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Papilio Buddha

  • 2013
  • 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
153
YOUR RATING
Papilio Buddha (2013)
A band of displaced untouchables in Western Ghats of India  embrace Buddhism in order to  escape from caste oppression. The film explores the new identity-political uprising based on Ambedkarism, currently gaining momentum among the Dalits in the region,
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A band of displaced untouchables in Western Ghats of India embrace Buddhism in order to escape from caste oppression.A band of displaced untouchables in Western Ghats of India embrace Buddhism in order to escape from caste oppression.A band of displaced untouchables in Western Ghats of India embrace Buddhism in order to escape from caste oppression.

  • Director
    • Jayan Cherian
  • Writer
    • Jayan Cherian
  • Stars
    • Kallen Pokkudan
    • Saritha
    • Prakash Bare
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    153
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jayan Cherian
    • Writer
      • Jayan Cherian
    • Stars
      • Kallen Pokkudan
      • Saritha
      • Prakash Bare
    • 5User reviews
    • 23Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Papilio Buddha
    Clip 3:10
    Papilio Buddha

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    Top cast12

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    Kallen Pokkudan
    • Kariyan
    Saritha
    • Manjusree
    Prakash Bare
    Prakash Bare
    • Sp
    David Briggs
    David Briggs
    • Jack
    Saritha Kukku
    • Manju
    Narayanan Nair
    Narayanan Nair
    • Chief Minister
    Padmapriya
    Padmapriya
    Kallen Pokudan
    • Kariyan
    Sreejith Ramanan
    • Dr.Prasannaraj
    S.P. Sreekumar
    S.P. Sreekumar
    • Shankran
    Sujatha
    • Dalit activist
    Antony Thekkek
    Antony Thekkek
    • Gandhian Ram Das
    • Director
      • Jayan Cherian
    • Writer
      • Jayan Cherian
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews5

    7.4153
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    Featured reviews

    10liginmane

    A Good Movie From Malayalam And No Acceptance

    Excellent movie. We will see foreign movies and why not this, accept this good movie, Why Censering Good Movies ? We all appreciate the skills and works of foreign language movies, don't we have a shy. We should change our mind.Paplio Buddha is not a child movie or any other type movie, it is very excellent creation by the director Jayan K Cheriyan. If we don't look this movie as director's point of view everyone including juries also not accept this movie, if not include such dialogues and scenes in this movie there is no good movies will get to us.Social issues and exploitation should see as what it is otherwise movie will be a foolishness. This movie has done an excellent job in that category.
    9anoop461

    One of the best Indian movies

    This is definitely one the best movies I have seen. The film clearly portrays the ill treatment given to the dalits by our society and how the political parties tries to exploit them. The treatment of the movie is raw.. I have not seen such a film in Malayalam.. One should appreciate the director Jayan Cherian for his bravery.. He has even taken on the Gandhian myth.. Also the way the movie has treated sexuality without taking any stance.. The language used pure bliss, so natural.. One should appreciate the director for not using the artificial Malayalam cinema language.. Shame on the censor board for banning this film..
    3nairtejas

    An Overly Dark Approach To State Stark Issues.

    And I believe the makers took darkness very much literally. While the lack of proper lighting in the scenes is okay, the amateur narration of what feels like a vague story disappoints.

    There is no specific conclusion to what the makers told the story in the first place nor do they provide a solution/explanation. Some of us are well versed with the atrocities of the minorities, the struggle they experience every day in their lives, and we also know few of its causes. Now, I think the makers wanted to convey a broader perspective into the matter, but they fail. Titling the film after a rare butterfly specie's name which is also a small talked-about issue in the film is where the makers start to go wrong.

    I can relate with the use of adivasis and non-professional actors, but it does affect the film when none of these can act. And the poor direction just aggravates it all. The whole 2 hours looked like a drama of spontaneity.

    Then topics like homosexuality, nature invasion, attacks on women, rape, religion and casteism are all touched but they are left hanging as the film ends with a silent note. While I always appreciate boldness in films, all the stuffs it had to show was pure bland and ridiculous. You talk about homosexuality, but there is no need to show two men kissing; the use of f-word could have been avoided; third-degree tactics of policemen on Maoist/Naxalite suspects could have also been dumbed down to superficiality; erotic sex/foreplay could have been done without, etc.. All these elements makes me wanna question the makers' intentions because at the end of the day, they focus only on certain checkpoints, never explaining the ABCs.

    BOTTOM LINE: It might talk about sensitive topics, but when you are making a film (and not a documentary), you pay attention to the basics. There's no reason to add songs, stupid slapstick or melodrama; we are fine with pure drama played on intense BG score. Is that asking for more? Anyway, Papilio Buddha is a self-righteous kind of a modern propaganda cinema. Avoid!

    I wonder why it was banned. People would have watched and openly derided it. The makers would get the feedback and never make such movies again. Reminds me of 2013's box office bomb, Jayasurya-starrer Pigman.

    Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO
    8maverickmajorana

    Dalit Subject and Impossibility of Indian Reality

    Dalit burden of being is shown as filmic reality in the least complex way. The slow and violent condescension of Western Ghats Dalits under Gandhian theo-political universality is excellently projected in film with victimized inhabitant subjects facing being as a total social excess, incapable of enjoying their existence under that reality. This proves that the myth of Indian ontological completeness has an extimate ring filled with Dalit subject's unresolved subjectivity which will always subvert the existence of its ideological burden and symbolic core reminding of its incompleteness. The film thematically portrays this Dalit pessimism against the backdrop of mother nature being static, cold, oblivious, and unresponsive to human subjectivities under distress which leaves very dark unsatisfactory and unresolved ending with director's intentional comic facet to it. The inhabitants leave the area conceding with the dictates of power hopelessly of a failed rebellion. But this ending shouldn't discourage any Dalit subject. Such hopelessness in fact is a Hope for new political and tactical prospects Dalit subjects must imagine under its totalitarian existence. It is actually a cry longing for a free universal subject. Freed of its psycho-sexual and socio-ideological dimensions.
    1sourabhyadavsonu

    Boring Art-sy Film About Serious Issues

    The screen time would have been less than 20 minutes if it weren't for the excessively long wide shots that followed the characters across the entire length of the frame several times. The formula for artsy indie films seems to be to shoot everything at 0.25x speed and then slow it further still in the editing.

    Yes, the film makes several bold and uninhibited statements. But does that make a good film? Little depth in characters, stilted dialogues, and the most cliched binarism of good vs bad people-I did not enjoy the film.

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Initially banned in India due to its criticism of Gandhi, it was only allowed release once speeches against the Mahatma were muted or blurred.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 15, 2013 (India)
    • Countries of origin
      • India
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • Malayalam
    • Filming locations
      • Wayanad, Kerala, India
    • Production companies
      • Silicon Media
      • Kayal Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 48m(108 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39:1(original ratio)

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