Kammatipaadam

Plot

Krishnan, who works in a security firm in Mumbai, receives a call from his childhood friend Ganga. The call indicates that Ganga is in danger and need Krishnan's help. Later, Krishnan travels to Kerala to find Ganga. During his journey Krishnan recalls all the problems that he had to face in his hometown Kammatti Padam.

In the early 1980s, Krishnan who is a primary school student befriends with Gangadharan/Ganga, a kid who belongs to a Dalit family. Ganga's brother Balan/Balettan is a thug and is involved in smuggling spirit. Both Krishnan and Ganga are introduced to violence at a very young age. Krishnan is in love with Anitha, a relative of Ganga.

Later, Krishnan, Ganga, Balettan, Venu and others form a gang working for a local businessman, Ashaan. After the gang is involved in a fight, Krishnan kills a police officer while trying to save Ganga. He then goes to jail and returns to Kammatti Padam only to discover that the gang is now more advanced and are smuggling spirit under the leadership of Surendran/Ashaan. The gang creates a lot of enemies which includes Johnny. Krishnan discovers that Ganga is also in love with Anitha and is planning to get married soon.The gang destroying the homes of the locals leaves Ganga's grandfather devastated. He dies of shock when he discovers that his grandchildren have no love for him.

Balettan who is now a changed man after his grandfather's death wants to stop everything. One night Balan's wife demands to go to medical shop to get some supplies.They are accompanied by both Ganga and Krishnan. Balettan says that he wants to stop his criminal activity and simply wants to live happily with his family in Kammatti Padam by starting a travel agency.During their conversation about Anitha, Balan mentions his wish to see Krishnan get married to her and this causes Ganga and Balan to end up in a fight. Ganga gets out of the car. Later, Balan, Krishnan and Balan's wife Rosamma reach the nearby medical shop. Rosamma and Krishnan get out of the car and walk towards the medical shop. Balettan, too intoxicated stays in the car which moments later gets hit by a truck, explodes and leaves Balettan dead. Ganga blames Krishnan for his brother's death and both their friendship is torn apart.

Later, Krishnan starts a travel agency and Ganga still remains a thug.The gang later learns from a friend Sumesh that Johnny was the one who planned Balan's murder.An enraged Krishnan and Ganga stab Johnny landing them in trouble, chased by the police. Krishnan gets arrested saving Ganga. Meanwhile, Ganga marries Anitha and then Krishnan relocates to Mumbai.

In the present, Krishnan learns about the mishaps created by Ganga and tries to find him with the help of Rosamma. Rosamma reveals that it could be Johnny who is behind Ganga's problems and Krishnan sets on a journey to find Johnny. Johnny who is paralysed after Ganga stabbing him says that he is not aware of Ganga's whereabouts. Krishnan beats down all of Johnny's gang members but the fight ends with Krishnan getting stabbed by Johnny's brother.

Later, Krishnan is left heart broken when he hears that Ganga's dead body has been found. He later seeks the help of Ashaan who is now a big business entrepreneur to find the real killer only to discover that he is the one who murdered Ganga. Ashaan reveals that he killed Ganga due to his constant disturbance and demands for money. Ashaan is killed by Krishnan kicking him out the window of his high story apartment. In the aftermath, Krishnan says that it is people like Ashaan who corrupt the city spilling blood for more lands and profit and that he acted for the sake of his hometown, Kammatti Padam.

Cast

Production

The film started production in September 2015 in Mumbai. The title Kammattipaadam was announced in February 2016. The filming was completed on 10 March 2016 and the release was scheduled for May 2016. A one-minute twenty five second long trailer of film was released on 16 May in YouTube.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features songs composed by three composers, namely K, John P.Varkey and Vinayakan. The background score was composed by K.

Box office

The film has collected ₹1.52 crore (US$230,000) on its opening day at the Kerala box office, becoming the fifth Malayalam film of 2016 with highest first day collection after Kali, King Liar, Darvinte Parinamam and Action Hero Biju and within three days of release ₹27 lakh (US$40,000) from the Kochi multiplexes and ₹5.66 lakh (US$8,400) from the Chennai box office. It collected ₹7 crore (US$1.0 million) from all over India in its first week. The film collected around ₹12 crore (US$1.8 million) within 12 days from all India box office. The film collected ₹19.13 lakh (US$28,000) during its third weekend in the U.S. market. The film collected ₹15.1 crore (US$2.2 million) from Kerala box office, the budget was ₹7.80 crore (US$1.2 million).

Home media

The DVDs and VCDs of Kammatipaadam were released on 10 August 2016.

Critical reception

Anurag Kashyap told that Kammatipaadam is one of the best gangster movie ever made in India.He also appreciate the brilliant performance of actors in the movie.Rajeev Ravi wrote article in ‘Deshabhimani’ few days after the release of the movie and said that the word ‘Pulayan’ was not allowed to be used even once in the movie by the Censor Board. Ernakulam was a small town during the early 1950s, and during the first communist government of EMS Namboodiripad in 1957, small tracts of farm land were given to all landless community, mainly to the Dalit community, under the Land Reforms Ordinance Act. But following the Economic Liberalisation of 1991, Kochi boomed into a metro city, and real estate skyrocketed. The then government set up Greater Cochin Development Authority, which helped the real estate boom, all the while paddy fields were converted to housing boards, luxury villas and apartments. Kammatipadam shows how the Dalits were forced to sell out their lands to the real estate mafia.

Gowtham VS of The Indian Express wrote: "Rajiv Ravi has dismantled all conventional concepts of Malayali aesthetics by capturing the unadulterated beauty of black skin through characters who portrayed the lives of Dalits. The director has continued to use his anarchic concepts of visualisation, which include shaky shots, blurred frames and sometimes abrupt sequences. The realistic and daring approach of Rajiv Ravi deserves standing ovation at times when the paper tigers in this industry still fear to come up with something different from the old mould." A critic from Indiaglitz.com described it as "one classy movie which needs to be applauded for its passion and intensity".

More to know

Vinayakan, for his acting in this film, received the Kerala State Film Award for the best actor in 2016 and Manikandan secured the award for the best Character Actor