In Maqbool, Vishal turned Macbeth’s witches into corrupt police officers Pandit (Om Puri) and Purohit (Naseeruddin Shah) who predict that Maqbool (Irrfan) would soon take over Jahangir Khan or Abbaji’s empire. What made Bhardwaj’s version of Macbeth exceptional? The inspired move of making Lady Macbeth Abbaji’s mistress; her fear of losing her hold over the old don triggers Maqbool/ Macbeth’s actions more than his desire to be the lord. Perhaps the cinematic span of Macbeth from Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood that places the character against a Samurai backdrop, and Bhardwaj, who puts him in the underbelly of the Bombay underworld legend makes it natural for Jayraj to place Veeram in between the fable of Chandu Chekaver and Kalaripayattu, the ancient Indian martial art that originated in Kerala.

Kurosawa’s Washizu and Vishal’s Maqbool display with great aplomb the central theme of ambition merged with a wrapped sense of loyalty. Both Washizu and Maqbool may be ambitious, but are also fiercely loyal. While every samurai or gangster’s henchman Washizu and Maqbool’s occupation respectively might harbour a desire to be his own master, both are relatively content with the position they hold. Imagine any samurai or a Hindi gangster film and it would not be totally incorrect to say that similar characters from other films would be more eager than the Macbeth in Throne of Blood and Maqbool to commit the sins that become their undoing. This concept makes Veeram a luscious prospect in the pantheon of Macbeth adaptations. Merged with the legend of Chandu Chekaver, who is also known as Chathiyan (Betrayer) Chanthu, it offers a great platform to interpret Macbeth.

There are numerous versions of the fable of Chandu Chekaver, the warrior who supposedly lived in the 16th century (Veeram places him in the 13th century) and hates his cousin Aromal Chekavar for winning the love of Unniyarcha. There is one version where Chandu becomes Aromal’s helper in a duel, Ankam, and stabs him, while another version says that Chandu replaces the metal rivets holding the blade of Aromal’s sword with wooden ones thereby leading to his death.

Transporting Chandu Chekaver to Shakespeare’s Macbeth is perhaps as intriguing as a previous telling of the legend in Hariharan’s 1989 epic Malayalam film Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha where the story was presented from Chandu’s perspective. Mammootty, who also won the National Film Award for Best Actor for the role, portrayed the role of Chandu, and here Chandu was shown as an orphan who suffers only losses in his life, and most of them, at the behest of Aromal (Suresh Gopi). The ‘betrayer’ part of Chandu’s persona in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha comes in a roundabout, where his teacher and master Kalaripayattu exponent Aringodar (Captain Raju) is fighting Aromal but the latter’s sword breaks. Chandu requests Aringodar for a break to fix Aromal’s sword that has been purposefully ruined by a blacksmith on the directive of Aringodar’s daughter Kunji (Geetha) who loves Chandu. Aromal deceptively kills Aringodar during the break and later blames Chandu for making his sword brittle, and in the fight that ensues, Chandu accidentally kills Aromal, whose dying words – “Chandu betrayed us” – seal Chandu’s destiny.

In addition to being his third adaptation of Shakespeare after Othello and Anthony and Cleopatra, Veeram is also the fifth in Jayaraj’s ‘navarasa’ series. The 35-crore film is also the most expensive Malayalam film made till date, and in many ways, is an amalgamation of global talents. The film’s stunts have been choreographed by Allan Poppleton whose previous credits include The Expendables 2 (2012), The Hunger Games (2012), Avatar (2009) while Trefor Proud (Gladiator [2000], Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace [1999]) has designed the make-up.

Jeff Rona, a former associate of Hans Zimmer has scored the music. It has been almost a decade since the previous film in the Jayraj navarasa series, Adbhutam (2006), which made more news for its production, where the 71-minute long film was made in 2-hours.

The series has cemented the prolific filmmaker’s Dr. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde-like persona where he can balance art-house with popular films that he at times labels ‘crass commercial.’ The series came into existence with Karunam (2000) that dealt with how the old in India were treated. The same year also saw the second in the nine film series, Shantham (2000) that featured footballer I.M. Vijayan as the lead and explored the tumultuous journey of two young men who get drawn to rival political movements.

Jayaraj places Macbeth and Chandu Chekaver together in Veeram. The film promises to be a great rendering that in the years to come could inspire younger filmmakers to change their perspectives while viewing the tragedy.

Throne of Blood and Maqbool

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