Navarasa ( 2005)
Director: Santosh Sivan
Language: Tamil
This movie is about the mother of all identity crises - that about one's sexuality. The film is about people from the third gender and the aravan festival in koovagam, told through the eyes of an innocent, emotionally mature and fearless little girl.
The movie begins with a mere-khwaaboin-mein-jo-aaye style dance number by a little girl who soon realises, that she's entering adulthood. And before she could come to terms with this new status, she notices strange behaviour in her beloved uncle( her fathers younger brother), who till then, had appeared only as a typical 'loser'. Soon she has the first shock , when she learns about 'his' predicament - that he is a wanna-be she. And he leaves home to go to koovagam and get married to Aravan. This little girl then goes in search of him, to bring him back - for she sincerely believes that a good doctor can solve the problem.
And the rest of the movie is like a documentary about koovagam festival and about the life of people from the third gender.
And we also have glimpses of the innerworld of all these people. Think of it - they dont worry about their religion, they dont bother about careers or fame or money or any ultimate goals in life.... The fuzzyness in their gender gives them an identity crisis of such an intensity that it takes a lot to accept their own sexuality. And for those who come to accept it, the goal is automatic - to live a dignified life in this bi-polar society - an almost impossible battle.
The effect of showing it all through the eyes of a girl (who's just entered adolesence) is brilliant. Her naive optimism and her innocent acceptance of the third gender is hard hitting, to say the least.
Through out the movie, something I picked from Spinoza's - "On the improvement of Understanding" kept running in my mind - This is relativism to the core. I probably will never look at a person from the third gender the same way again. ( somehow the word 'eunuch' seems very derogatory).
And yeah all other minor aspects - music, editing etc are all good.
With Santosh sivan at the helm, it goes without saying that cinematography ise brilliant. A few shots stand out - the one showing lots of broken bangles in different colours, and the ones depicting the scale of the festival etc.
There are a few theatrical scenes and a couple of hackneyed characters, the movie could have done without which, probably to emphasise how society deals women/sex. Otherwise , it is a perfect movie.
9/10.
Language: Tamil
This movie is about the mother of all identity crises - that about one's sexuality. The film is about people from the third gender and the aravan festival in koovagam, told through the eyes of an innocent, emotionally mature and fearless little girl.
The movie begins with a mere-khwaaboin-mein-jo-aaye style dance number by a little girl who soon realises, that she's entering adulthood. And before she could come to terms with this new status, she notices strange behaviour in her beloved uncle( her fathers younger brother), who till then, had appeared only as a typical 'loser'. Soon she has the first shock , when she learns about 'his' predicament - that he is a wanna-be she. And he leaves home to go to koovagam and get married to Aravan. This little girl then goes in search of him, to bring him back - for she sincerely believes that a good doctor can solve the problem.
And the rest of the movie is like a documentary about koovagam festival and about the life of people from the third gender.
And we also have glimpses of the innerworld of all these people. Think of it - they dont worry about their religion, they dont bother about careers or fame or money or any ultimate goals in life.... The fuzzyness in their gender gives them an identity crisis of such an intensity that it takes a lot to accept their own sexuality. And for those who come to accept it, the goal is automatic - to live a dignified life in this bi-polar society - an almost impossible battle.
The effect of showing it all through the eyes of a girl (who's just entered adolesence) is brilliant. Her naive optimism and her innocent acceptance of the third gender is hard hitting, to say the least.
Through out the movie, something I picked from Spinoza's - "On the improvement of Understanding" kept running in my mind - This is relativism to the core. I probably will never look at a person from the third gender the same way again. ( somehow the word 'eunuch' seems very derogatory).
And yeah all other minor aspects - music, editing etc are all good.
With Santosh sivan at the helm, it goes without saying that cinematography ise brilliant. A few shots stand out - the one showing lots of broken bangles in different colours, and the ones depicting the scale of the festival etc.
There are a few theatrical scenes and a couple of hackneyed characters, the movie could have done without which, probably to emphasise how society deals women/sex. Otherwise , it is a perfect movie.
9/10.
posted by Kapilash | 1:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home