Cast: Kunchako Boban, Vinayakan, Joju George, Dileesh Pothan, Prakash Raj
Music: Vishnu Vijay
Direction: Kamal K M
In 1996, Adivasi land bill was passed by the Kerala legislative assembly. The bill takes away the right for the land from the native Adivasi communities. To protest against this, a group of four men take the district collector as hostage. Pada is based on this true incident which happened at Pallakad. Ramesh (Kunchako Boban), Balu (Vinayakan), Aravindan (Joju George) and Kutty (Dileesh Pothan) are the four member of the Ayyankali Pada.
The film tells us about an important incident and represents the issues of the oppressed communities which were never part of mainstream cinema. The films tells their story with great empathy and the screenplay is beautifully written showing the characters’ vulnerabilities and empathy. One of them even asks that if what they are going to do is right or wrong. By showing the characters’ vulnerabilities, they connect with us as humans. They treat their hostage, the collector, with respect. An old couple asks for some help to Aravindan and no one pushes them away or treat them ill. The tension the screenplay adds using the old couple is brilliant writing.
The tension is gradually built up in the first half until the four take hostage of the collector. But the second half is not as thrilling or inducing tension as first half. It’s also not a well-rounded film. In a conventional thriller, the watch which Balu gets from his daughter would’ve been used later in a film for a pay-off. Since its being true to the story/ incident, these conventional troupes aren’t used (which is totally okay). Pada is an important film that everyone should watch.
Verdict: Pada is an important as well as a gripping hostage thriller
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