In Koodevide, the 1983 film by Padmarajan, uncomfortable questions on human bonds outside the boundaries of blood and family are raised in a poignant manner. Set in an environment of strict discipline and hostility, the film shows the possibilities in lonely souls filling the void in each other's lives, as well as finding solace and fulfilling purpose for self. But moving away from a hopeful and fulfilling narrative, the film chooses to focus on the darkness that is unleashed by patriarchal structures that seek to thwart such nourishing bonds.
The film opens almost like a televised documentary series of a school, set in a hill station. The camera unhurriedly eyeing animated children in uniforms, some in stage costumes dabbing makeup, teachers running amok, readying for the annual day, and parents sitting impatiently in their chairs for the events to unfold. Just as casually the leading characters walk in—Alice (Suhasini), the English teacher in Good Shepherd’s school, unmistakable in an emerald sari, efficiently monitoring the proceedings. She is well-liked and the principal (Sukumari) dotes on her. She is the kind of teacher who believes that there are only bad teachers, no bad students.
After handling yet another crisis calmly, she is joined by her brother Captain George and his friend Captain Thomas (Mammootty, earnest but undercooked) and we are witness to their warm camaraderie. When Ravi Puthooran (a charming Rahman making his debut), the prodigal son of a Minister (Jose Prakash) enrolls at their school, Alice like the rest of the staff is skeptical. Everything about him spells trouble — he is laidback, gets into trouble often and would rather turn his back on the teacher and chat with his friend in class. But Alice is quick to recognise that behind that languid frame (with the saddest eyes) is an abandoned, lonely boy who misses his deceased mother. It is also the school management’s hostility towards the boy that makes her determined to take up Ravi’s case.
Alice takes him under her wing, like how a mother bird plucks the baby bird that has fallen from its nest. It does not take much time for Ravi to find his groove under her care, as he blossoms into a confident young man. Padmarajan paces the narrative without much fuss, the writing is excellent, with characters gradually evolving in front of you. The attention to detail is impeccable. There is something about the montage songs in a Padmarajan film (this film is shot by Shaji N Karun), which have a very Balu Mahendran framing to them — the faces are stripped off pancake, the interiors look lived-in and the nature shots hold their colours, the trees, flowers and green leaves, with sunlight pouring in. The choreography is impromptu where subdued conversations hold a multitude of emotions and warmth.
The romance between Alice and Thomas remains in the shadow till her brother’s unexpected death. Till then, it is almost like a quiet pact between them, as they meet at parties, he teases her, she tells him to go easy on the drinks. After the mourning period, when Thomas invites her for a day out, she agrees. As they sit against the setting sun, Alice tells him — “A woman will only get freedom once she is chained, anything before that is debauchery. I agreed to come only because you said we have something serious to discuss.” To which Thomas adds, “I thought it would not be appropriate to discuss marriage since your brother died recently.”
Watch: Padmarajan's Koodevide
In hindsight, they seem to be a perfect match — the conventional Alice and the entitled sexist Thomas, who soon displays his claws once their marriage is fixed by the elders. Maybe Alice never really noticed these obviously alarming toxic traits in Thomas, which he gave hints of right from the start. When she tells him about Ravi’s girlfriend, Thomas slyly queries —“That curvaceous girl?” He also shows little sensitivity when he visits after her brother’s funeral, talking casually about his death. When they bump into her school music teacher, he is as crude, advising him to have a session under the tree with his violin to raise money.
Thomas is a precursor to the archetypal Achayan characters in Malayalam cinema. But unlike the glorified ones that came later, Thomas gets a more realistic depiction. He is disagreeable, chauvinistic, rude and has already taken proprietary rights of Alice. In fact, he is a more rounded version of Uyare’s Govind — considered to be one of the rare instances of toxic masculinity depictions done right in Malayalam cinema in the recent past. Thomas not only has a myopic opinion of a woman’s role in the society, he is not comfortable with the idea of Alice taking a decision in their relationship. He resents Ravi’s closeness to Alice and humiliates the young man at every opportunity, much to her bewilderment. He flaunts his Achayan machismo frequently, taking it as an excuse to exert his dominance in their relationship.
Alice, despite her conventional upbringing does not take things lying down and figures out soon enough that Thomas is not really the man she first met. It is also when Alice starts weaning from their relationship that Thomas loses it — he barges into her house at night in a drunken stupor and hurls abuses at a shaken Alice. When he later apologises for “taking the freedom of a husband”, she shoots back— “Oh this is what you call the freedom of a husband?”
Ravi meanwhile is hurt with Thomas’s behaviour and more concerned about Alice. For him, she has already taken the role of a mother and therefore each accusation wounds him. When Thomas accidentally kills Ravi, he tells Alice — “If I had said it’s an accident, they would have believed me.” Perhaps that was his final attempt at redemption in front of her.
In Koodevide, Padmarajan brings together two desolate souls, bound together by a strange fate. Ravi considers himself as an orphan ever since his mother died, taking no comfort in a father who ignored him. Alice has lost both her parents and looked up to her brother for solace. They meet at a crucial juncture in their lives. Alice helps Ravi fill his void even as she loses her brother and desperately turns to Thomas for love and shelter but that was not to be. Eventually, overcome by jealousy and ego, Thomas tries to break that heart-warming bond they shared. In the end, neither Ravi nor Alice find their nests of love and security, as it precariously falls on no man’s land.