It was Monday morning and all I could hear around me was ‘Arjun Reddy’. My friends provoked my cinephile heart with intrusive spoilers. I couldn’t help but numb my ears the entire week (yes, I’m a patient person, you see). I finally complied with their indirect request and decided to watch this fantastic and different movie(apparently).
Having mixed responses in my head, there was one question lingering in my head as I walked out of the cinema halls – is ‘Arjun Reddy’ a passing storm or just another template?
Undeniably, Arjun Reddy is irrevocably a redefining film and is indeed a game-changer in today’s mainstream cinema.
Arguably, ‘Arjun Reddy’ is a simple narrative considering today’s times. As it is rightly said, “It is not about what you say, but how you say it.” This is THE highlight of the film, and that is the reason it stands apart as far as South Indian cinema is concerned.
The movie has been the talk of the town for many factors – raw intensity, supposed vulgarity(which was muted anyway to comply with the ‘sanskaari’ CBFC norms) and an honest representation of the current society.
The film revolves around a successful ortho surgeon who is unable to get over his past (love failure, obviously) and succumbs to alcoholism and substance abuse. He portrays an ‘Alpha- male’ attitude and is feared by his fellow mates due to his anger management issues.
It is exciting to see the Indian audience accept a black comedy drama along with a flawed hero and a submissive heroine with extremely low self-esteem. It showcases the sad state of today’s youth who find it difficult to cope with depression and being ignorant of psychological treatment. The hero getting into the self-destruction mode has found a sense of relatability amongst youngsters. It implies the catastrophic impact on young adults and our negligence towards it.
The feminist in me was deeply disappointed when girls(around me) fell in love with such a hypocritical character warns his friend (Shiva) about the objectification of women and later on, in the former part of the film, you can see that Arjun isn’t concerned with terms such as mutual consent and equal status in a relationship. The story doesn’t instill faith in the audience that it is possible for us to get over our past. But at the end of the day, it is just a story. Defiance can have its own consequences and in my opinion, the character Arjun got more than he deserved. (Is it because the Telugu audience cannot accept a tragic ending?)
Moving to the cinematic elements, this film is to be highly appreciated for Vijay Devarakonda’s impeccable acting and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s bold film making as a debutant. The background score is refreshing and holds the film together, beautifully. I could notice a pinch of progressiveness here and there for eg, the Grandmother but the family’s ignorance and false support from his friends is one of the causes of Dr. Arjun Reddy’s downfall. Despite having a talented supporting cast, there was poor characterization and flat character graph. There was any hardly considerable growth of the characters throughout the film.
After watching Arjun Reddy, I could feel the same mixed conflict of ideas that I experienced after I walked out of Kaatru Veliyidai.
At at any given point, he is meant to be the only person who matters in the frame: only Arjun Reddy matters, everyone else in the film is there to foreground his story.
That promised specificity unfortunately remains unfulfilled.
-First Post
There is no history of violence that can be a testimony for his ill-treatment of women. I do understand the film is Arjun’s story and not Preethi’s but this dominant, impulsive and obstinate portrayal of love is very discouraging and promoting false notions of affection. Arjun Reddy is a contradiction in itself and while we are fighting racial discrimination and body shaming, certain dialogues do put you off. But in Kaatru Veliyidai, we see how the passage of time changes a person but Arjun Reddy falls flat on its face in terms of character depictions. Acceptance of male ego and glamorizing the use of drugs is something we should be concerned about.
Why wouldn’t a girl accept a husband who already knows her previous relationship and accepts her as his own? It is just absolutely ridiculous for Preethi to marry him and leave him later while she could avoid the former if she could have just gathered her courage and self-respect much before.
There are a few questions that are still unanswered for. Is this the change the Telugu audience were looking for? Can it revolutionize the face of Tollywood or Indian cinema in general? Personally, I think the future would be a better judge of that.
Filmy Kadhai 