film is based on also helps the proceedings even when things start to stagnate. Much like the teenage rom com Little Hearts earlier this year Bison Kaalamaadan is also successful in normalizing the heroine being older to the hero in a different social milieu. Anupama Parameswaran playing a defiant young lady brings in the required passion making the romantic subplot interesting
Starcast: Pashupathy. Dhruv Vikram, Rajisha Vijayan, Anupama Parameswaran, Lal, Ameer, Anurag Arora and others
Genre: Drama/action
Director and writer: Mari Selvaraj
Producers: PA Ranjith, Sameer Nair, Aditi Anand and Deepak Saigal
Production Companies: Applause Entertainment and Neelam Studios
Cinematography: Ezhil Arasu K
Music: Nivas K Prasanna
Running time: 2 hours and 48 minutes
Mari Selvaraj like PA Ranjith and Vetrimaran has made a place for himself as a politically charged filmmaker. His stories revolve around the marginalized communities with the protagonists coming from the oppressed castes. Some elements which the director uses have become his trademark symbols. This includes the incorporation of animal imagery starting from his debut movie Pariyerum Perumal itself. His latest Bison is no different. He takes the staple elements of a sports drama and combines that with his politically charged filmmaking.
In simple terms the storyline of Bison focuses on the numerous tribulations faced by Dhruv Vikram’s Kittan also called as “Vanathi” Kittan. The setting is 90’s rural Tamil Nadu. Kittan comes from an area where both caste oppression and violence are never ending. The basis for this story is Manathi Ganesan renowned Kabaddi player. The movie looks at how Kittan makes it big overcoming numerous battles of various kinds. This includes a conflicted father turned emotional anchor Velusamy (A scene stealing Pashupathy). There is an elaborate subplot of two warring factions headed by Lal and Ameer. These two also play an important role in shaping up Kittan’s journey especially Lal as Kandasamy. Rajisha Vijayan as Raji is the supportive elder sister. She fights for Kittan even when Velusamy is dead against his son playing the sport.
A strong aspect of Bison Kaalamaadan is the father and son dynamics. As Velusamy, Pashupathy goes through myriad emotions more than Dhruv Vikram in the titular character. In the initial portions Velusamy is adamant that his son shouldn’t pursue kabaddi. There is a constant fear in him given the social strata coupled with the violence prone atmospherics. It also doesn’t help that Kittan himself has a very aggressive personality with anger management problems. For example, there is a scene in the bus involving a goat. A seemingly small thing snowballs into a very violent incident as Kittan loses his temper further fueling the already tense atmosphere. It takes a lot of convincing for Velusamy to even see his son play. It’s only after watching the match that he finally says yes. This doesn’t mean that the fear stops completely but Velusamy later becomes an important pillar of support. This particularly comes out in a telephonic conversation when Kittan is down and out before a Kabaddi game.
Pashupathy as expected delivers a knockout act capturing the myriad emotions with ease. Bison is another feather in the cap for this versatile actor. As Kittan Dhruv Vikram does a fine job in justifying the tough persona. More than the moments of aggression the upcoming actor shines in the portions of showcasing vulnerability. It comes out in a solid manner in the second half. However, Kittan needed more shades especially in the romantic track with Anupama Parameswaran’s Rani. The passion feels one sided with only Anupama showing her intense love. Anupama Parameswaran as a defiant young lady sparkles in spite of the less screen time. She fares much better than Anandhi’s pretty but clueless doll in Periyarum Perumul. Its good to see movies normalizing the heroine being older than the hero and more importantly having a happy ending. Rajisha Vijayan also makes her presence amply felt.
Mention must also be made of the portions featuring Lal and Ameer. Yes, the track could have done with some serious trimming. At the same time they aren’t painted in a caricaturist manner. There is a humanness to them especially in the way Kandasamy supports Kittan when the people around him treat Kittan as a suspicious outsider. Mention must also be made of the scene where Ameer as Pandiraja supports Rani’s love more than her own brother. Ameer scolds him for his narrow-minded thinking along with the treatment of his wife. The futility of violence comes out well with both of them in the end betrayed by close ones.
The cinematography of Ezhil Asaru K is suitably rustic. The rugged atmospherics with a constant dread has been effectively captured. The costume design coupled with the art direction is also of a good order. The music and background score amplifies the drama on numerous occasions.
A major problem with Bison is the staple and cliched sports film tropes. The film gives a major hangover of numerous sports dramas with the political manipulations and also a dramatic finale which can be seen from a mile. Anurag Arora as the coach is particularly irritating with his constant undermining of Kittan. More of Kabaddi and less violence would have benefitted the film. An overdose of blood with stretched action sequences makes the film a tough watch.
Final word: Bison Kaalamaadan has its heart in the right place and is definitely worth watching for fans of Mari Selvaraj’s brand of cinema. But the overdose of violence and the repetitive animal imagery isn’t for all.