Life and (non)Living: Technological and Human Conglomeration in Android Kunjappan Version 5.25

Abstract

In post-modern society, we (humans) share our space with machines. Though there is no doubt in the efficiency of the machines there is always a doubt in their reason. Machines being programmed cannot exercise reason like humans. Their assistance is limited to the commands designed by the engineer. The Malayalam movie Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 pictures the limitations and advantages of one such robotic creation. The movie narrates the tale of an old man and his association with a robot which becomes his solace and companion. The film questions the association between humans and machines. It raises the fear of constructing and destroying the boundaries between the machine world and the human world. This article attempts to use the concept of cyborg introduced by Donna Haraway in ‘Cyborg Manifesto’; though Haraway uses the concept of a cyborg from a Feminist perspective, the paper attempts to look at the relationship between man and machine using the concept ‘cyborg’. This fusion of the living and non-living is sceptical and this anxiety is presented in the film. The film also captured the naivety of the commoners who are new to the monstrous world of machines. The paper’s primary aim is to list how cyborgs transgress the limitations set by society. Another objective is to discuss the anxieties of the post-modern world when technology and life hold hands. The article considers the film a futuristic art that leaves a message to the viewers; cyborgs will become an inevitable facet of the human world.