In Girish Karnad’s renowned play Hayavadana (1971), a young woman is pursued by two men who are friends with each other and claim to be in love with her. Padmini has to choose between Devadutta of high intellect and Kapila of an attractive physique. The ideal man ought to be a combination of the two, but even when this duality is resolved through an accident, none of the characters are at peace. Speaking about the play, Karnad had revealed that the idea came to him from a discussion on the meaning of masks in Indian theatre.
This is the play that the characters in Anand Ekarshi’s Aattam are performing, with 13 actors – 12 men and one woman. But Anjali (Zarin Shihab), who plays Padmini in the theatrical production, is left grappling not with the question of an ideal man made of different men but the opposite – is there any difference between men at all, whatever be the combination of their qualities? In other words, behind their masks, are they all the same?
Anjali belongs to a theatre group called Arangu. After a successful show, the cast is invited to a private party. In the wee hours of the morning, someone molests Anjali. When she speaks her truth, however, the group isn’t sure how to respond to the allegation.
The premise of Aattam appears to be inspired by the American legal drama 12 Angry Men (1957), where a jury deliberates over the guilt of a youth accused of killing his abusive father.
But, there is an important difference between the two crimes and how society views the victim and the accused – when it comes to sexual violence, it is the complainant who invariably ends up in the dock. She has to prove not only the perpetrator’s guilt but also her innocence. This immediately makes Aattam and 12 Angry Men very different films.
There is a dynamic energy to the screenplay, with the camera following the cast and the casual exchanges between them that take on significance later. Everyone in the cast has another job apart from that of a theatre actor. Different masks for different occasions. Anjali is an architect. Vinay (Vinay Forrt) is a chef. The two are a couple but the rest of the group cannot know of their relationship. Hari (Kalabhavan Shajohn) is a small-time movie actor who has become the star of the theatre group, much to Vinay’s resentment. There is a plumber, a gas station attendant, a “house husband”, an entrepreneur, upper caste and lower caste, rich, middle-class and poor – a varied bunch from a cross-section of society. But the writing flows easily, never feeling strained or deliberate. The characters emerge as real people, not boxes to be ticked.
The viewer is a witness, drawn into the drama as it unfolds, with the dialogues sounding completely spontaneous and not written down at all. The men don’t know what to do with the information that they have received. One uses it to further his ambition; another wants proof for the allegation; yet another ponders if a group of artists must approach the problem like laypersons. They all care about Anjali, but is she really so free of blame? What about her clothes? Her willingness to drink with the men? Why didn’t she speak about what happened immediately? Can her word be trusted? It isn’t only the 12 men who are judging Anjali, the viewer is probably doing it too.
The group’s opinion swings like a pendulum, with the men increasingly becoming annoyed with the “inconvenience” that the allegation has caused. Vinay and Zarin are superb – the scene at the bus stop when she bursts out laughing is especially brilliant – and so is the rest of the cast. Much of the film is just a bunch of people talking, but there isn’t a moment of boredom. The background score is minimal and allows the conversation to take centerstage without trying to manipulate our feelings in any particular direction.
Though Aattam can be seen as a whodunnit, that isn’t the point of the film. Its focus isn’t so much on who committed the crime than who enabled the perpetrator. It’s a portrait of the bro code, chilling and darkly funny in its accuracy. A compelling, necessary film for our times.
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