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.
