5–8 minutes
I’m not sure whether movies these days are amazing, or whether I’ve just been watching the right ones. I felt content after watching Project Hail Mary. That movie left me with warmth, and this one left me with satisfaction. Maybe the pre-movie incidents added a little something to it. But the intent of going to the theatre was for the music, and I ended up liking the various characters in the movie instead.
Disclaimer: Spoiler’s alert
This isn’t a normal commercial movie like the ones you usually see on screens. Though the movie had only a few characters, each one played a phenomenal role. The post includes a disclaimer. The pain underneath the anger and violence was shown well in the movie. The metaphors played out really well at various points. The act of naming them Devadas and Parvathi, the posters, the painting of Van Gogh itself (Painted inside his room at the asylum and Chandra says she has been inside that room for years), the simultaneous acts of enduring pain by Das and Chandra, the hidden frustration, the metaphors of the plastic rose and the gun, the wall colors, the shades of the sun, the fumes of dust after the bomb scenes, the guilt of man (while getting that money from Das) and many more. The details are something you can’t take your eyes off.
The core characters Das, Chandra, and Parvathi all carry pain in different forms. Obviously, everyone has pain and suffering in this world; how one carries it varies from person to person. Parvathi harms herself, while Das and Chandra turn theirs on the world. Though Parvathi’s role was very minimal, she acts as the driving force for the whole story. if He hadn’t gone to see her one last time, the plot would have been an entirely different one. The old songs were placed spot-on.
DC is the kind of man who never thought about getting married and having kids, but when he enters the lodge and sees Parvathi, the next story, the next stage of life begins. The song perfectly placed alongside Oru Kadhai Mudiyalam. I don’t know why, but little me was happy to see the reference to Aval Appadithan. The same song can be taken as a hint for Parvathi. Her toxic one has ended, and her feelings are changing. She understands that, and gives him an indirect warning by singing the lyrics of Nilave Ennidam Nerungathe.
நிலவே என்னிடம் நெருங்காதே நீ நினைக்கும் இடத்தில் நானில்லை!
Of course, it’s true that with strangers, it’s easier to open up, knowing we won’t meet them again. That frees us from judgment, responsibility, and accountability. But that’s how most relationships begin in the form of strangers and then the above ones are taken up. Same goes for Das. Das carries this pain of losing loved ones right from his childhood, his father’s distance included. Losing Parvathi burdens him even more.
Parallely, the introduction of Chandra was also beautiful. A few of Chandra’s initial scenes reminded me of Gangubai Kathiawadi movie. The pain and life of a prostitute, and how some managed to escape while others managed to survive in the same mess. The detail of the kajal on Chandra and Parvathi was worth noticing. Again, it reminded me of SSA – Part B. Traces of Parvathi reside in him (maybe out of love or guilt, let’s take it as love in this case), which came out as revenge at the end when he killed the officer.
The same goes for Chandra, in the case of the doctor. The buried anger and longing for a child came out like lava. Whether you’re Chandra or Shiv Roy (Succession), the feminine urge to give birth never dies. Some get it, and some don’t. The details of how Chandra wanders and looks at the walls of the building when she comes out the river, the sunrise, the people at the wedding all stood out as if she was born again. The scenes where Chandra sees Das as God for rescuing her, yet Das denies it, bring out the rawness of the character.
The caption for Das and Chandra madness meets madness was well written. Both hold their pain very well and understand each other. Das says he understands the pain of staying within four walls, very few can empathize with what others go through. Staying within four walls, whether by force or by choice, isn’t pleasant enough. Chandra did stay since she understood that he didn’t see her differently, yet the question remained within her. When he let go of her hands, Chandra’s expression said it all. She nailed it through out. Her recent role in Pati Patni Aur Woh Do was contradictory. Though she claimed she knew everything about him, reassurance was still needed, for her and for him, that she wouldn’t leave. Karuppan and Kitty was necessary for the same. Maybe that’s how human do operate. And it’s simultaneously the act of Das and Chandra saving each other from their pits.
There was one dialogue where the police say to find someone who understands your nature of work. That worked well for Das, the supporting police character, as well as the head of the police team. Moreover, the movie doesn’t want you to remember every name. Just a few.
Supporting characters such as Kitty, Karuppan, Sebastian, and Sunnilal played a great role. One important note, maybe not emphasized much, was the role of education over money and its source. In the world of AI, where people are skipping college, education is still mandatory to reach the top from the bottom. The dynamics between father and son, though minimal, were pleasantly stated. Men, whether young or older, don’t learn to express emotions like women do they are more reserved. Though his father learns that Das did it for a good cause, the father’s attitude and sarcasm were still there. Parents do understand eventually come around after all it is their first time too. That was cute to see.
Overall, DC was good for a theatrical experience. The movie needed this level of violence to bring out the pain in the form of anger. But I hope this doesn’t encourage people to take up weapons instead of channeling their anger elsewhere. At the end, Das tells his father that he could have told him to study instead, but then there wouldn’t be a story. Yet Das always finds reasons to fight, be it for the kid, Parvathi, Chandra, Sebastian, Karuppan, or Kitty. The goodness in Das makes us forget the violence and the murder. Goodness, Das didn’t die and Paravati did. One question circled back, Do you love what you do?
Do give it try in theatres.
Cheers
PS: Mostly it’s a daughter incase of Loki!
Check out the previous post: On Purposes and Desires & Other Movie Reviews
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turtles all the way down!
Sunandhini R
