The Mud Elephant

Veeran a ten-year-old boy is caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and prejudice. He lives in Varambiam an obscure village in southern Tamil Nadu India subjected to caste distinctions and tending to the everyday chores of the village Zamindar. The village chief however has now lost all his wealth and faded into oblivion. Bala the ten-year-old grandson of the patriarch visits the village house to escape the squalid ghetto and travails of daily living faced by his family in the big city Chennai. Bala finds a friend in Veeran in Sevapan the family steer who is deaf in Tiger - the dog who is the stolid guardian of the family and in Joseph the railway gatekeeper with his utopian socialist leanings. Bala silently witnesses the consequences of his familys hubristic past and the state of ignominy the village head is pushed into. The boys of Varambiam share important life lessons and make a secret wish. Bala now a grown man has moved to Mumbai with his wife. Will he ever meet with Veeran again? Will their secret wish come true? Venkat Rajan paints a colourful vignette in The Mud Elephant. A distinct Indian coloring at it. The tone is humorousdetached and ironic. Rajan as a raconteuractually unfolds a Dickensian narrative providing a social context and an amazing feel for his characters. Joy Augustine Filmmaker