A defiant tale of rebellion elevates a familiar sports drama

BREATHE. When every inch of one's surroundings exists to overwhelm and not nurture a person, they are forced to survive in the rarefied air.

- AVINASH RAMACHANDRAN

Society, at every possible step, adds to the suffocation, and when one, somehow, finds their way through all of this, what is waiting for them at the end of the proverbial tunnel isn't just light... but the time to just breathe without thinking when the next bout of fresh air will come their way. Mari Selvaraj's latest film, Bison Kaalamaadan, is about one such person. But it is also the story of many such people. That's what makes this Mari film special, and unfortunately, also slightly cumbersome.

Bison is a relatively straightforward film, and Mari has chosen to tell this story without sugarcoating the bitter pills that he presents one after another. The film is based on the life of Indian kabaddi player Manathi Ganesan, and, as Mari adds in the opening disclaimer, it is also the story of many such people who found their way out of this worlda world filled with oppression, suppression, and bloodthirsty revenge without rhyme or reason.

Mari wonderfully sets up the two ends of this violent spectrum by establishing the characters of Pandiyaraja (Ameer) and Kandhasami (Lal). Caught in the middle of this war are hundreds of people like Kittan (Dhruv Vikram), his father (Pasupathy), and his sister Raji (Rajisha Vijayan). And Bison is the story of many such people, and what it actually takes for even one of them to come out of this world to find some sort of stability and respect in their lives.

If you've watched any sports drama, Bison is quite predictable. You know that every obstacle will turn into a stepping stone.