Paradesi

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 where he is convincing the villagers with the sweet words that they could work with him and can earn more money to lead a better life. People were convinced and felt happy by his words and decided to go their and work with them to earn more money. Some people were going with their families and some left. From here the movie travels most with songs and distressing moments of the migrating people.

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