Aattam: When the Truth Threatens Our Self-Interest, Do We Still Choose It?
Aattam (The Play) is a Malayalam psychological drama-thriller. The story follows Arangu, a tight-knit theater troupe consisting of twelve men and one woman, Anjali. The film begins when after a successful stage performance the troupe spends the night at a resort. The next morning they find that Anjali has left without informing anyone.
When finally her childhood friend and a troupe member, Vinay contacts her, Anjali tells him that she was groped by one of the group members while she was asleep at the resort. Anjali suspects Hari , a popular film actor in the group. Though she hadnt seen his face, she had found his car keys which he had dropped outside her window while making his getaway.
Vinay calls for a meeting of the 12 men at the house of the troupe leader, to inform them of the incident and figure out what to do next.They decide to expel Hari from the group.
While they are preparing the letter, Hari calls the leader to inform him in confidence that his producer friends have invited Arangu for a 3 month paid performance tour in Europe.
Now the 12 men find themelves in a delimma. If they expel Hari, they will have to say goodbye to the Europe tour too! As they talk through the night, hidden agendas, ego clashes, self-preservation and misogyny surfaces. The details are re-examined and it becomes clear that the evidence against Hari is faulty and any of the men could have been the culprit. The film shifts focus to the collective failure, hypocrisy, and toxic masculinity of the entire group as they try to sweep the issue under the rug to protect a lucrative upcoming European tour. Anjali, whom they all profess to care for very deeply is asked to forgive and forget.
The film exposes the hypocrisy & self interests that always lie dormant in a group, till they don't!!!
The central question is : why we accept everything is fine, when we ourselves are not alright from within?
It raises another deep concern. Can we truly help another without self-knowledge?
As I watched the movie, even I felt teeny tiny bit that after all the Europe Tour is a huge opportunity which should not be wasted. But the twist in the tale was that Hari was playing a prank on the troupe. They later discover that there never was a tour!
Anjali leaves the troupe and the film ends with her directorial debut of the play with the same plot. Poignantly all 12 men are wearing masks and unlike real life, one masked man does step forward to confess. Anjali stops him, saying "It doesn't matter who you are. Yoù an̈d the rest are one and the same".
Has anyone seen the movie? Would love to hear your take.