Review of Dweepa

REVIEW OF "DWEEPA"
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    Last weekend, I saw a Kannada movie called "Dweepa". Here are my comments on it.

    To sum it first, the movie is mainly about attitudes and relationships and in particular about dealing with change. It has made me think and has raised questions. Bottomline : I like the movie !

    The story is of a couple who live in an island off the Karnataka coast. Due to the construction of a dam, the people in the island are asked to move. The reaction of the couple and the husband's father form the main plank of the movie.

    The husband's father (played by Vasudev Rao) wants to stay in the island. His livelihood comes from the ritual of "Naima", a kind of soothsayer in the village. In the evening of his life, he can think of no alternative livelihood. The husband and wife, Nagi, take him to the Nagi's father's house, but the old man returns to the island due to his reluctance to change his lifestyle.

    Nagi is practical and copes with the change brought about by the dam. She is the first to urge the men to move from the island. The three of them move to her father's house, but when Nagi's father in law moves back, the husband and Nagi are also forced to follow suit. The husband follows his father, literally and metaphorically. He follows his father's "Naima" vocation as well as his attitude of stubborness and reluctance to change. The conflict between Nagi and her husband is understated, but it is there.

    Nagi's mother sends a young man called Krishna to help the three of them. Krishna and Nagi are similar in their attitudes towards life. Krishna cycles into the island at breakneck speed and enters their house. Nagi welcomes him with a herbal concoction. Right from this time, the two of them share a rapport that cannot be missed. Nagi's husband notices the relationship between the two of them and pangs of jealousy rise in him.

    At Krishna's urging, the four of them move to a higher level to a house abandoned by people who have informed them that they could use it. One evening, Nagi's father in law says that he will do a "Naima" for themselves to reduce the water levels and he asks his son to leave him. The old man goes to the temple half submerged in water in ceremonial attire to pray to his God to deliver them from the deluge. Tragically, that night, he breathes his last. It is Nagi who finds his corpse in the old temple after Krishna and her husband both refuse to go out, each feeling that the other ought to go.

    To me, the high point of the movie is the funeral of the old man. His son sits morosely watching the flames of the funeral pyre even as the rain beats down furiously. On another side, Nagi also sits, separated from her husband. Krishna has umbrellas and he cannot bear to see both of them being wet. He gives one to Nagi's husband and one to her. Nagi's husband does not take the umbrella while Nagi does so listlessly. The umbrella falls away from Nagi's husband. To me, this symbolises the shelter that Nagi and her family could have got had they accepted the compensation given by the government and moved away to start a new life. When the umbrella tosses away, I feel that it is symbolic of the attitude of the husband and his old father.

    After the old man's death, Nagi's husband is more vocal about the relationship between Krishna and Nagi. He asks her to send him away and she does so. Krishna leaves the island, but he takes their boat, thus marooning the couple. Now totally cut off, the couple have to fend for themselves. The husband doubts his own abilities and it is left to Nagi to build his confidence up and take charge.

    One night, the rain is really heavy and the water level almost reaches even the house at the higher level. At the same time, there is a tiger prowling around after it has made a meal of Belli, their cow. That night, Nagi urges her husband to bolt the doors and keep a fire. Typically, he does nothing to help, preferring to sleep in an attitude of absolute fatalism. Nagi lights bonfires around the house and brings the young calf in. After a tense night, the morning brings better news.

    The water from the dam has spilt over ; so the worst is over. Nagi gets her husband out and shows him the good news. He gets new hope and says he can cultivate betel nut and start a new life. Then comes the conclusion of the movie : Nagi's husband says that the reduction in water levels is due to the prayers and due to his God ! A surprised Nagi asks if her actions had no part in it, but the husband says that she was only an instrument in the hands of God ! On that note, the movie ends.

    Technically, the photography in the movie is brilliant and the green surroundings are well shot. The acting of Soundarya and Vasudev Rao is good. I feel Soundarya lives the character of Nagi while Vasudev Rao also blends into the role of the old stubborn man. The background music is also good.

    On one hand, the movie is about attitudes ; on the other it is also a questioning of the conflict between tradition and development. Can a big dam that destroys a way of life be ever justified ? Such questions come to my mind after I saw the movie. The drowning of an island would appear like an unfortunate thing, compared to the benefit it can bring, but is the equation really that straight forward ?

    When the bureaucracy comes to assess what compensation they can give the family, they find that there are no clear titles that the old man has. He claims that the hill is his as is the temple. In the absence of titles, the government refuses his claim. That aspect reminds me of Chief Sioux's speech that wasn't ! Please see Version 3 in the page http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/wslibrry.htm for details.

    Finally, the movie is all about how we handle change. It deserves to be seen for that purpose alone. Girish Kasaravalli, director has created a wonderful movie.

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NOTE:

    I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.

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