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Priyadarshan on a different track In a career spanning about two decades, noted film-maker Priyadarshan has made more than 70 films in Hindi and Malayamam. But now he has come out with his first venture in Tamil, which has attracted a worldwide audience. `Kanchivaram,’ his latest film in Tamil, which was premiered at the Toronto festival, is the analysis on the emergence, practice and failure of an ideology. Sub-titled `A Communist Confession,’ the film tells us every ideology in the world, whether it is democracy, capitalism or socialism, is a dream. No philosophy has been able to exist in its purest form. Priyadarshan, who is more into comedies and thrillers, has for the first time tried a different track. “I have been making films for the audience. But this film I made it for myself,” he said. The film is set in an era where social structures were governed by religious demarcations and the divide between the higher and lower castes was very pronounced. Priests were considered to be the higher caste only because their work kept them in close proximity to the Gods. The rest of the society was divided into different levels as per the work they did. Existence of the feudal system ensured that the lower castes were treated as slaves, he said. The frustration of slavery is the primary cause for the emergence of communism in India and in the film, the protagonist Vengadam represents that frustration, the film-maker says. The film is set in the thick of Kanchi’s silk-weaving industry and tells the story of a common man caught among the forces that be, the society he lives in and the conflict between one’s adopted ideals and individual dreams, Priyadarshan said. One day the life of Vengadam, played by Prakash Raj, life changes after the appearance of a Communist preacher in his village. From being apolitical, he goes to the other extreme of living and breathing Communism. The growth of Communism was easy and was facilitated through trade unions formed by textile workers. Across the country, there were lakhs of `Vengadams’ who wanted to overthrow the shackles of slavery and their inclination towards Communism was understandable, Priyadarshan said. Communist leaders exploited their dissatisfaction and fuelled their anger brainwashing them with dreams of an utopian society which was in stark contrast to their real-life situation, he said. Since a strike in the weaving mill went on for quite a long time and his daugher’s wedding was approaching, Vengadam realised that he cannot get any silk saree for his daughter. Torn between his vow and ideology, he starts to question the principles of Communism. “With Kanchivaram, I have tried to study why the dream of an equalitarian society was defeated by an individual’s aspirations, Priyadarshan said. `Kanchivaram’ has been selected for the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and will be screened at the coming Pusan festival.