Two South Indian Films on a Christian Concept.

 

                        

    The Lamb and Christianity are not only spiritually connected but are also emotionally interrelated. The Christian faith symbolizes the lamb as Christ himself, by its belief that Christ is the Lamb of God. Besides, the Lamb is equated with innocence and the power of salvation through sacrifice.By all means, the Lamb plays a pivotal role in Christianity.

   Recently,two films released within a gap of three years had something to do with the Lamb, not only in their titles but also in their representation of ideas and ideals. One was the Dileep starring Malayalam film ‘Marikkundoru Kungnaadu’{Mary Has a Little Lamb} that came in 2010 and the other was the Mysskin film’ Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum’{The Wolf and the Lamb} released in 2013.While the former was out and out a story emanating from a truly Christian background, with a Christian hamlet providing the story base, the latter was not just a thriller, but a bit iconoclastic too, in its evolution of theme and narration.Though the theme  base and mode of narration were different, both these films finally established the supremacy of the Lamb with the force of a lion.

    As usual, like most other films of Dileep,‘’Marikkundoru Kungnaadu’’ was also greatly enjoyable with its Dileep ingredients of humour, love, sentiment and action. In addition to these, the main character played by Dileep,was cleanly bound to the Christian ideology of the lamb being meek, innocent and being placed at the altar, often for a sacrifice. The goodness of the Lamb with its immaculate nature, was vindicated solidly at least on two occasions in the film. When the Church father was falsely implicated in a case relating to a nocturnal visit to a woman’s bedroom, Dileep playing the lamb, saved the Father  from the predicament, by accepting the fact that it was he who dressed in the Father's cassock, was in the woman’s bedroom during his visit to meet his lover Mary.Secondly, at the end of the film,when the lost golden cross of the Church was retrieved, one of the two robbers [impressively performed by Biju Menon} who budged to the powerful emotional appeal of the Lamb {Dileep} not to take away the Cross,was not exposed as a partner in the theft and thereby shown mercy and grace, in the name of  the Lord. These two contexts were more than enough, to prove the power of the Lamb and its symbolic significance.

   The Tamil thriller ‘’Onaayum Aaattukkuttium’’ starring director Mysskin as the wolf and Sri, as the Lamb, projected the darker side of crime  and macabre adventure, that most often find prominence in many of Mysskin films. Here the Lamb was shown as the typical Saviour, who could gain a lion’s might when it came to dealing with a Satanic mind set.Mysskin’s creative mould is made of sterner stuff with a passion for the darker side of the human psyche and its potential for portending evil. As in some of his earlier films, the devil is punished, here too, with  the glory of the Lamb of God, overpowering and conquering the evil at the end. However, ironically, Mysskin seems to prioritize the presence of more number of wolves in the present day world, through scenes displaying human arrogance, indifference and brutality, in happily witnessing others suffer, shedding blood. May be, this emphasis on lupine crookedness, is a deliberate attempt at spot- lighting the dazzling presence of nobility, however small it might look, in the midst of the massive crowd of wolves. It is finally the victory of the Lamb in the film, that catapulted the supremacy of virtue over vice.

      The two films mentioned here, might differ in their story line and style of narration. The Malayalam movie would have drawn more audience because of its openness in presentation and its all pervading entertainment quotient, coupled with the endearing presence of a hero like Dileep,to warm up the audience.But the Tamil film could also definitely reach its targeted audience, through its  departure from the usual cinematic line and cross the barriers of one’s imagination, through its complexities of negative dynamism, surpassed finally, by the positive pro active formulation of the Lamb theory. Both these films would have succeeded in effecting a warming up of the souls of those, who are passionately devoted to Christ and Christianity.
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