It’s been four years since Superstar Mammootty‘s Unda (Bullet) has been released (on 14 June 2019). It is one of few movies that spoke about tribal communities in Chhattisgarh and Kerala.
A commercial hit, the black comedy has Easwari Rao, Shine Tom Chacko, Jacob Gregory, Arjun Ashokan, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Lukman Avaran, and Ranjith in major roles.
The Mammooty-starrer communicates strong politics, including the discrimination faced by backward castes and tribes in the hands of the government and bogus voting.
Mammooty donned the role of police officer several times in his career. His roles in Roudram (2008), Inspector Balram (1991) and Kasaba (2018) are loud and over the top.
However, the Superstar plays the role of an amiable and mild-mannered police officer in Unda. According to director Khalid Rahman, the actor was briefed about his mannerisms.
Unda has good music scored by Prasanth Pillai that gives insight into the lives of tribals in the Bastar area, their pain and despair connected well with the audience.
However the movie also lacks a strong female character. Manikandan’s wife is the only female character played by Easwari Rao. She runs a nursery school and appears only briefly.