‘Ammu’ movie review: Aishwarya Lekshmi shines in poignant, yet unconvincing tale of domestic abuse

There’s a preferred quote (most recognised from The Normal Suspects) that goes like this, “The best trick the satan ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

Undecided in regards to the satan’s existence — possibly the quote is true — however it does function an allegory on the predatory behaviour that’s prevalent amongst controlling, poisonous masculine males in our society. Males, like Naveen Chandra’s character Ravindranath in Ammu, would possibly seem like white knights to society, therefore no one ever suspects that their capes are solely meant to hide the blood on their palms.

A blatant, up-close report on such behavioural patterns and the cycle of abuse by the hands of such males are few of the various laudable facets of director Charukesh Sekar’s movie. The very first introductory sequence of the movie manages to inform so much. We see the palms of a girl gentle up candles one after the other; the sunshine ultimately reveals her to be Ammu (Aishwarya Lekshmi), a 25-year-old on the point of meet her groom, Ravindranath. Just like the flame shining brilliant on her glowing face, the resilience, love, and hope that she has in her coronary heart, do add as much as her magnificence. She would not have identified then that she would go on to unfold that spark of resilience to many round her.

Ravi turns into a dotting husband to Ammu, and he or she thanks the celebrities for such a loving companion. From the society’s perspective, Ravi is a dutiful cop who cares in regards to the well-being of the residents. As one would possibly anticipate, issues go south and this occurs fairly out of the blue. Someday, Ammu forgets to take Ravi’s lunch to the police station — she is not conscious that it was anticipated of her — and Ravi takes this to coronary heart. How did such a loving man flip into this, you’ll marvel, however this solely provides as much as how cleverly manipulative somebody like Ravi may be. It really works as a result of that is how quickly the world appears to have modified for Ammu as effectively, and this can be a movie that’s meant to make one look from the eyes of the sufferer and never the perpetrator. Extra such situations observe, and he or she fails to pay attention to the purple flags. Issues escalate swiftly, and Ravi begins to bodily assault Ammu.

Regardless of progressing like a slow-burn drama which may immediately remind certainly one of The Nice Indian Kitchen, the movie touches on many pivotal factors by some efficient dialogues and scene-writing. Be it the dialog between Ammu and her mom, the scene that includes Raghu Babu by which Ammu holds onto the concept that her love can change her husband, the dialogue that speaks for the correct a girl holds over her physique, or the best way Ammu tells a bunch of policewomen that they forgot to research her home and that she is being abused… the movie provides us lots to ponder about. Additional, it infuriates us to see how helpless Ammu’s scenario seems to be, and that there are few choices obtainable.

However the largest discrepancy is available in how Charukesh chooses to offer a decision. A convict on parole named Prabhu (Simha) is used as a device to achieve this, and these parts turn into fairly unconvincing. We all know little about Prabhu apart from the truth that he killed two folks, that he’s on parole to attend her sister’s wedding ceremony, and that he regrets the crimes he dedicated. Nonetheless, is that actually sufficient for us to take his quest significantly? Additionally, for a movie that was portray a practical portrait of abuse, such gimmicky turns of occasions do not work in its favour.

Regardless of the shortcomings although, Ammu manages to maneuver you, and Aishwarya Lekshmi’s efficiency deserves plenty of credit score for it, as she eases by even probably the most weak of moments. Pay attention to how your coronary heart strings tug throughout a close-up that exhibits her making use of make-up over her wounds. Equally, Naveen delivers fairly an efficient efficiency as Ravi; for example, the scene the place he pulls off a tremble on his cheeks when Ammu asks him a sure or no query.

Regardless of its poor third act, the writing of the primary two is such that you just would possibly nonetheless end up trying to find solutions and closure. For invoking that in us, and for every little thing else it stands for, Ammu is a win.

Ammu is at present streaming on Amazon Prime Video