The mere announcement of a Malayalam biopic based on the lead character from the 1921 Mappila Rebellion was enough for Hindu rights activists to spew communal venom against the project.
Titled Variyamkunnan, the movie is about the life of Variyamkunnath Kunjahamed Haji, a rebel who took on the British forces during the 1921 Mappila Rebellion — also called Malabar Rebellion — in the present Malappuram district in Kerala.
Cyber trolls targeted filmmaker Aashiq Abu and the lead actor Prithiviraj with messages of communal hatred soon after they announced the project late on June 22.
The man behind Virus, a critically acclaimed Malayalam movie about the 2018 Nipah outbreak in Kerala, Abu said he did expect some trouble.
“We had expected this kind of reactions in view of the subject,” Abu told a Malayalam channel. “It is good to have more than one version of the story as what we say will be different from what the others do,” Abu said, adding he didn’t want to respond to the communal hatred being spewed.
The Facebook pages of Abu and Prithviraj were flooded with messages against the movie.
“If Malabar Rebellion is freedom movement, Gujarat riot is Deepavali celebration. If Variyamkunnath Kunjahamed Haji was a patriot then Mayaben Kodnani is a brave fighter,” a man named Bony Chingavanam commented on Abu’s Facebook post.
Many vowed to pray for the film to flop at the box office, others asked if Abu could do a film without distorting history.
The Sangh parivar was not far behind in grabbing the opportunity.
“There has been an attempt to whitewash Mappila rebellion as a freedom movement,” said R.V. Babu of Hindu Aikyavedi.
President of the organisation K.P. Sasikala wrote a rather threatening message on Facebook.
“Hindus are not ready to buckle down in 2021, like they did in 1921. Aashiq, you direct…we’ll see.”
The cyber attack and discussions surrounding the movie even led to two more films on the same subject.
P.T. Kunhumuhammed and RSS sympathiser Ali Akbar, announced separate films on the same controversial history of Malabar, or the northern part of Kerala, that was under British administration.
Kunhumuhammed said the history was laden with unknown stories. “I have studied about the Mappila Rebellion and hence know there are so many untold stories,” he told reporters.
“Malabar is a huge treasure trove that has yet to be opened,” he said when asked about the point in making a film that could be similar to Abu’s project.
Ali Akbar told reporters that his film wouldn’t be focusing on Haji, but on the “scars” that the rebellion had left.
“I am not planning to make a hero or villain out of Variyamkunnath Haji. In fact, my film will only have villains,” Akbar said hinting the angle he might take.
Renowned historian M.G.S. Narayanan told a channel that Haji was certainly anti-British.
“He was certainly against the British. Films are often made by carving only such segments of history,” he said.
“But history is very complex. Making him (Haji) a hero by ignoring such complexity is not correct,” he said.
“All incidents have different sides. Different people see them differently. It will be difficult to conclusively say which is right and which is wrong,” said the historian.