We decided to go movie paradesi as one of our friends told
that the movie is extraordinary. Fine, this is enough for us to decide for a
movie outing. So we started from porur at 6pm from our friend’s house for a
6.40 pm movie scheduled in AGS, Villivakkam. Since it is a Saturday evening, we
struck up in a huge traffic and managed to reach the theatre at almost 7pm. We
are not happy that we lost almost the 20 mins of movie. But the “next seat man”
told us that the movie started late and you would have lost not even 10 mins.
That gave us some relief and started watching the movie with some great
expectations. Naturally expectations are there for Bala movies and the round
the world reviews added more in to it. Fine, I will get in to my opinion now
towards the movie.
Movie sets to be in 1900AC. The movie starts (at the time we
entered) happily with a marriage function. The villagers are gathered as a
family for the function. In between Atharva’s periappa died which has been
hidden by the villagers to get the “Nel soru” in the marriage, by not doing
that they will miss the “nel soru” (and it is about their varumai, where I
don’t accept since the village people will give preference for the people and
too a death instead of a food, but bala managed to justify somehow by his
screenplay). Vedhika, the heroin tries to tease Atharva as he seems to be a bit
of “mentally retarded person”, she denies giving food to him, but he is very
hungry and need it badly. This scene extends for 5 to 10 mins which irritated
me much, but I don’t know why. Then I got convinced that even my two friends
who accompanied me also got irritated by that scene. Finally she showed her
love by giving food to frustrated Atharva. But here Atharva expressed his
frustration well than us.
After this scene I wondered that nobody has cared about the
“died periappa” rather the movie continued with Atharva/Vedhika love. I did not
convince with this major hole in Bala’s direction. (Mentally retarded?) Atharva
trying to make love with heroin where she rejects in the beginning and accepts
finally in a half built house in middle of the thorn bushes (mullu kaadu). Heroin’s
mother not accepting the lead’s combo and yelling at Atharva to forgot her
daughter. (Her mother’s performance reminds me the Ambika character in Avan Ivan.)
Atharva’s grandma is the only person who supports him. We should appreciate the
performance (actually no performance, it was she lived that character easily)
of his grandma. At some point even his grandma was shouting at him that he is
not going for any job.
This time our hero is looking for a job outside his village
and able to find one for cutting woods. A tea master who gives that job was
beating our hero like anything as he sits on a bench. He is not supposed to sit
on a bench since he came from some low caste. This scene especially pictured
well and we able to feel the disaster faced by untouchables in that period.
After completing his job of cutting hundreds of wood he was not given the
payment, so he cries in front of the tea master to get the “coolie”. This is
where the new character gets introduced as “Kangaani” who is searching for
people to work in tea estates owned (taken should be the right word) by the
britishers.
Kangaani is in Salur
Village
People started travelling to their new work place and they
travel for 48 days by just walking. Here, while they start their journey there
is a background song “Oh! Sengaade” which showing us how sad they are leaving
their living place. Here I would like to compare the song with situation comes
in the film “Kannathil Muthamittal – Vidai kodu engal naade” the people are
forced to migrate from their native, so the song was matching that situation
very well. Coming to this movie, people are volunteered to migrate for better
living and I don’t see the need of the core sadness in that song. The song was
like making us to feel the sadness which was totally miserable.
While travelling, an old man was fallen down due to probably
de-hydration. But I wondered how other people leaving that old man in the
middle of the way (almost a pottakkaadu) without making an attempt to give him
water or try to save him. The villagers are almost should be the victim’s
relations where his wife only seems to be shed tears for him. And later the
people harshly taking that lady with them and leaving that old man just like
that.
Now the movie set to revolve just in a tea estate where they
realize that the Kangaani is the villain and exploiting the people’s soul to
their best. Newly married lady (karuthakanni) is getting raped by the
britisher, half of the people were dying due to the fatal disease, hero’s leg
vein has been cut as he tried to escape, people were not given their payments,
Dhanshika also died in a disease and Karuthakanni as well. Hopeless people
spending their life time in tea estates without seeing their families and
relations. Doctors are arriving to medicate the people but they are trying to
convert them as Christians rather doing treatments. Everything is going against
the slave people and there is no hope even for us that they will rejuvenate.
Finally due to man power shortage another set of people brought in by Kangaani
in which hero’s wife and their son gets in to trap. Atharva was crying (kadhari
kadhari) by seeing his family there and the film ends as the title appearing “a
film by bala”.
The film has been well portrayed how the people were
exploited to their core without recognizing them as a human. By seeing that
movie we feel how lucky we are since we are leading a comfortable life.
In my opinion the entire movie could be a good documentary
rather than a movie, where I disagree that it is a good movie rather could be a
good documentary. If it is a life of such people Bala missed to show the other
side of their part which could be their happiest moments. The characters in the
movie are crying their best from the beginning to the end which fails us to
feel for them. Songs are also a major drawback as the singers also crying for
them with old sad musics.
I don’t accept this as Bala’s best movie as saying by most,
it could be a best documentary directed by Bala.
MSK
