Andala Rakshasi

4:34 PM


Andala Rakshasi, I wasn’t aware of the existence of such a movie until my brother texted me to check out the teaser. And boy, I was totally floored by it. Usually they say, one picks up the most interesting bits for a teaser. This trailer had enough elements in it to keep my curiosity up and made me eagerly wait the release of the film. Later sometime during the week I happened to check out the audio release function of the movie. It had Mr. Rajamouli speaking; he was all praises for the young lad, Hanu Raghavapudi, Debutant director of the movie. He spoke about the hard work the whole team had put in and dedication they had shown.

Speaking of the movie, all the director had to say was, “it’s a triangular love story of three characters, Sun, Moon and the Earth, being the female character. It is something we all see everyday but never acknowledge them. All I tried to do was address it.” I just thought, “Aah! What a metaphorical way to describe”. Ever since then I counted days to watch the movie on screen. I even happened to listen to the songs, I can vouch that it is one of the best albums released in this year. All the songs had high lyrical values and the music was very pleasant to ears. I instantly fell in love with them. The film later garnered further limelight as S.S.Rajamouli has turned as one of the co-producers of the movie and for the astronomical amount of money spent in publicity for a movie of this scale. Honestly, I felt it deserved all the attention it sought.

Andala Rakshasi was set in the year 1991, which signifies the age of innocence. It was the period where globalization hadn’t taken it toll on us and lives were still lot simpler. The director stated that had the story been taken place in today’s time, the story would have lost it soul, innocence being one. The film revolves around three characters – Midhuna, Surya and Gautham played by Lavanya Tripathi, Naveen and Rahul Ravindran respectively. It is these characters that drive the story forward. The director has his boundaries clearly defined for the characters. Lavanya being embodiment of earth is always has anger and love on her face and never hesitated to show them on others. It is complemented by her beautiful face and child-like innocence. Surya personifies sun. He is vibrant, energetic and cheerful. Gautham is like moon, calm and composed and does what he truly believes in. I shall not delve into the story any further, but with this premise and basic understanding of the characters in mind, the movie makes much better sense.

The director has brought in lot of subtleties which stay true to the spirit of the characters in the story. Every time when Gautham and Midhuna are together on the screen there is lot of rain and fog, reflecting the gloom shrouding their relationship. The rain signifies the outpour of emotions Gautham is undergoing. And when Surya’s character is around, you find it all sunny and vibrant, a signifying contrast to that of Gautham’s character potraying the bright side of things. The song Manasu Palike has lot of such metaphorical visuals. The movie has a scene between a blind man and his wife which very beautifully potrays that love cannot be seen but only be felt. That for me stands out as one of the brilliant scenes in the recent times.

The movie in all has stunning visuals and mostly shot by the cameraman Murali, in Munnar and plush green locales, astounding music and background score by Rathan, which very much reflects the mood of the film, and greatly written lyrics. The story by Hanu Raghavapudi has a lot of freshness and he, as a director tries to bring out the best of all the cast.

Personally I feel, what could have worked against the movie was the high expectations it has set for itself owing too much publicity for small scale movie of this sort. I heard most people complaining that the trailer has sent a different message as compared to what it had actually been.

All in all, Andala Rakshasi for me is a beautiful crafted movie which is little abstract and thematically brilliant and totally poetic. Hanu Raghavapudi makes a mighty impressive debut with a sensible and poignant love story with movie that would surely be appreciated over time.

This post first appeared on www.a2zadda.com

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5 comments

  1. nice write-up bro....was planning to write one myself....but not anymore...

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  2. Nice man... Its really a good movie which touches the heart.

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  3. love this movie like anything...got really crazy about each and every part of the movie weder it comes to the dialogues or the album or the actors in it..or the roles the played...or the story..can't mention a single thing in particular...as it is beautifully portrayed...thought that no one elz would be as crazy as me for the film but after reading this, it felt like da movie itself is running infront of my eyes and also came 2 know that many others are as crazy as me...really well described about the movie..and also worth reading...

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  4. @madhu a poetic angel..thanks alot for the comment..ya im totally touched me!

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