Kamal Haasan: A Cinematic Journey

by K. Hariharan

Throughout the film we also see Sivam devoting his time to the labour wing of a communist party by staging provocative street plays (a tribute to the brilliant stage actor and director, late Safdar Hashmi) which criticize Kandaswamy, a big factory owner, for underpaying and exploiting his labourers. Considering the long history of the communist parties in India, one must admit that our left-wing leadership has completely ignored the potential of popular culture and the aesthetic use of the media. The founding communist party did have an autonomous theatre wing called the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), virtually defunct now, but as far as cinema is concerned, the party was simply blind to its potential. Was this Kamal’s way to provoke the left wing to do something about recognizing the significant role that performance arts can play, especially in a diverse nation such as India? Coming back to the film, we see that Balasaraswathi, the young love interest, played by Kiran Rathod, happens to be the daughter of the factory owner Kandaswamy, the ‘heartless’ capitalist played brilliantly by Nasser. The daring Bala gets Sivam to paint a giant mural on a wall in her father’s office lobby. Kamal pays tribute to Diego Riviera by imbuing the mural with various symbols chastising the capitalists for their cold-blooded attitude towards the working class.

Anbe sivam 3