Love happens when you don’t expect it at all. . . What a beautiful movie I saw yesterday. I had it on my list a long time ago, but it was all voiceless, and yesterday I found it with voiceover. Thank you to the people who voiced South Indian films back in the 1980s. My favorite period in Indian cinema and in any movie. And so young and slender Chiranjivi, with an insanely attractive look, from which I melted and slid under the table. He is so hot here that it is breathtaking, and it is simply impossible not to fall in love with his character.
Of course, there is no film description, as always. Then I'll give you a little background. The protagonist of this story, an illiterate village hooligan Pularaju, a bully, a rude, a drunkard. She lives with her mother on the outskirts of the village. The village floor fears him for his temper and constant fights, and the village floor is respected for the same. He is the destructive force of disoriented and alcohol-fueled energy; childishly impulsive and egocentric, full of aggression, but evading emotional clashes. His name is a sign of the character's dual nature - is he a beast or a prince? His mother and villagers see only his worst side. Pularaju, for all its shortcomings, does not like injustice, and constantly punishes all scoundrels, both local and foreign. One day, a family of Indian Catholics comes to their village - a father with four children. His eldest daughter, Jennifer, gets a job at a local school as an English teacher. Jennifer is the only one who works in this family, on her salary they all live - her younger sister is disabled, and two younger brothers of school age. Of course, she is strict in nature, and also does not tolerate injustice and disrespect. With her and meets Pularaju, and this meeting changes his whole life. He doesn’t just fall in love with a teacher, he changes completely, wants to learn, corrects his behavior, and changes his life. Chiranjivi subtly changes his posture, facial expression and diction to show changes in Raju. And these eyes ... are simple to tears.
Pularaju has a cousin of Gangama who has been in love with him since childhood and dreams of marrying him. Although I never understood this, how brothers and sisters, albeit cousins, come from the same family (their parents are siblings), can marry each other. They have the same blood. I understand even when the named brother and sister, or one adopted child grew up in the family of another, and they had children in families, then they can marry each other, because the children have different blood. But when siblings want to marry their children, that’s wrong. In India, as far as I can remember, this was not the case. But in this film, this situation is very clearly shown.
On the one hand, this is a typical Indian love story - a bully is corrected under the influence of surging feelings, and a teacher, too correct and strict, who changes this bully, and herself imperceptibly falls in love with him. Great in its simplicity and depth.
Jennifer is mired in everyday life and problems - this is just a current measured life. Sluggish, with no sign of change. And this life is satisfied, because it is already a habit that you do not want to break. And here on the horizon arises HE: internally free, glowing with positivity and slight madness. Although illiterate and a bully, but with a very kind heart and an open soul. He also worships her like a goddess. And she begins to show sympathy for him, especially seeing how his flared love changes. Suhasini is great in this role. In a pair with Chiru they looked great.
I didn’t like my father very much, not yet an old man who could work, especially since he is also a teacher, so no – he sat on his daughter’s neck, trying to profitably marry her to a rich distant relative, because it is necessary to treat the second daughter, and educate two sons, and he does not care that his daughter loves another person, and her heart will be broken. The main family will be fine, in his opinion. As always, lovers have to sacrifice their feelings.
So how will this all end? The viewer is very interested in watching the changes of the characters, internal and external. After all, the transformed inner world entails transformation and the external. In the film, we see all the signs of an “inadvertent” feeling: acquaintance, embarrassment, communication, close communication, rejection of the situation, jealousy, awareness of feeling. Two different people, different in nature and way of thinking, met by chance in order to bring something new into each other’s lives. That's how love is born. It doesn’t matter if this love continues. Life is important here and now. And now these two small worlds have created one universe.
The apparent lightness and simplicity of the film is not such. It's much deeper than that. After watching, you are left with a pleasant feeling, as if you really just watched the transformation of someone’s life. However, a little later they begin to overcome their own feelings of internal contradictions. Full awareness of the film occurs much later, because the strings are so deep that the resonance lasts for a very, very long time. It creates a great mood.
The music of Illayaraji is beautiful, and the theme of Are Emaindi is used with excellent effect. The reprise at the end of the film is wonderful, and the altered text helps create a mood of longing. There are some flaws in the film, but they don’t really diminish the experience.
It's just a movie about love that doesn't pretend to be anything else. Watched, charged with positivity and carry this charge through gray everyday life, and problems. This is a film about love, which is a lot of truth, life and reality, despite the fact that such stories in India are filmed constantly. And a little bit of happiness that you can take with you after watching. The film is about how to open yourself (the world and other people), open your eyes (and see bright colors), start breathing. Embrace a stranger and share warmth with them. Love is a hug. A language that does not need to be translated.
10 out of 10