Hannah & Rose discuss the 2016 drama Veeram, an adaptation of Macbeth. This film is directed by Jayaraj with music by Jeff Rona. It stars Kunal Kapoor, Himarsha Venkatsamy, and Satheesh Menon.
Recommended for advanced viewers. Rated for young teens.
Other names mentioned in the episode are Fahadh Faasil, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Vidya Balan.
The songs used in this episode are Mele Manikya and We Will Rise. All of these songs are available for purchase through Amazon or iTunes.
Our next series is Indie Movies and includes C/O Kancharapalem (2018), Kumbalangi Nights (2019), Kahaani (2012), Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016), and Rama Rama Re… (2016).
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You might want to see an 80s version of the ballad completely whitewashing Chandu (Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha). It’s available in youtube with English subs. Unniyarcha’s primary loyalty lay with her brother Aromal. She grew up with Chandu in the same household and it was expected that they’d marry. Chandu and Aromal had a rivalry which made the latter coerce his sister into marrying his friend. It is clearly mentioned in the ballad that she had contempt for her coward husband.Chekavar just means Dueller. It is not a ceremonial position or caste name. There exists a warrior caste, but dueling or service in the army is not their exclusive province. Chandu’s family is not from a ‘military caste’ but are proficient in martial arts and have been Duelers for generations.Neither Chandu nor his wife suffered any qualms of conscience in the ballad. That was included from Macbeth. The principal cast- apart from the actor playing Aromal -are from the Hindi film industry. So no, they wouldn’t be “more comfortable” as you say in Malayalam. Rather the opposite. They are more fluent in English and would be at sea parroting the Malayalam dialogues in the Malayalam version. Chandu’s story does not come from a poem. That implies scholars. No. The creators were lowborn bards and it was later taken up by agricultural workers and carried on for centuries to become part of the folklore. These folksongs are collectively known as Northern Ballads since the principal characters hail from Northern Kerala.
Wow, thanks so much for the info! That’s all very interesting. We’ll have to look into that movie!