Unlikely Heroes In Unprecedented Disasters: A Review Of '2018 - Everyone Is A Hero'

As the monsoons make their way across different parts of the country, several states have been battling natural calamities brought about by the burgeoning rainfall. Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Kerala are all reeling from disasters like landslides brought about by heavy rains, which in turn have been exacerbated by the climate change crisis. While there is rampant inequality in the way natural disasters impact different sections of the society, these are also the times when the collective resilience of the human spirit comes to the fore. When the governments also struggle to put together adequate forces to battle the ravages of these disasters, it is the common people who come out to show support to each other, often at the risk of their own lives. The 2023 Malayam film 2018- Everyone is A Hero, directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, is one such film that foregrounds the remarkable efforts of ordinary citizens who came together to help each other survive the severe 2018 floods in Kerala.

Studded with a large ensemble cast of Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Indrans, Asif Ali, Lal, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Tanvi Ram and Aparna Balamurali, among others, 2018- Everyone is A Hero is a stunning survival thriller film, that brings together stories from across Kerala of how an entire state literally struggled to keep afloat during the devastating floods of 2018. Interestingly, the film saw its theatrical release on the same day as Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story, a film based on wildly inaccurate claims about alleged religious conversions and radicalisation of Hindu women in Kerala, which was heavily promoted by the Bharatiya Janta Party and its associate organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. While The Kerala Story faced heavy backlash from the people of the state, 2018-Everyone is A Hero saw enormous support from Malayalis, with many social media users calling the film “the real Kerala story”. The film was even selected by the Film Federation of India as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film Category at the 96th Academy Awards, even though it could not make it to the final shortlist in the category.  

2018-Everyone is A Hero weaves the narratives of its multiple characters through non-linear storytelling, where the characters keep crossing paths with each other somewhere along their respective journeys. The background score, composed by Nobin Paul, along with the dramatic editing of the film keeps the audience at a nail-biting edge, as one witnesses the massive spectacle of the real-life incidents being brought to life on the silver screen. Scenes like the one where Anoop (Tovino Thomas) resuscitates his young friend Undapi (Pranav Binu), a differently abled child, even as his parents think he is dead, really keep the spectator gripped through the film.  

To render the ambience of the film realistic, very little VFX was actually used in the film. In fact, many portions of the film were actually shot during monsoons in Kerala, when rivers swell up and flooding becomes a common occurrence. A 22-acre site in Vaikom was chosen to create the flood scenes, where the houses were built, and a water tank was installed to shoot the underwater scenes. Art Director Mohandas Pallakkottil has spoken about how every frame of the film had to be thought out and designed in advance to create the ravaging effect of the floods on screen. 

While there are several heartwarming scenes in the film, the sequence where the fishing community decides to set on a rescue operation of all the stranded people in the villages is one of the most moving moments to encounter. When the fishermen haul boat after boat from the coast towards the mainland, with a euphoric cheering to keep the energy levels high, you’re almost standing and applauding their intervention in tears, along with everyone onscreen. The sequence is a beautiful ode to the fishing community of Kerala, who were fondly termed the “guardian angels” of the state due to their involvement in the rescue missions. Another remarkably thrilling scene is the rescue of a pregnant lady conducted by an armed forces helicopter along with Anoop, for which a helicopter was artificially created by the filmmakers. The sequence took 9 days to shoot and was one of the toughest sequences they composed.  

However, it is also the tender exchanges of expressions of gratitude between complete strangers that draws the viewers into the film’s experience. When Nixon (Asif Ali) wades into the flooded house of a young woman to bring her certificates for her civil services interview, her face is flooded with emotions-of relief, of guilt, of gratitude. During his relief operations, when Mathachan (Lal) comes across the father of the girl his son Nixon wanted to marry, who had turned down their proposal because Mathachan belonged to the fishing community and had to live in “relief camps” during the monsoons, the man quietly folds his hands in apology and gratitude, while Mathachan simply points to the skies to indicate that he is carrying out God’s work. It is in these moments that the filmmaker establishes how natural disasters often become social levellers and how very often, solidarities emerge in the unlikeliest of places. 

The film did receive some criticism from a section of the audience for placing higher emphasis on the Christian community being engaged in relief work, even though people from across religious communities were invested in carrying out the flood relief operations. However, one can also argue that the religious symbolism in the film only serves as a means to employ the faith of people in the service of humanity during such an unprecedented calamity.