‘Victim’ movie review: Pa Ranjith excels with ‘Dhammam’, the rest peters out

Can a fish differentiate between its predators? Does it know if it’s hunted by a shark, larger fish or a lure set by a human? In Pa Ranjith’s Dhammam, a school-going woman appears to be like at a freshwater fish from a distance and sings a lullaby: she tells the fish, “Don’t fear, I gained’t hurt you or put you in sambar. However for those who enable me, I’ll take you and put you on the opposite facet of the water.” One thing to this impact.

A fish turns into a bigger metaphor on the lifetime of Dalits who personal a small pocket of farmland amidst those surrounded by dominant caste teams (the drone pictures are stunning. Thamizh Azhagan is the cinematographer). Like this fish, the characters of Dhammam too should be in a continuing state of vigil, within the wake of an assault from a predator.

In contrast to his friends, Ranjith is content material with telling a narrative. He crafts an outstanding novella that isn’t simply political however matches nicely inside a typical screenplay construction, with a battle and determination. The “battle” is when Kema (Poorvadharini) asks Sekar (Kalaiarasan in a white shirt and white veshti) from a dominant caste group, to get down from the ridge to pave the way in which for her, as she got here first. That isn’t it. Sekar primarily asks Kema to budge and she or he refuses, even on the request of her father Guna (Guru Somasundaram).

Egos are bruised and let’s say issues get “soiled”. Identical to Buddhist tales, Dhammam is a violent story. It doesn’t use violence as an answer however somewhat a device of self-defence, whereas additionally highlighting how blind-sighted one can get when blood shoots up their heads. This isn’t a secure movie in any respect. Ranjith says rowthiram pazhagu however not at the price of humanity. 

The mark of a foul anthology is the urgency to make use of the assorted methods and gadgets to make it look palatable and full. In Tamil cinema, filmmakers can not function with out force-fitting a “twist” into the screenplay, particularly within the shorter format. We noticed this earlier in Navarasa, Putham Puthu Kalai and even in Kutty Story. In Sufferer, M Rajesh’s Mirage and Chimbudevan’s Kottai Pakku Vathalum…Mottai Maadi Sitharum rely totally on dishonest the viewers somewhat than on a meaty script. Regardless of a formidable pair in Thambi Ramiah and Nasser, Chimbudevan’s quick is weighed down by a lacklustre writing and an equally abysmal filmmaking. There’s nothing a lot to write down about Mirage both. Rajesh significantly wants to tug up his socks. Within the garb of a psychological well being situation, he makes use of Vittalacharya’s methods at a time when audiences are watching Squid Recreation in Tamil.

Venkat Prabhu’s Confession is considerably watchable — if that’s any comfort. Written by Manivannan Balasubramaniam and Venkat Prabhu, it’s nonetheless a sensible thought (for a brief) and to a big extent, succeeds in reaching what’s on paper. The movie is about two primary characters [played by Amala Paul and Prasanna] who, in a means, stay two completely different lives — one that’s recognized to the surface world, one that’s but unknown.

Prasanna performs an murderer who’s employed for successful job, whereas Amala Paul’s Anjana lives in a lavish condo, has costly wine, smokes weed and is on a booty name along with her NRI husband. What does she do for a residing, we’re allowed to guess. Her condo partitions are adorned with self-portraits. Is she a mannequin? A budding actress? Is she with IT? Is it too frequent for folks within the IT sector to have self-portraits at residence? In distinction, Prasanna’s character is outlined by his humbleness: he has dosas and chutney earlier than he leaves for the evening shift. I level this out as a result of the digicam fixates on the dosa and chutney, maybe, to indicate one thing. Anyway, the problem with Confession isn’t the conception, however the spoon-feeding filmmaking. Discover how the movie takes greater than half of its time outlining Anjana’s character and her life-style. After all, we get a twist in the direction of the tip. However as a result of we all know a lot about Anjana by now, we’re left to surprise if it is a low-cost ploy or intelligent writing. It’s the former, truly.

Sufferer is presently streaming on SonyLIV