Cont'd from the 1tst part

The unholy nexus of the gullible youth, the predatory anti-social element, both of which are expertly exploited by the scheming politician predates any modern -ism. And the depiction of this damaging influence on the society has been portrayed on many a fora, and through many a media, and cinema is no exception. Into that world steps in a character (precisely, a college), which, over a series of events, tries to question and break up the parasitic dependencies among these three systems, first, at the student level, then at the street level and ultimately on a much bigger stage. The result has been realistic, hard hitting, and above all very dramatic. 'Pratighatana' is an important milestone in telugu movie history showing probably for the first time on the screen the dangerous impact of the anti-social element on everyday life, and particularly on the most vulnerable and easily influenced section of the society, the know it all ignorants, the students. In here the rowdyism isn't buffoonish or caricatured, it is raw, real, menacing and downright evil. The police, rendered ineffective, thumbed down and ordered to stand down against everything they have taken oath to protect the soceity from. And with the enforcement falls the rest of the pillars on which a civic society operates turning the whole system into a barely functioning rubble. And so when the lecturer takes matter into her own hands and hacks away at the rot that was eating the society away at the roots, the reaction is not cinematic or dramatic, it is realistic. Now, compare it against a similar setup in 'Siva', when pushed hard and back, a student launches himself head first into the mess, fighting his way through the system that he comes to hate the most (and ironically, becoming the very system, albeit with different intentions, that people dread the most). These movies are much more than mere entertainment, they demand absolute attention and complete engagement. These are mirrors held up against the society and that is why these indelible images remain timeless, for they constantly question upon every revisitation whether anything has changed. Yes, these are much more than movies, these are history.

Ram Gopal Varma might not had been trying to comment on the prevailing social scenario or show some easily digestible simplistic solution to the problem of the failed institutions (something that Mani Ratnam's 'Bombay'' has been accused of doing), which explains the unconventional ending of 'Siva'. His intention might had been to see on celluloid that he had been a witness to in the real society, the push and pull of the forces, all trying to dictate the world their terms. Suprisingly even with such a topical, sensitive and well oberserved story and a well constructed plot, story and plot take the last honors when it comes to 'Siva', which is a lot less about the cause and a whole lot about the effect. And what an effect that truly was, capturing the imagination and attention of an entire generation.

Ironically for all the effect that it is designed to elicit, the key characters in the movie are suprisingly drained of all emotions, rendering their faces near lifeless, talking little, showing little, emoting little and expressing even little. Make no mistake, this is by design, which makes the contrast even more explosive. Siva bursts through the door carrying Ganesh over his shoulder into the room where Bhavani and Nanaji seem to relaxing a bit. Normally that would have been a cue for the hero for chewing and spitting up reams and reams of dialogues, all about chest-thumping and brow-beating. Instead the scene is a slow intercut between the stoic face of Siva and bewildered deadpan face of Bhavani, until Nanaji sidles up to Bhavani and slowly whispers just one simple word. And the scene works great not inspite of the lack of any visible emotion of the main characters, but mainly because of it. And so is with the other tense sequence at the railway crossing when Siva tries to rescue his ladylove from her kidnappers - the blank expressions with a stoic stare into the camera (which would eventually become a standard fare in RGV's movies, sometimes to a fault, much like Mani Ratnam's inexplicable obsession with precocious kids and geriatric romance) conveying a lot more intent than any spoken word could have. Short hand film making it is, when a few wordless strokes make up for more than a few pages of written text.

Acting, they say, is all about choices - how to play, how much to play, what to hold back and by what amount. In reality, it is the directing that is entirely about choices. And it is here that RGV deserves the sole and lone credit (discounting, Illayaraja, of course, who works alone on a different tangent) for turning in a product that is completely original, and more, far removed from the then existing norms and rules of film making. Comparisions to Orson Welles' debut feature 'Citizen Kane' are pretty warranted in this context, in that, both the movies chucked tradition, went entirely against the grain, pushed the boundaries of the technical elements into unchartered territories, in unanticipated directions, and in unexpected ways. If it was the much acclaimed use of deep focus in 'Kane', it is the mood lighting in 'Siva', if it was spatial gimmickry in 'Kane', it is the stylized editing in 'Siva', if it was the non-linear narrative in 'Kane', it is the near realistic presentation in 'Siva', and all these choices are not the demands of the script, but the director's choice, taste, design and aesthetic. It is the singular drive of the director that caused the rest to succumb his diktat.

Gopal Reddy, till then, was an also ran. Deemed to be an efficient cameraman, but in no way the photographer extraordinaire that he turned out to be post 'Siva', unlike a P.C.Sreeram or a Santosh Sivan who have burst out the gates and hit the tracks galloping. And suddenly when the ghost of Gordon Willis (the famed Hollywood photographer, nicknamed, the prince of darkness for his lighting, or lack thereof) casts his unmistakable and trademark spell on the telugu screen in the mood lighting, the darkness and play of shadows, this was not Gopal Reddy at work, this was RGV's eye fitted with the Gopal Reddy lens deciding where to look, what to see and how much to show. Tripods giving way to trolleys, still cameras giving way to steadicams, handhelds and over the shoulders, 'Siva' taught telugu cinema a new, different and an exciting way of looking at the (reel) life and the living. And so goes with the editing (together with the stunt choreography) that broke the traditional norm of simply cutting away immediately after the action part (the blow or the kick) and instead lingered on for a few more frames to let the effect effectively sink in and build the anticipation for subsequent action (Ex: Ganesh hit with a knuckle-buster, Naresh attacked from behind in the middle of the night, and the mother of all, JD's reaction in that legendary sequence). This is all RGV putting his foot down and demanding those extra frames be put back into the mix, and for those same reasons, the movie gets talked more about the effects than the reasons that caused it.

All these aside, it is the tone of 'Siva' that elevates the rest of the elements making them look and sound more effective - the brooding, the building, the throbbing and the pulsating tone of menace that never lets up until the end credits roll. Tone is a very vital, and often overlooked, aspect of movies that acts as the ultimate governor, throttling back the mood from going over the boil and filtering out the extraneous elements that creep in unnoticed that usually dilutes and ruins the build up. When Nirmala wails by Sudhakar's bedside grieving for her murdered grandchild more as a human being than as an actor enacting a role, the entire background remains absolutely still - the actors, the music, even the wind. The lighting is near dark sucking out all color(life) out of the frame. She cries, she weeps, she sobs and when the police comes around and asks for a statement, she musters up all the energy in her frail body and slaps hard across the face of the inspector with all the grief and scorn in the world. And even more surprisingly, the inspector understands and empathizes with her. This is not the Nirmala(mma) of telugu cinema, this is not the usual reaction to a murder in telugu cinema, this is by no means a telugu cinema. At the heart of it all is the tone of the movie that dictates all. And tone remains the ultimate (and the very first) choice that the director makes which makes and mars the content. Imagine if 'Siva' had been dialed up even by a degree or two in dialogues, expressions, and reactions. Tone is what that separates the good from the great and by electing to side with minimalism across practically every aspect of 'Siva', RGV made the effect of 'Siva' reveberate through the times and resonate with generations.

Surely, anyone who made history the first time around doesn't mind repeating the feat. But can every step be a trailblazing one? Borrowing Bernard Shaw, RGV asks 'why not'....with 'kshaNa kshaNam'.

Cont'd

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