‘Sangarsha Ghadana’ movie review: Krishand’s rumination on the futility of war brims with quiet inventiveness

The anticipation of violence is as mind-numbing as violence itself — the expectation that someone who has taken a hit will retaliate, with several ways to do so. In Sangarsha Ghadana – The Art of Warfare, which begins with a violent hit by one gang on another, filmmaker Krishand prolongs this anticipation to upset the audience’s expectations of what would transpire during that period.

Kodamazha Suni (Sanup Padaveedan), a former gangster who has moved on and is now living a respectable life, has just lost four of his trusted lieutenants in a brutal attack by an unknown gang led by Kunjan (Vishnu Agasthya). One would expect the man to be plotting his revenge, especially when he sits with the other members of his former gang. The comical policemen tailing him also probably expected the same. But go closer, and the conversations are about a pepper drink and special masala dosa that Suni would like to have before leaving the city.

A still from ‘Sangarsha Ghadana’
| Photo Credit:
Think Music India/YouTube

This sequence is representative of the brand of delicious, understated humour that Sangarsha Ghadana, just like in Krishand’s previous films, is filled with. In another scene, a gang member admonishes a cook who adds Ajinomoto in a dish — “There are people out there to kill us. You don’t need to”. At the heart of the film lies Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu’s ancient work ‘The Art of War’, which has inspired many political and military leaders over the centuries. But Krishand, while seemingly applying the strategies in the book to the local gang war, is also questioning the futility of the endless cycles of violence.

Along with lessons from the military treatise, he juxtaposes the episodes in the violent gang war with references to actual wars and the toll they have taken on humanity — the unvanquished Alexander’s invasions, the Napoleonic wars, the world wars, the war in Syria and the ongoing brutal occupation of Israel in Palestine, all play along with this relatively minor gang war in a corner of Kerala. But the underlying emotions, as well as motivations and overt actions and reactions, are very much universal, a point which Krishand doesn’t attempt to drill into our heads but let it seep in ever so slowly.

Actors like Zhinz Shan and Rahul Rajagopal, who have featured in Krishand’s past films, feature in key roles, but it is Vishnu Agasthya who steals the scene. Filmmaker Manoj Kana also has some memorable moments as a police officer interrogating the gangsters. The police procedural almost ends up as a self-aware spoof of many recent police stories.

A still from ‘Sangarsha Ghadana’
| Photo Credit:
Think Music India/YouTube

The distinct visual and narrative style, which was evident in Krishand’s previous works like Aavasavyuhamand Purusha Pretham, is very much on view here, with a few nods to masters like Wong Kar-Wai. It is by no means a repetition, but a signature, of a filmmaker who has an original voice and ideas that are not derivative.

With Sangarsha Ghadana, Krishand takes a less trodden path to deliver a philosophical rumination on the futility of war.

Sangarsha Ghadana is currently running in theatres