Director Kamal KM makes his comeback to cinema with the multi-starrer ‘Pada’, based on a real-life incident that shook Kerala

Releasing on March 10, ‘Pada’ is led by some of the best acting talents in Malayalam

On October 4, 1996, the then Palakkad Collector was held hostage in his office for nearly ten hours by a group of men who called themselves 'Ayyankali Pada'. The incident led to inquiries and manhunts and its repercussions are still discussed in official circles and among activists fighting for justice for tribal communities in Kerala.

“In 1996, the Kerala Government had amended the Adivasi (Aboriginals) Land Act. The group of radicals felt that the amendment had to be challenged, as it violates the rights of the tribals on their land.. Their methods were not in keeping with the laws of the land, but the fact remains that tribals still get a raw deal from the establishment,” says Kamal KM.

This real-life incident has inspired Kamal’s Pada, set to be released on March 10. Returning to helm a film after 2012, the director of the critically acclaimed ID, says the struggle of tribals to regain their land and forest continues even today, which is why the film is relevant. Kamal, who was working as an academic in KR Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, was determined to come back to cinema with a big-budget mainstream film.

“2022 marks the 25th year of that 'kidnap' attempt to draw public attention to the plight of the tribals," he says. Kamal views the police action against the tribals at Muthanga as a play of power against a helpless population. He adds: "Murderers of Madhu, a tribal who was lynched, have still not been punished. The tribal communities in India are still fighting for their rights over the forests and their land."

Prior to scripting the film, Kamal met and interviewed at length each of the persons involved in the kidnapping and subsequent rescue of the Collector. The then Chief Secretary had led the operation to free the collector, avoid blooshed and bring the culprits to justice. The operation to flush them out was led by an IPS officer on special assignment who became the Director General of Police in Kerala.

Kamal, a postgraduate student of journalism in 1996, says Pada is an attempt to understand the aftermath of that event in October. He met the activists involved in the incident to understand what made them undertake that radical act and what were their thoughts on it today.