While travelling by bus sometimes we spot people behaving weirdly, as in wearing weird attires or making weird faces or anything that is in our understanding, not something that should be done on a bus. What do we do in that very instant? We judge them, without knowing a single thing about their life and existence. If you have not seen Anoop Sathyan’s, ‘Varane Avashyamund’ yet, it might change the whole way in which you look at the world.
The film unfolds itself and its characters very slowly and then give us a deeper insight into the lives of the characters. The film makes sure that we have already judged the characters for their actions, and then it tells us about the battles each one of those characters is fighting, very quietly with their pasts. That’s the whole point of the film, to show us how fast we judge an individual for their decisions and actions and even for the way they look without knowing anything about them.
In a very nuanced and subtle way, the film brings out the fact that every individual is fighting a battle with their pasts, with themselves. From our own perspectives, the magnitude of these battles might look really small, but we never know the magnitude that battle holds for the person fighting it.
There’s a scene very early in the film where Nikki (Kalyani Priyadarshan) calls a boy to her house, a boy who liked her and rejects his marriage proposal, claiming her mother, Neena (Shobana), doesn’t quite like her, very later in the movie when a heavy rain pours down and Neena doesn’t have an umbrella, this very boy gives his umbrella away to her, letting himself get drenched. This whole thing might go unnoticed because of the presence of so many characters already, but it is one of the most beautiful parts of the film, of how we judge people based on outer appearances.
The film never goes into melodrama, the emotions are wonderfully controlled, even at those times, you might feel your eyes getting wet. Every character staying in the very complex forms a connection with the other starts being there for each other’s grievances and happiness, making us realize how human connections are the only thing we live for be it a blood relation or not.
‘Varane Avashyamund’, celebrates the life and portrays human beings very humanely without exaggerating them into heroes. These characters are not heroes, yet they are in the way that each one of them emerges victorious from their personal battles. Major Unnikrishnan (Suresh Gopi) wins our hearts over with his big, endearing speech where he is seen conquering his fears, where he talks about how traveling is beautiful and how it is even more beautiful to come back home once in a while after traveling and sometimes this home can be a person.
‘Varane Avashymund’, should be a must-watch if you are looking for a light-hearted slice-of-life drama with some moments that stay with you for a long time.
Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9
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