" You can not complete the Indian modern cinema panorama without considering movies from Southern India. My quest for quality cinema has taken a positive beating due to parenthood but this weekend was a lucky one where I choose to see The Crow's egg -Kaakkaa Muttai. I do not know Tamil and this review is based on subtitles.
I grew up in gateway of North East part of India ad mist the tea gardens of Darjeeling and my maternal family was from one such tea gardens. As you may know; there were lots of tribes in India and during one of these childhood visits I meet a young tribal man. I profoundly remember his name as Mongru as he befriended me as a child of 5 years old. He used to work as our part time domestic help and always had stories for me, mostly hunting. 'Mongru' had once told me that crow's meat tastes more bitter than Karela(bitter gourd). It was so yuck as a moment that I remember that line even now and writing down today. However, coming back to Kaakkaa Muttai – it puts up a grave social commentary from the angle of a cinema. The story is about two slums kids , brothers, known as elder crow and junior crow as their quest of protein (eggs) makes them steal eggs from the nest and gets them this nick name from the community kids. They dnt mind it at all and even call's their slum home as crow's egg's house.Their act is also supported by their grand mother just because she knows that family can't afford the chicken eggs. The crow brother's father is in Jail and their mother works in a factory to meet ends & legal fees for their father's bail. As life would have it, crow brothers lands up to know about Pizza which sells at INR 300 & does what it takes to have a pizza. The rest of the film is a cinematic journey about the brother's quest to eat a pizza.
What makes Kaakkaa Muttai appealing as a cinema is its undercurrent and the flows. It puts forward to you the social issues we see every day but skilfully avoid. The film does take you on the journey of the brothers and their aging grand mother for the quest of the pizza. The film exposes you to child labour, politics, media , consumerism yet it does to lecture you. The cult innocence of the poor brothers who make 10 bucks a day by picking coal off the railway tracks steals your heart.
This genre is not new & critic can indeed say that highlighting poverty does not end it. But I wondered Kaakkaa Muttai highlighted the bringing of innocence verses the social imbalance beautifully. This film did indeed remind me of I am Kalam because of close synergies of the casting of leads child actors & back drop but overall both films are brilliant and different. It's a must watch if you like to watch a good cinema & I intentionally avoided the term off beat; as this word depends on which side of fence you are really.
But then - I concluded, I thought over & now I know why 'Mongru' tasted that bitter crow's meat. It just took me thirty years to find it. Thank you Kaakkaa Muttai."
