''1921: Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare'' () is a 2022 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

period film A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

written, produced, edited, and directed by Ramasimhan. It is based on the 1921 Malabar riots. The film depicts the accused

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

spearheaded by Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji. The film stars

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivaasal Vijay (born A. R. Vijayakumar) is an Indian actor and dubbing artiste. He has acted predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992), which became part of his stage name in Tamil ...

, R. L. V. Ramakrishnan,

Joy Mathew Joy Mathew (born 20 September 1961) is an Indian film and theatre actor. He is also a film director, playwright and screenwriter. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Career Joy Mathew is best known for playing the lead role in John Ab ...

Dinesh Panicker Dinesh Panicker is an Indian film producer, actor and Television producer, TV producer. He entered the film industry in 1989 by producing ''Kireedam (1989 film), Kireedam'', a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film. He went on to ...

Vijay Menon Vijay Menon is an Indian actor, editor, director and dubbing artist in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages. He mainly handles in character roles and supporting roles. He has won Kerala State Film Awa ...

, Santhosh K. Nayar,

Kozhikode Narayanan Nair Kozhikode Narayanan Nair is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He has acted in more than 300 films. He was a stage actor before entering Malayalam film industry. His first film was '' Aabhijathyam'' (1970), and he is also remembered ...

, Agna Suresh, and Kenas Mathew George. Produced on a limited budget, capital for the film was sourced through

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

. ''1921: Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare'' was premiered at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

on 13 August 2022. The film was theatrically released in India on 3 March 2023.

Plot

Cast

as Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji * R. L. V. Ramakrishnan as Chathan *

* Krishnapriya as Naani (Thozhi) * Santhosh T Nair as Driver *

as Collector *

as Aamu * Santhosh K. Nayar as Abdullakutty *

as Chekutty Sahib * Agna Suresh as Savithri * Kenas Mathew George as Hitchcock * Shobi Thilakan as Lavankutty * Shibu Thilakan as Kunjalavi * Sreejith Kaiveli as Mammad * Santhosh Saras as Madhavan Nair * Mohammed Eravattoor as Ali Musliyar * J. P. Athavanad as Moideen Haji * Krishna Prasad * Vinodh Kavil as Vishnu Namboothiri * Madhulal as Noonan

Production

Development

In 2020, a film on Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji was announced by Ali Akbar (later rechristened as Ramasimhan) in the centenary year of

Malabar rebellion The Malabar rebellion of 1921 (also called Moplah rebellion, and Mappila rebellion, Malayalam: ''malabār kalāpam'') started as a resistance against the British colonial rule in certain places in the southern part of old Malabar district of pr ...

of 1921. Capital for the film was sourced through

from public. Ramahimhan said he based the incidents in the screenplay from books about Malabar riots by K. Madhavan Nair,

Appu Nedungadi Appu Nedungadi (11 October 1863 – 6 November 1933) was an Indian writer and banker best known as the author of '' Kundalatha'', which was published in 1887, making it the first novel published in the Malayalam language. He was associated with ...

, and also from ''The Mopla Rebellion, 1921'' by C. Gopalan Nair, the then Deputy Collector of Malabar. He was prompted to do the film after director

Aashiq Abu Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian film director, producer, cinematographer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. He is best known for his films such as '' Daddy Cool'' (2009), '' Salt N' Pepper'' (2011), '' 22 Female ...

and actor

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (Help:IPA/Malayalam, /pr̩t̪ʰʋiɾaːd͡ʒ/; born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, producer, director, and playback singer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Bollywood, Hin ...

announced a film about Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji depicting him as a heroic figure.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on 20 February 2021 in

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

. Beside, the film was shot in

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

, interior scenes shot in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Nilambur Nilambur () is a major town, a municipality and a Taluk in the Malappuram district of the Indian state of Kerala. It is located close to the Nilgiri Mountains, Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats on the banks of the Chaliyar River. This place is ...

, and kovilakam scenes in

Manjeri Manjeri () is a major town and municipality in Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is the fourth-most populous List of cities and towns in Kerala, municipality in the state. It is situated southeast of Calicut International Airport, Karipur ...

. In September 2021, Ramasimhan said that they have raised ₹1.5 crore through crowdfunding and the film's budget is ₹3 crore and 60 percent of the filming has bee completed by then. Shooting was then postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

crisis. By that time, Abu and Prithviraj had already backed out from their project.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Hari Venugopal and Jagathlal Chandrasekhar, with lyrics by Ramasimhan.

Release

''1921: Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare'' was premiered on 13 August 2022 at

. The film was theatrically released in India on 3 March 2023.

Censoring issues

The film was submitted for certification at the regional office of

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

in May 2022. Three of its examination committee members recommended denial of certificate citing it contains "visuals as well as dialogues which are likely to endanger public order", while two other members recommended issuing UA certificate ("unrestricted public exhibition" with parental guidance for children below 12 years). The chairman denied certification and sent it to a revising committee in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. The revising committee, by majority decision, recommended issuing an adults-only A certificate with seven cuts. This committee also had a historian from the

Indian Council of Historical Research Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

. Nevertheless, the chairman send the film to a second revising committee which unanimously agreed on issuing an A certificate, but with 12 cuts. This prompted Ramasimhan to approach the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

challenging the chairman's decision to send the film to a second revising committee which is against the scope of his powers and law. In December 2022, the court ruled in favour of Ramasimhan, noting that the chairman's decision was illegal and goes against the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983. The film was granted certificate as per the first revising committee's report. Ramasimhan said that "when a historical riot is depicted, there will be bloodshed. It cannot be avoided. That is why the film got A certificate".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt18233116 2020s Malayalam-language films Indian historical drama films Indian films based on actual events Films set in the British Raj Films about genocide Films about Islamic terrorism in India Films about jihadism Films about religious violence in India Films shot in Wayanad Films shot in Kozhikode Films shot in Palakkad History of Kerala on film Film censorship in India Censored films Islam-related controversies in Asia 2022 controversies Religious controversies in India Religious controversies in film Works subject to expurgation