“What is he trying to say anyway, that there shouldn’t be Maths, Physics, Biology etc. in Schools?” muttered, a gentleman seemingly in his late 20s to his friend as I was making my way out after the movie.
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| Subbu (Prakash raj) having a hard time with the education system in 'Dhoni' |
Two things come to my mind, pondering this question.. First, the movie poses larger questions like “Why a simple process of learning has become so much like a race that children should actually study HARD?”, "Why the learning place called school has become such an ‘hostile’ entity as children label them as jails?".. That these questions have been asked at a time when we are grappling with the news of a student murdering his teacher inside the campus in our very own city, Chennai, only makes the questions all the more relevant. Second, the movie doesn't try to make its protagonist, a middle class intellectually-not-so superior common man, an expert in education overnight. He only has questions over the system - his innocence, ignorance and naivety are kept intact as he desperately tries to find answers.
The film centers around Subbu (Prakash raj), a widowed single parent who lives hand-to-mouth working in the Registrar's office. He sells pickles just to make the ends meet but still finding it short, only to lend often from Kandhu Gani (Murali sharma)…but that doesn’t stop him to admit his children, Karthik (Aakash Puri) and Kaveri, in one of the ‘best’ schools in the city. Karthik however is not into studies, has innate ability and passion to be a cricketer. The cry over imminent public exams starts and the school officials insist that either Karthik be detained or transferred to some other school as they cannot afford anything short of 100% pass result..Now comes the time when Karthik has to either choose to follow his dreams or follow the world. Subbu pushes the latter but Karthik - persistent on the former..In a violent confrontation Subbu pushes too far, Karthik suffers a blow on his head accidentally and slips into coma..
This is where the movie takes a slightly different course from what one would guess- which may not go down well with some viewers, but one of the aspects I liked much. Rather than just blaming himself and making amends, Subbu puts the blame on the system, says “ ‘they’ have made me hit him”. In one of the best scenes of the movie, Subbu rushes into a classroom, asks the teacher "what is 17*8?" ( to which she says "I am only a history teacher!”) and orders her to stand up on the bench..
The movie scores great points in this original and rigid characterization of its protagonist. He is not our typical hero who would be an all-mature-and-do-the-most-reasonable-thing guy - this one has his own flaws and imperfections..Knowing what his neighbor (Radhika Apte) does for a living, he doesn't just ignore her like most of us would do or ask her why she’s doing what she’s doing like a reasonable person would do, but confronts her and talks to her as harshly as one could, only to apologize later profusely. This would explain the not-so-reasonable course that he takes on to vent his anger on the system in the later half of the movie…
The first half of the movie sprinkled with some lighthearted humor and interesting characters, moves in its own pace, which almost everyone will like.. It is the second half which has some powerful sequences that some will hate, some will think it has taken the movie to the next level- I for one that believes the latter.. We know of the acting capabilities of Prakash raj and as always he doesn't disappoint—maybe because we have seen so much of him, we are not genuinely taken aback by any scenes—I know I am being unfair here, how can we hold a fact that ‘he doesn't disappoint as always’ against him.. One thing that distracts largely is the lip sync of actors in certain scenes especially those of the boy - one of the reasons why his character didn't affect us as it should have.. Maybe in a bilingual, these are certain compromises - but seem costly compromises to me.
The dialogues by T.J.Gnanavel and Prakash raj are crisp, help greatly to mellow down some inherently sentimental scenes. Yet there are moments that go overboard and sound preachy and overtly melodramatic- but those are things I was happy to overlook...After a while in Tamil cinema, we see songs and bgm that are truly part of the movie. They not only just blend with the movie but also elevate the experience greatly..Ilayaraja is a master in doing that, due credit must also be given to Prakash raj the way they have been picturized.
I like dramas that take place inside a family, movies that doesn’t take extraordinary/extravagant strides but only few gentle steps to reach the destination..Those kind of movies are always realistic, original and closer to us. I gather they are easy to make too, financially..Wonder why those movies are of rare breed yet and hope Dhoni ushers in a trend of such movies.
Well,Your turn now..
Did you like the movie? Anything you think they could have done better? How about the review? good, pathetic, anything at all, pls let us know what you think.
