Typical mass masala
entertainers revolve around the theme of Hero taking revenge on the villain by killing him. In
this instance, is the hero really the hero? Technically both the hero
and the villain have committed murder, both for personal reasons. Is justice
served and can the loss of beloved people be replaced by this act? Is this is
right way that justice should be delivered?
B Unnikrishnan's
latest movie Villain discusses these interesting points in detail in an unusual
and unbiased style. Here both the protagonist and antagonist have committed
villainy and can be considered a villain. So basically this movie is about the
psychological struggle of two villains. But one emerges as a true hero in the
end. The movie aims to make the viewers realize that the existing
administrative and judicial system is the best possible solution for
maintaining law and order.
The basic plot
of the movie is based on justice. The antagonist Shaktivel considers him the
messiah of timely justice and takes the matter of delivering justice into his
own hands. However, the protagonist Matthew
Manjooran is of the view that no one is allowed deliver justice besides the
judiciary system and that revenge is not the answer. Manjooran here puts his
faith on the judicial system of the country. It seems Manjooran is with Gandhi
on the idea revenge,"an eye for an eye only
ends up making whole world blind."
Shakthivel is
the complete opposite of Manjooran when it comes to justice and revenge. He
believes if justice is delivered by a selected few of the judicial system, why
cannot a man like him cannot punish a person who wronged him. Although it is
undeniable that there is something gratifying about taking justice into your
own hands in order to get a swift solution, it is against the law. However, the
thing about court verdict is that, it may be decided by one person but it is a
systematic process and thus less prone to error, and definitely better than a single
person using unorthodox methods to deliver justice All people are equal before
the law, no person has the power to take law into their hands. Unnikrishnan
makes sure that this view reaches his audience through his character Manjooran.
Our justice system might not be perfect and it might be slow in its process,
but in the end, it delivers justice. Justice system is impartial, whereas an
individual like Shaktivel cannot be impartial as he is clearly driven by
personal motives.
Also Shaktivel
is an one man army who can be compared to a dictator. Using Shaktivel, the writer offers a
microcosm of the big picture of how dictatorship works in a society.
Unnikrishnan points out that a dictator is the worst thing that can happen to a
society and their decisions have only plunged the society into deeper troubles.
One other thing that is evident from the movie
is that inflated ego is not a desirable quality in a person. Shaktivel is a
egoistical maniac who thinks he is above all others, including the law. On the
contrary, the protagonist believes that law will take its own course. He
understands that he is a part of the system and his role can be effectively
carried out by another person, his successor. Manjooran believes in the system,
whereas Shakthivel considers himself above the system.
Another topic the movie deals with is personal loss. How one can escape from the mental
trauma of losing someone that is dear to them? For a human being, this loss is very
sorrowful. They cannot be replaced. Their memories cannot be replaced. But from
a system point of view personal losses are negligible. Technically society lost
an upcoming doctor when Manjooran's daughter died, however he more than
compromises this by giving back two derailed doctors Shaktivel and Shreya who
was made to realize their mistakes.
Shaktivel's
father committed suicide because he thought his dream to make his son a doctor
will not be
fulfilled, but later Shaktivel gets admission in the same medical college that
refused togive him a seat.
So justice is partially served, but instead of trying to overcome the trauma of
personal loss by means of grieving Shaktivel takes out his anger on the system.
Manjooran's wife's
ambition was to build a school for the mentally challenged children. Manjooran
quits his job and decides to fulfill the dreams of his wife so that her dream
can live through him This is again another thing which helps the collective
society in this corrupted world were humanity and compassion is no longer
getting higher priority. This also helps him to overcome his personal loss.Also,
he will be able to find solace in the fact that he is doing something that his
wife yearned to do all her life.
There is often a
prejudiced interpretation that people are either good or bad. However, this is
not true, this black and white thing only distorts the reality. There's
potential for good and bad in everyone, it's a cliché, but it is true. Every
person has their grey, black and white moments. We shouldn't be prejudiced and
judge them based on those moments, rather it should be left to those people
with experience, like the judge.
This movie is
thus against mob justice.Like the Greek philosopher Aristotle believed, everything happens for a reason, we need to analyze it. Here, the protagonist understands the situation that his colleague is in and forgives him. He forgives the man who was responsible for his wife's death instead of blindly seeking vengeance. Manjooran doesn't over react or gets aggressive, instead he enquires calmly about the reason for the betrayal he committed. And he leaves the rest to the judicial system.
Another thing at play here is love. The antagonist and
protagonist, both have lovers. Manjooran truly loves his wife. When his wife
was in a coma and suffering, he releases her from all that suffering. That is
out of love. Shaktivel on the other hand manipulates his lover's love for him
and makes her an accomplice in his
crimes.
One thing I
found interesting is the subtle use of intelligence and technology. Shaktivel
is an intelligent doctor who uses his expertise to kill people to take revenge
on the system. On the other hand Manjooran uses his intelligence and expertise
to solve a murder and to save many lives.
In the movie we
can see a chain of events happening because one person took matters into his
hands ignoring the administrative and judicial machinery. Felix never wanted to
end up in jail, thus he escaped and this resulted in the murder of two people
and then again in the murder of an innocent lorry driver. This is an
interesting pattern; in the movie out of the three people who lost their lives,
only two were real culprits, but revenge cost the life of an innocent person.
So when one person takes the task of delivering justice into his hands there
will always be collateral damage. In the case of Shakthivel, while he was
seeking revenge three innocent police officers lost their lives. This pattern
would have repeated if Manjooran had took justice into his hands. However, no
more collateral damage was done as Manjooran followed the law.
Interestingly
enough the last target of Shaktivel was the DGP of the state. So he thinks that
his fight against the Justice system of the society will have a perfect finale
if he is able to punish the justice keeper even though it's out of personal vengeance.
He proposes to do this in front of Manjooran whom he considers an upright
officer and the alternate Justice. But Manjooran clearly points out that we all
should follow the law of this land and also proves that the DGP is innocent and that Shaktivel has
come to the wrong conclusion. The person who considers himself the best vigilante
has erred. So he cannot be considered invincible or better than existing
Judicial system. The judicial system of the country delivers justice through a
long process which has many levels so the chances of error is much less than
Shaktivel thinks.
It is also clear that the movie is also
against capital punishment. the movie already established that the people are
not binary or black and white. They are much more complicated than that. There
are different shades in everyone. There is often a prejudiced interpretation
that people are either good or bad. However, this is not true, this black and
white thing only distorts the reality. There's potential for good and bad in
everyone, it's a cliché, but it is true. Every person has their grey, black and
white moments. We shouldn't be prejudiced and judge them based on those
moments, rather it should be left to those people with experience, like the
judge. Manjooran is ready to accept this fact and let the wrongdoers surrender
to law. Once they serve their jail term they should get reformed. This is in
line with our justice system. Manjooran mourned the death of his wife and
daughter for 7 months in isolation. This can be considered akin to a jail sentence which redeems his
earlier mistake of taking law into his hands when letting his wife of her
misery.
Manjooran finds
that revenge is a bad life-long disease and was in dilemma for long whether to
commit suicide or to do murder. But he neither committs suicide or does murder.
He overcame his trauma by telling himself that revenge is not the right path,
and thus he choose the right path, that is the path of law and order. The movie
again makes a strong point by saying that it's the circumstances that makes a
person a hero or villain, but even in such circumstances a villain can become a
hero by making the right choice. It is the choice that defines who we are. It
is the choice that matters.
It is debatable
whether mercy killing is ethical,
legal, or justified. However when he saw his suffering wife, he didn't
think about the legality of his actions. He just wanted to put his wife out of
her misery. May be it was a slightly villainous thing to do, but after that he
evolved much as a person and became the ultimate hero.
So, Villain is
actually an endearing and heartbreaking journey of the protagonist from a villain
to a hero. He doesn't allow his animal instincts to overrule his humanity. He is an ideal citizen who doesn't
hold himself above the law.
The last thing is that you should always think
before you take a decision. Dwell on it. Sleep on it. But never do something in
haste. So before posting a negative review of this movie, do think about the
movie in depth.
Posts
