Beings, with knowledge of both WWE and Tamil Cinema would agree with me, if I were to state that the title of 'Cerebral Assassin' suits director Bala better than Triple H. A man hailed for revolutionizing Tamil cinema, his films have always been a class apart. Speaking of characters the world has never seen of before, director Bala has managed to bring to screens an unknown piece of life with each and every film of his, be it the fate-cheated lover of Sethu, the lovesick son Nanda, the Aghori in Naan Kadavul, or the thief with a heart of gold in Avan Ivan. This vision of his, coupled with the negative promotion this film received owing to the rather misunderstood 'reality teaser', has boosted this film's hype to great heights.
Paradesi, a loose adaptation of Paul Harris Daniel's novel Red Tea, is the story of Rasa, a carefree, naive young man who is unknowingly sucked into the world of bonded labor, in order to marry his love, Angamma. The crux of the story, is the cruel conditions of these bonded labors in tea estates during the British Raj of the 1940s.
Performances have always been a high in Bala's films, and this film is no exception. Every artiste in this film, be it Atharvaa, Vedhicka, Dhanshika, have done justice to their adverse roles, and do deserve appreciation.The effort put into making this movie is tremendous, and the makers have succeeded in taking us back to the 40s. Nanjil Naadan's dialogues, are extremely interesting, and while the album is not legendary, GV Prakash's bgm sure does add life to the movie. The film's cinematography and editing, donned by Chezhiyan and Kishore TE respectively, are brilliant and have helped to portray the essence of the film with effect, while keeping its runtime at a short 2 hours. The art direction, by debutante CS Balachander is also exceptional and so is Poornima Ramaswamy's costume work.
But unfortunately, the film (yet again since Avan Ivan) fails to hit your head. The movie, moving at a steady pace, light in the beginning and getting heavier as it moves, ends almost bluntly. While the movie speaks of a dark message, it unfortunately does not leave you mind-raped like Bala's previous productions. This movie, while being worth a watch just for its audacity and amazing work, might probably not impress the usual Bala fan.
Aditya Baskaran
What end do you propose so that it wouldn't have ended bluntly (as you've said)?
ReplyDeleteAlso how would this movie could've mind-raped?
Well, sir, there's nothing wrong with the ending. The movie seemed to move in a manner of portraying Rasa's life, and ended as a mere account of his suffering. It was sudden, for it to have end that way, that's all.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not how it could have mind-raped me, I simply expected it to do so.