Gevi Movie Synopsis: When a few people die in a hilly area because of a landslide and the lack of proper hospital facilities, an entire community rises against the police and politicians. However, this bravery only deepens their struggles.Gevi Movie Review: Debut director Tamil Dhayalan emerges as a strong voice to watch. Gevi is occasionally slow-paced, but the honest storytelling holds so much impact that everything else doesn’t matter. As we are introduced to the people living in Gevi, a small village near Kodaikanal, the screen is dark–lit only by torch lights and yellow-lit sodium vapor lamps. It’s one of their unfortunate days, a landslide has hit, and the villagers carry the injured up and down the hills in a makeshift cradle, trying to quickly reach the hospital. But a few minutes in, it becomes clear that this unfortunate day is nothing new to them. Every time someone falls sick, the same routine repeats, and still, nothing changes in their lives.However, the film reminds us that this struggle isn’t their whole life. It also talks about different people and the community’s lifestyle. Gevi is also conscious of its social commentary. So, when it shows the power hierarchies at play, it doesn’t hesitate to depict the multiple dimensions within it. For instance, even as the Gevi people fight to survive, the film portrays how their rebellion, in itself, is not a threat and is simply overlooked by those in power. In addition, it shows how the middlemen within the system suffer too. At the center of this story is the lovely couple Mandharai and Malaiyan (a brilliant Sheela Rajkumar and Aadhavan), who are awaiting their child’s birth. So nestled within a raw, moving story are delicate, beautiful bonds and moments you’re made to care for. For instance, when two lives are in danger, caught on different sides of the hills, the director decides to cut to a flashback. Caught in the rain, a pregnant wife tells her husband that the raindrops feel like their child’s little kisses, and the husband laughingly replies that he doesn’t have so much creativity and to him, it feels like his child is urinating. The scene is brief, cute, yet powerful. Because when the film instantly pulls you back to the present day, you realise: their fight that night is not just to survive, but to protect such tiny dreams and little joys of hope. Moments like these pull the viewer into Gevi’s world and make them part of it. The only time where the film lets its audience down is how each person in the village is written with soul, but in sharp contrast, be it the nonchalant politicians or egoistic cops, every other character is one-dimensional and just evil. That said, even through songs and lyrics like “Eesan sonaalum ration kedaikuma”, the film delivers a sharp critique of systemic oppression. Something that makes Gevi even more compelling is the way the film is shot. Right at the beginning of the film, when the Gevi people are mourning over the death of their loved ones due to the landslide, the camera moves away as far as it can, capturing an aerial view of “just the Gevi people” wrapped in a small place, all alone in the vast hills, which remains a silent observer of their struggles. Such images speak volumes about how unseen and unheard they are within this system. Props to cinematographer Jagan Jaya Surya—every frame enhances the moment, complementing the rawness of the story being told. Written By:Harshini SV