Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Mukhamukham (Face to Face, 1984) dissected the failure of communist ideology against caste realities. However, the turning point came with Kireedam (1989) and Chenkol , where Sibi Malayil and Lohithadas showed how caste and class (the upper-caste Nair hero falling from grace) dictate social standing.
Even the food matters. When the 2016 film Kappela (Chapel) shows a young woman cooking puttu (steamed rice cake) and kadala curry (chickpea curry), it is not just a meal; it is a ritual of Keralite domesticity. When Mammootty in Paleri Manikyam bites into a tapioca with fiery chili chutney, it evokes the agrarian hardship of Malabar. Kerala is India’s laboratory of communism. The first democratically elected communist government in the world came to power in Kerala in 1957. This political culture bleeds into its cinema. When the 2016 film Kappela (Chapel) shows a
In the modern era, Oru Mexican Aparatha (2017) follows a student leader navigating the politics of Kerala University, complete with the iconic red shirts, endless chaya (tea) breaks, and the volatile bandh (strike) atmosphere. Meanwhile, Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020) is a masterclass in political allegory, using the power struggle between a Dalit cop (Koshi) and an upper-caste cop (Ayyappan) to critique the state’s infrastructural decay, alcohol policy, and class warfare. The first democratically elected communist government in the