CIA : Communist Porn.

It has been a while since I wrote something, but this movie has been festering in my mind for far too long. I haven't recently seen a movie as delusional and far removed from reality as CIA, almost to the point of being counted as a fantasy movie. When this movie claims a perpetual moral high ground for communism, it is impossible not to read it in parallel to the current affairs in Kerala. Misleading and misappropriating ideas, this movie deserves to be shown only in a party propaganda class. The movie somehow equates heroism to immature testosterone driven antics and does not have much sensible political discussion. Any ignorant youth watching this movie will be convinced that being a communist somehow turns you an invincible chick magnet. The tagline should have been "Some heroes are real, but you definitely wont find one in this film".

When I first heard the name "Comrade in America", I was expecting a story about a hardcore communist who suddenly finds himself in America and a politically charged story - much like a souped up Arabikkatha. Alas, I couldn't have been more wrong. Dulquar plays a young communist leader who is convinced that beating up people is heroic and it solves problems. A junior student, Sarah, falls in love with him after she sees him being all Dulquar Salmanish. One of the most cringe-worthy and unconvincing love story ever shown in a Malayalam movie ensues. The American born heroine is whisked away to America to be married off to someone against her wishes (one wonders if the director thinks America is in Telangana). She implores Dulquar to come to her rescue and things escalate quickly. He decides to illegally enter America by crossing the Mexican border after travelling through Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. Clearly, the Mexican drug cartels (arguably the most violent organized crime gangs) doesn't mean anything when you are a local DYFI leader. He makes a few friends on this ignorant mission of his, including a Malayali girl, a Sri Lankan Tamilian, a Chinese man and a Mexican family - each having their own story and reason to enter the US. Each one of them is arrested by the US border patrol while Dulquar escapes due to an incredible stroke of luck ( the border patrol car gets in an accident and he walks away). Dulquar meets his cousin living in US, who informs him that Sarah no longer wishes to be with him as neither of them have anything in common. He meets her at her wedding party (wearing a traditional mundu, because nothing wins a breakup like a mundu) to say goodbye and then returns to India.

Let me mention the things that I liked about this movie. The performance of Siddique as the father of Dulquar's character and senior Kerala Congress leader was very good. The cinematic use of Marx, Lenin and Che Guevara as characters who appear when Dulquar gets drunk was interesting to see.

The most annoying aspect about this movie is the holier-than-thou attitude regarding communism. The fictional Kerala Congress leader Korah (a thinly veiled K.M Mani) is shown as corrupt and the main person against whom all the communist protests happen. It is very interesting to note that while the movie was in the theatres, CPI(M) received a lot of bad press when it supported Mani's party in Kottayam district panchayat to victory in reality. The movie is so self-righteous when the actual situation is far different from what is shown in the movie. The film maker tries to glorify this ideology to the point of being hypocritical. He tries to simplify and legitimize an otherwise complex and impractical ideology by saying stuff like "only a communist can be a good lover" and "sharing food makes you a communist".

The film maker also uses tiring female stereotypes like the mother watching soap operas, and the shallow girlfriend who dumps the protagonist. The Malayali illegal immigrant girl is shown as a replacement love interest for Dulquar. I wish people could see beyond these tropes and have real female characters with depth in movies.

Perhaps the movie is doing exactly what it is meant for - glorifying communism and influencing the uninformed young audience. Remember the fad of going on trips to Gavi and Humpi after watching certain Malayalam movies - I sincerely hope nobody tries to illegally enter US after drawing inspiration from this Dulquar Salman movie.

Rating: Getting kicked in the crotch while Brinda Karat convinces you that you deserve it.