Balagam movie review: An honest slice of life film – The Indian Express

The story is about across the demise of boisterous, bawdy, meddling village elder Komurayya and the following drama that unfolds exposing the rifts current inside the household, inflicting larger sociological calamities within the small village.

When Komurayya (Sudhakar Reddy) dies a few days shy of the engagement of his grandson Sayilu (Priyadarshi), the latter’s entire world shatters as his plans of utilizing the hefty dowry to clear his mounting money owed involves a halt. As a result of ego hassles between his family and the woman’s household, the proposal is named off inside a day. Determined to repay the mortgage sharks, Sayilu eyes his estranged uncle’s daughter Sandhya (Kavya Kalyanram) as his subsequent goal for large cash. How he schemes with the assistance of his two associates to convey the households collectively to make this alliance attainable whereas arranging the rituals surrounding his grandfather’s demise types the crux of the movie. Giving a contact of magic realism, a crow, representing his useless grandfather’s soul, performs an element within the machiavellian schemes of the grandson. Amidst ritualistic feasts, bristly egos, and drunken brawls, the household lastly is introduced collectively by the useless patriarch with everyone realising the worth of relations and social bonds in a reaffirmation of the Indian household system.

Balagam is essentially an examination of fixing household equations, the societal expectations from a person and a household, and the pressures tearing them aside concurrently forcing them to remain collectively.

Balagam portrays the customs and rituals in the course of the 12-day interval following a demise in Telangana villages. With little variations, no matter caste and space variations, these are the customs adopted throughout Telangana and elements of Andhra Pradesh. The movie faithfully paperwork these rituals with rigorously designed comedian interludes from smaller characters. Many of the actors are both first timers or comparatively unknown artistes. Because the movie progresses, every character lends credence to the farcical drama. The outdated girl who calls for a chilly drink in the course of the wailing and chest thumping; the outdated man who stuffs himself with meat and falls sick later; the village man who calls for overseas whiskey; the tailor (the director himself) who’s afraid of being requested about his dialog with Komurayya; the village girl who asks for a snooker ball for her grandson… it’s a panoply of characters filling the large canvas with many hues of life. Holding this all collectively is the music of the movie by Bheems Cicerolio. Completely different types of Telangana’s conventional music help and enhances the narrative consistently, notably the dirge coming on the finish.

The proceedings may really feel a bit tedious to the uninitiated, however the general influence is certainly rewarding. The redemption of the lead actor feels somewhat incomplete as his struggles with money owed and his familial dishonesty is left unanswered. Actor turned director Venu Yeldandi has achieved a unbelievable job with an uncommon topic amidst the lavish, industrial movies surrounding us. The sheer quantity of labor in dealing with so many characters in a movie, that too by a debutant, is thoughts boggling. Maybe his years as a profitable comic has performed a giant half right here. Producer Dil Raju, who is understood for romances and large price range industrial flicks, pleasantly surprises the viewers with this selection of cinema. He should be congratulated for backing a small, rooted movie like this.

Lastly, Balagam is an trustworthy slice of life story from rural Telangana. It’d really feel a bit anachronistic, but it deserves reward for trying to convey ahead part of life that has been ignored so lengthy in Telugu cinema.