Official Trailer:

Let’s get the few obvious questions out of the way. Which one is better, Mari Selvaraj’s first or his second movie? Pariyerum Perumal (PP) or Karnan? To me, both are director’s movies and showcases his talent, how not to get carried away by the message compromising the art of cinema, how to make a good cinema with great content. Both had oppression, a universal subject, as the core theme. Similarities end there. In PP, the protagonist kept his focus on education to get his rightful place in the society even with all the humiliation he was put through. PP’s core message being violence is not the solution, only the change of mindset in oppressors is the key. Karnan shows us resorting to violent revolution is justified when you are up against the state which has closed all other available avenues. Karnan is kind of prequel to PP, PP is able to leave the village to get an education because Karnan paved the way.

Karnan is not an easy watch. Not because of the violence in scenes. It is because of the violence in people’s head. Especially when the violence is exerted by the police which represents the state (Collector gives the permission to do the needful). Yes, there is Karnan, the hero. Villagers unite for the fight. But it is an unequal fight, it is like you went with a knife to a gunfight. There is sort of triumph at the end, but it comes at a huge cost. Mari Selvaraj is uncompromising in showing us the brutality of the oppression, like a vulture snatching the chickens away. After Visaranai, this is the second movie from Kollywood which shows, with unflinching honesty, what (bad) people in power can do to its citizens.

When it comes to mass moments, I liked the way the director doesn’t do a quick jump cut to payoff. And these moments don’t leave you on a high. Consider this: A boy has thrown a stone at the bus. Fight between the bus driver, conductor and the few villagers waiting at the bus stop ensues. Karnan is busy with breaking the rope to free the donkey. Tension builds up. We get the mass scene only after the donkey is freed. Loved the way it is staged and visualized with donkey running towards the spirit, and Karnan walking towards the bus and then we get the adrenaline-charged moment. But it doesn’t leave you on an emotional high like the interval block form Basha or Asuran. They have risen against the mighty state….but will they be able to withstand the consequences?

While the story revolves around Karnan, director’s focus is on uprising of the villagers. Karnan is part of the collective. How the villagers come together is beautifully woven in the story. It doesn’t happen over a song or a monologue. It happens over multiple meetings in open space. There is Dissent. Disagreement. Debate. Decision arrived at by the collective. Mari Selvaraj has given a lesson on democracy to our society, elected representatives, CMs, and PMs. In another sequence where Karnan goes for police selection, Mari Selvaraj questions the notion of merit when there are hurdles even to get to the playing field. None of these messages are in your face, it is all subliminal and left to the viewer to dissect.

Discussion isn’t complete if you don’t talk about symbols in the movie. Starting with the Bus Stop, statues without heads, donkey, vulture, chickens, cats, dogs, horse, fish, moths, and worms, symbols are everywhere. Thanks to the director, he leaves it to the viewers to make their interpretation. How critical events get triggered by young children. Girl’s education gets stopped since there is no bus stop and going to bus stop in the neighboring village results in harassment. It is a boy who throws the stone at the bus that doesn’t stop. A boy narrates to Karnan what happened at the police station.
A boy takes the first step in the showdown between the villagers and the cops. Similarly, a boy mounts the horse first before Karnan rides it.

It has been widely discussed Mahabharath references in Karnan and I don’t have anything more to add. Excellent Cinematography, background music, and songs. Outstanding performances from Dhanush, Lal, Nataraja Subramanian, G.M.Kumar, Yogi Babu, and Lakshmi Priyaa.

I think it is time our directors shift the focus to how oppression and discrimination are practiced in cities, cosmopolitans, and corporates. Not saying no more movies on this topic with village as the setting. We need both. Since oppressive practices are visible in villages, it makes it easier to tell the story with village as the backdrop. These practices are not so easily perceptible in cities and corporates, and it is time we shift our gaze and shine the light on them.