Literarily Speaking: Vidheyan (1994)- the master and his servant

Paul Zacharia’s short story, Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum is a layered study of the mutually dependent equation between a master and his servant. It is as much about the tyranny of landlords and masters as it is about the reverential subservience of slaves and servants. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s adaptation, with Kannada and Malayalam dialogues in the same movie, stays true to Zacharia’s story, expanding only on some sections to add texture.

About the adaptation

Set during the Second World War, Vidheyan is about Thommi, a migrant labourer who moves to South Karnataka with his wife, Omana in search of a better life than the one of starvation that they left behind in the princely state of Travancore.

The first meeting of Bhaskara Pattelar (Mammootty), the landowner in the South Karnataka village, and Thommi (Gopakumar) sets the tone for their relationship as master and servant. Pattelar mocks Thommi abuses him and makes it clear that he will be seeking his pleasure with Thommi’s wife, Omana (Sabita Anand). The next day, even as Thommi tells his wife that he will kill Pattelar, he is summoned by Pattelar, who gives him a job in the toddy shop and gifts him a set of clothes. Pattelar even selects a saree that would suit Omana. Thommi and Omana reconcile to staying on because they have few options and no agency. Thommi becomes indispensable as Pattelar’s servant, and Omana has no choice but to accept a physical relationship with Pattelar.

Pattelar satisfies his lust not only with Thommi’s wife but also with any woman he can have. Thommi subsists on small mercies in an otherwise indentured life but draws the line in partaking of the women that Pattelar uses and throws his way as scraps.

When Pattelar decides to kill his wife, Saroja (Tanvi Azmi) and make it look like an accidental misfiring of the gun, he enlists Thommi’s help. Thommi, who reveres Saroja as she has always treated him well, is understandably traumatised by the idea and relieved when the plan backfires.

Pattelar’s atrocities escalate, and he even beats up a man who arrives at the village in search of his missing brother. While in the story, the man dies, in the movie, he bands with other villagers who have been at the receiving end of Pattelar’s volatile abuse. They enlist Thommi’s help in killing Pattelar by wooing him with promises of a respectable peon job in the local panchayat.

With Pattelar’s past deeds catching up with him, and Saroja’s brothers in search of him, he goes into hiding along with Thommi. In the end, Pattelar, the hunter, becomes the hunted.

Does Thommi avenge himself and those whom Pattelar has subjugated? Or does his loyalty override his need for self-respect?

Characterisation & symbolism

Bhaskara Pattelar lives off past glory and feels entitled to have his way. In an early part of the movie, Pattelar sits on a chair with only one armrest, symbolic of lost power and diminished social standing. However, the rifle by his side represents the fear he evokes and the power he wields over the village.

In a scene where he metes out justice to a family dispute, Pattelar appears to have sprouted devil-like horns, juxtaposed against a mounted animal head on the wall behind him. It is as much a visual cue for his evilness as it is a foreshadowing of him becoming the hunted. Mammootty emanates not only privilege and pride in his portrayal of Pattelar, but he also brings, in the end, a touch of remorse on seeing the innocence of Thommi and Omana and how they’ve adapted to a life of serving him.

Gopakumar uses his body language effectively to transform into the hapless Thommi, torn between loyalty to Pattelar his provider, and his need for vengeance against Pattelar, his aggressor. Thommi is an unwilling accomplice in Pattelar’s transgressions and fears the consequences of Pattelar’s actions on their intertwined destinies.

While Thommi is the servant in this relationship, in some ways, Pattelar is also a slave to his ego and impulses. The movie amps up the portrayal of Pattelar’s entourage that earns its place at his side by hyping his influence and ego, egging him on to more misdeeds than he may have otherwise committed.

Towards the end, reduced to wearing only a dhoti and eating the same portion of food, Pattelar and Thommi become equals. But Pattelar, in many ways, is more dispossessed than Thommi, who has Omana awaiting his return.

You can watch Vidheyan here.

(Views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of OTTplay) (Written by Saritha Rao Rayachoti)