‘Aattam’ movie review: Anand Ekarshi’s assured debut trains a harsh, critical lens on male behaviour – The Hindu
Rooting for a personality provides us a way of consolation, however we aren’t particularly conscious of this till that uncommon film comes alongside which doesn’t present us that consolation. Such films always upset our calculations, and our understanding about specific characters; they find yourself pulling the rug from underneath our ft after we assume to be standing on secure floor.
In Anand Ekarshi’s debut function Aattam, we do have a personality to root for in Anjali (Zarin Shihab), the lone feminine member in a drama troupe full of males. No, she is just not in hostile territory, somewhat there are allies galore for her in that troupe, by which she actually grew up. None extra so than Vinay (Vinay Forrt) with whom she is in a relationship. However, all is just not properly throughout the troupe, for there are bruised egos and a few inside politics born out of it to cope with.
Inside this group explodes a scandal that threatens its very existence and likewise shakes the alliances between group members. That is the place Ekarshi’s script additionally pulls its little trick, always making us query our evaluation of every of the characters, most of whom appear to be innocent beings struggling to remain afloat in an unequal world. The equations between the group shifts always, and phrases uttered some time in the past attain new which means within the gentle of latest revelations.
Aatam
Most of them are working-class folks having a day job to run their household, for ardour for the stage can’t fill their stomachs or run their households. Anjali is an architect, Vinay is a small-time chef, one individual works in a fuel company, and one other as a plumber or electrician. Solely a former newspaper editor appears to be moderately properly off. Their financial background comes into play at a vital level within the story, when their resolve to do the fitting factor is examined.
Though we sympathise at instances with the few — who’ve struggled all their lives — wavering on the prospect of a life-changing deal, the way in which the movie masterfully peels the skinny veneer of progressiveness and trustworthiness that the boys carry as a masks, is one thing to behold. It additionally exhibits how even the friendliest of areas can flip hostile to ladies who dare to face up for themselves. All of the sudden, their previous conduct, their apparel and even their passing remarks can be referred to as into query, getting used as a weapon to delegitimise their legitimate issues.
The movie is what might be branded dialogue-heavy, however when the dialogues match proper in and have an ambiguous high quality at instances, such heaviness is all the time welcome. One wouldn’t model 12 Offended Males or The Man from Earth as dialogue-heavy; the dialogues are what makes these films particular.
At some factors, it takes the type of a procedural drama, however always the intent appears to be to slowly unravel the complexities of those characters and the various elements which push and pull them in varied instructions. Discovering a solution to the who or why turns into immaterial after a degree, a truth which the film underlines in its well-conceived climax. With Aattam, which appears to be like at male behaviour by way of a harshly vital lens, Anand Ekarshi makes an assured debut.
Aattam gained the Grand Jury Award on the Indian Movie Competition of Los Angeles., and is about to get its Asian premiere on the Jio MAMI Mumbai Movie Competition subsequent week
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