Varane Avashyamund (2020)
If only this movie was just about Neena (Shobana) and her ultimate stannability, with her daughter Nikitha (Kalyani Priyadarshan) playing just a minor role, it would easily have been one of my favourite movies to release this year. But as it is, after being subjected to that storyline, I am choosing to remember this movie only for the complete heartwarming experience that is Shobana. And of course, inspiring too.
It's almost as if two parallel movies are going on here- one where Neena is a middle-aged single mother, whose story doesn't merely revolve around that fact; she has her dance, her French classes, her easy charm that endears her to everyone, and most importantly, she has the "I don't give a fuck" attitude that "woke feminist" movies try so hard to portray, but Shobana does it so easily it's magical. She has no shame about accepting and admitting the fact that she's always been a romantic, and yes, it led her down a very dark path once upon a time, but it's life and things happen, and she is who she is because of them. Ugh, I have so many feels about Neena, it's crazy. At one point, she actually asks her loser daughter (don't ask me to be subtle), "Is marriage everything?" Now, that is the kind of representation we need in our cinema.
The other movie is about the daughter- everything that can go wrong, GOES wrong. She slut-shames her own mother, for god's sake. And why the hell is she so obsessed with "arranged marriage"? Why is that even a thing anymore?? And oh god, the ending. I was suspecting it from the start, and well, all my fears came true, unfortunately. Plus, it's not even as if it's only the character that's sloppily written- the acting is so pathetic, my god. She basically has the same self-righteously smug look throughout the movie, alternating at times with a self-righteously injured look, and trust me, it gets annoying real quick. However, in the spirit of the movie, I will take this character arc as a lesson- never trust a bitch called Nikita (yes I am dragging my personal baggage into this, SO WHAT).
Another complaint that I have from this movie is that Dulquer my boi is completely under-utilised. I mean, he still rocks it in whatever scene he is in (EXCEPT THE ENDING UGH) but there is just so less of him. I just wanted to give Fraud (Dulqs), Aakashvani (KPAC Lalitha) and Karthik (Sarvajith Santosh Sivan) a big hug once this movie ended, they were all just so cute. Also, big, bIG rel8 @ Fraud for still getting into fights with kids as a 20-something (out of everyone I know, I am the most likely to get into fights with teenagers).
However, there is an excellent meta reference to Shobana (honestly, the power of a queen) that actually has some significance to the narrative. We have no choice but to stan. The character development of Major Unnikrishnan (Suresh Gopi) is heartwarming (I know I have used this word already, but that is the lasting feeling I have from the movie, so yeah), and his speech towards the end will make you cry and feel some emotions that maybe you weren't ready to feel, but it's okay because everything is done in such a lovely manner that you end up with a content smile on your face. The movie is also really funny in parts- by the way, Kalyani Priyadarshan adds nothing there either: all the humour comes from the other actors.
A must for the die-hard Shobana fans, and those of us who are sick and tired of performative feminism on screen, and want to see the real deal for once. Amen.
PS- I should have ideally given this movie 3 stars out of 5, but I'm giving 3.5, coz Shobana. Can't help it, I'm biased af.
It's almost as if two parallel movies are going on here- one where Neena is a middle-aged single mother, whose story doesn't merely revolve around that fact; she has her dance, her French classes, her easy charm that endears her to everyone, and most importantly, she has the "I don't give a fuck" attitude that "woke feminist" movies try so hard to portray, but Shobana does it so easily it's magical. She has no shame about accepting and admitting the fact that she's always been a romantic, and yes, it led her down a very dark path once upon a time, but it's life and things happen, and she is who she is because of them. Ugh, I have so many feels about Neena, it's crazy. At one point, she actually asks her loser daughter (don't ask me to be subtle), "Is marriage everything?" Now, that is the kind of representation we need in our cinema.
The other movie is about the daughter- everything that can go wrong, GOES wrong. She slut-shames her own mother, for god's sake. And why the hell is she so obsessed with "arranged marriage"? Why is that even a thing anymore?? And oh god, the ending. I was suspecting it from the start, and well, all my fears came true, unfortunately. Plus, it's not even as if it's only the character that's sloppily written- the acting is so pathetic, my god. She basically has the same self-righteously smug look throughout the movie, alternating at times with a self-righteously injured look, and trust me, it gets annoying real quick. However, in the spirit of the movie, I will take this character arc as a lesson- never trust a bitch called Nikita (yes I am dragging my personal baggage into this, SO WHAT).
Another complaint that I have from this movie is that Dulquer my boi is completely under-utilised. I mean, he still rocks it in whatever scene he is in (EXCEPT THE ENDING UGH) but there is just so less of him. I just wanted to give Fraud (Dulqs), Aakashvani (KPAC Lalitha) and Karthik (Sarvajith Santosh Sivan) a big hug once this movie ended, they were all just so cute. Also, big, bIG rel8 @ Fraud for still getting into fights with kids as a 20-something (out of everyone I know, I am the most likely to get into fights with teenagers).
However, there is an excellent meta reference to Shobana (honestly, the power of a queen) that actually has some significance to the narrative. We have no choice but to stan. The character development of Major Unnikrishnan (Suresh Gopi) is heartwarming (I know I have used this word already, but that is the lasting feeling I have from the movie, so yeah), and his speech towards the end will make you cry and feel some emotions that maybe you weren't ready to feel, but it's okay because everything is done in such a lovely manner that you end up with a content smile on your face. The movie is also really funny in parts- by the way, Kalyani Priyadarshan adds nothing there either: all the humour comes from the other actors.
A must for the die-hard Shobana fans, and those of us who are sick and tired of performative feminism on screen, and want to see the real deal for once. Amen.
PS- I should have ideally given this movie 3 stars out of 5, but I'm giving 3.5, coz Shobana. Can't help it, I'm biased af.
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