Karmayogi - an adaptation of Shakespeare’s 'Hamlet'

Karmayogi is an enchanting
adaptation of Shakespeare’ s radical revenge tragedy
'Hamlet', which is set in the
feudal era. This Malayalam
adaptation interweaves the
culture and ritual of our ancient
land and its narration glorifies traditions and rituals of
medieval Kerala. Creativeland
Pictures has collaborated with
VK Prakash to throw open
doors to the engulfing universe
of Shakespeare’ s imagination. Director VK Prakash has done
justice to one of the most
prominent works of
Shakespeare by crafting a
detailed adaptation in harmony
with creative liberty. One striking feature of the movie is
‘ Kelipatram’ , which plays a crucial role in the plot of
Karmayogi. Kelipatram is a ritual
based on an epic of Lord Siva,
where a man discards all the
comforts of life and visits each
house to beg for a living. Only a person with passion and
dedication can perform this
ritual. Karmayogi incorporates
this passion to follow one’ s tradition into the narrative.

Another prominent element of
the movie is ‘ Kalarippayattu’ , also known as ‘ Kalari’ , the well known martial art form
practiced extensively in Kerala,
which contains 18 tricks of
combat. This also is an integral
part of ‘ Hamlet’ . Similar to Hamlet’ s raging clashes, Karmayogi has arresting fight
sequences based on the
knowledge of ‘ Yogisamudayam’ - the only clan of people, who
mastered the 19th trick in
Kalaripayattu. The scientific fact
to the 19th trick (fighting in
disguise of another form) is
that of speed which causes an illusion of a change in form.
Poorakkali, the traditional dance
ritual of Kerala, performed by a
troop of young men plays a
crucial role in the film, parallel
to the play ‘ The Murder of Gonzago’ in ‘ Hamlet’ . Performed during the nine-day
Pooram festival in Bhagavathy
temples across Northern Kerala,
Poorakkali is meant to entertain
as well as to spread knowledge.
Decked in Lion costumes the men dance around a huge
multi-tiered lamp, also known as
‘ nilavilukku’ . The dance involves masculine movements
and acrobats and martial art
steps. The dancers keep rhythm
by singing, clapping and
synchronized foot-thumping
movements. The basis of the dance is essentially the
memories of ‘ Vasanthapooja’ , performed by inmates of
different worlds like heaven,
earth, etc.
Shot in the mystical and lush
green North Malabar region of
Wayanad, Kasargode, Kannur, etc., Rudran (Hamlet) explores
the journey from indecision to
the final act of vengeance.
Karmayogi emphasizes the
hero’ s dilemma rather than the portrayal of bloody acts. The
tragedy establishes Karmayogi
as dramatic as Shakespeare’ s Hamlet.
Directed by the National Award
winning film maker V.K. Prakash,
the Screenplay is written by
Balram Mattannur who has also
written Kaliyattam, and the music is given by Ousephachan.
The movie is produced by
Creativeland Pictures. The star
cast includes Indrajith, Siju
Kurup, Thalaivasal Vijay,
Ashokan, MR Gopakumar, Padmini Kolhapure and Nithya Menon.