The Arbit Documentation of an Amphibian Hunt: Aavasavyuham

 

Krishand’s award-winning movie Aavasavyuham (2022) communicates the synergy between nature and humans and their societal issues through a genre blend of documentary and fiction with a pinch of magic realism. This mockumentary revolves around one central character, Joy, who has a mystic relationship with all creatures in nature.

 The story moves through the interviews with a few people with whom Joy spent different phases of his life. They are Joy’s initial benefactor Kochraghavan; his ex-lover Lissy; his nemesis Murali and Susheelan Vava, who exploits Joy’s unique abilities for his benefit.

The story is in four parts, and the first two parts symbolise man’s innate bond with nature and her creations. In the beginning, we can see the simple life of Joy at Azhikode. A group of researchers comes in search of a new frog species, and Joy helps them to locate the frogs using a particular sound. The local people call him weird. No one knows where he came from or about his past. They compare him with an eel because not only he has a strong and flexible body, he always slips away from people and exists as a mystery. Lissy, the girl who was in love with Joy, describes that he always had a fishy smell, even though he doesn’t eat fish for meals. Her father, Kochuraghavan discovers Joy’s ability to call fish, prawns and other marine creatures when he makes a particular sound. Later, he flees from Azhikode after murdering Sajeevan.

The second part of the movie is about the new life of Joy in Puthuvype. Susheelan Vava, who found Joy on the seashore, took him home. He also found Joy’s secret ability to call fishes into the net. Contradictory to his name, Susheelan Vava is a greedy man. He exploits Joy’s ability to catch more and more fish and soon becomes rich. Vava compels Joy to call the fish and crabs again and again out of greed. We can see how Vava’s business blooms, and he becomes the owner of five fishing boats using Joy. There are times when Joy finds it challenging to catch fish. He realises that his doings are unfair to the fish. He considers them his friends. He soon notices that there are no more fish in the backwaters and sea due to overfishing.

         The transition from the second to the third part discusses the disturbance in nature due to human interventions. Vava recollects his father’s death from Viper’s bite. He says that there were no Vipers in Puthuvype. These immigrant Vipers came from the rock-powder and landfill from Eastern Kerala to fill the mangroves.

We also get a glimpse of the relentless fight against unplanned development in Puthuvype, which is a threat to traditional workers like fishermen, along with the instalment of dangerous chemical plants. This is the honest depiction of protests by the residents and the greens against establishing an LNG terminal in Puthuvype.

 When Vava mentions the hazardous plant, Joy asks if the fish, crabs and other creatures will die when the plant explodes, more than worrying about himself and other human beings. Environmentalists also noticed how dolphins stopped moving inwards to the backwaters from the sea after the terminal at Vallarpadam and Vypin LNG terminal. It was only during the Covid time that they reappeared during the high tides due to decreased traffic.

         The third part concerns the brutal depiction of the ‘Amphibian Hunt.’ Joy’s metamorphosis into a half-human half-frog form shocked the people and attracted worldwide attention. The dark side of the police department is mocked for utilising the folks’ curiosity to catch a glimpse of this Frog-man with an entry fee. The now-transformed Joy is trapped inside a house and is mistreated. He is soon shot dead by Murali as revenge for murdering his brother, Sajeevan.

        

The final part shows the skeleton of Joy preserved in the Zoology Museum, Paris for further research. The first two parts show us how Joy was treated as a human and in the second part as an animal. The difference in treatment towards human’s own kind and other animals is clearly distinguished in this movie. There is an instance where the simpleton Joy acts like a goon for Vava. That scene shows how the pure-hearted Joy is tainted with human crookedness and folly.

The role of Joy was starred by the Karikku fame actor Rahul Rajagopal. This movie bagged several awards such as the FIPRESCI Prize at the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala for Best Malayalam Film, the NETPAC Award by Kerala State Film Award for Best Feature Film, the Award for Best Original Screenplay and also got a nomination for the Golden Crow Pheasant Award.  

The curiosity of humans to learn about the unknown is a never-ending journey. Humans are always searching for new species and are excited to make theories behind their origin and flaunt them through debates and discussions, just for fame. They kill animals and other creatures without rhyme and reason just for a moment of joy or for personal benefit. Joy was a gift of nature, the one who could connect with both humans and nature. Just like Jesus Christ, he was crucified in the end by humans.

 

  Aavasavyuham depicts the co-existence with nature. Since we are living in an artificial nature with advanced technology, it’ll be hard to go back to the original nature. We cannot live without exploiting nature because we depend upon many natural resources. Overexploitation is the reason for all these backlashes from nature as a form of reforming the equilibrium.

“We have changed the atmosphere, and thus we are changing the weather. By changing the weather, we make every spot on earth man-made and artificial.” [McKibben.1989.]

Through movies like Aavasavyuham, the director makes us think better about our relationship with both nature and our fellow beings and how to make it better for equal co-existence.