Othello adaptation Iru is a tale of caste politics

Another adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello is hitting Malayalam cinemas 25 years after Jayaraj's Kaliyattam. Titled Iru, the film marks the directorial debut of Fr Varghese Lal. A priest venturing into filmmaking is a first in the state. 

The campus love story features Rajeev Rajan, Nayana Elsa, Divya Vijayakumar, Vishnu Govind, Renji Panicker, and Dain Davis. The other specialty is that filmmaker Sidhartha Siva cranked the camera and edited the film. 

"Love, caste and colour politics are the main topics that Iru addresses," says Varghese, who found inspiration in recent news headlines. "In Kerala, love is the most politicised emotion right now. We see divisions made in the name of religion and caste. Love used to be the purest, most natural thing in the old days, but now it has become something to be feared. It is tainted with politics and triggers crimes and communal violence. So it goes without saying the subject matter of Iru carries much relevance." 

The film, hitting theatres today (Jan 6), has Rajeev Rajan and Nayana Elsa playing the central couple. The makers shot twenty per cent of Iru at Mahatma Gandhi University. However, Varghese clarifies that the story has no connection to the campus. "It was our first time shooting there, considering the location's political background. We finished shooting two years ago, but the release got delayed by pandemic-induced reasons."