Northern Ballads | Navodaya Appachen, and delivering kitsch with world’s best technology.

In the annals of immortalising the Kerala Samurai onscreen, Navodaya Appachen was no less in contributing his vision on kitschy celluloid.

Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, known as Navodaya Appachan, I believe,  came into the limelight ( literally) starting off from where his illustrious and legendary Kunchako left after Kannappanunni (1977), which was Udaya’s 75th film. Appachen started off with his multi-starrer Thacholi Ambu (1978), bringing MN Nambiar as the arch nemesis in the costume-drama (and what a costume-drama it was, folks! ), followed by Kadathanattu Makkam in the same year!

The Kerala Samurais in Technicolor

Though the Northern Ballads and its variations had been adapted to local folk theater, I think the reigning God of Malayalam film production Sri. Kunchacko who owned the biggest studio  of those times, Udaya saw the mother lode of a possibility by translating them on screen. Sri.Kunchacko, I think, was the Yash Chopra of the Malayalam film industry.He started off the filmi ballads with Unniarcha, a B& W production, in 1961.

Sri.Kunchacko added variations, brought in new characters, spun off sub-stories, all of them wrapped up in the same gaudy, kitschy costume trains and ornaments borrowed straight from the local theater. I always thought there was a divine connection between the bright and flaring silk embellishments to its ‘original’ counterparts across the sea, the Samurais of Japan! 🙂

The Vadakkan Pattukal Legacy on Celluloid.

Way back in the mid-60’s, Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone transformed spaghetti westerns to such a degree that these movies walked right out of Hollywood and caught the fancy of millions of cine-goers all around the world. It still maintains its chunk of admirers in India – the Texan drawl, the ‘fastest draw’ and a fancy for Louis L’Amour – all of them pointers to the fascination for the sheer effect of incredulity and larger-than-life characters who were progeny of a harsh, unforgiving landscape and glorified the underdog’s tilt at social class windmills.