Andala Rakshasi - A Melancholic Ecstasy

If there is something that sincerely hurts the Telugu Film Industry is the lack of film criticism. One should not get confused between film reviewers and film critics, there is definitely a difference between the both and occasionally their territories overlap with each other. There are very few people who cross the borders of film criticism and film reviewing effortlessly, Roger Ebert was one of them. The growth of internet was followed by the mushroom growth of websites on Telugu Cinema, the film reviews and ratings on the websites for new releases are like the fast food, they serve for the moment- in this process, genuine film criticism is getting ignored.

Let I be blunt in stating the fact that there are hardly any Telugu film critics, many film reviewers and only some of them are good film reviewers, almost innumerable instant star rating reviewers and very few people who do an honest post-mortem of films. The reason behind writing this post is that reviewers and film-goers are no longer looking at films beyond the star ratings given to them and people are no longer looking into the finer details of film-making, this is hurting Telugu Film Industry.

I watched Hanu Raghavapudi's "Andala Rakshashi (Beautiful Devil)" on my personal computer and was fascinated to observe the finesse of the director and of course I was disappointed with the flaws attached with it, I decided to watch the film again and I was able to convince myself that almost every frame of the film was exuding the conviction of the director.

Hanu Raghavapudi mentioned several times that the film is about three characters Midhuna, Surya and Gowtham which represent Earth, Sun and Moon respectively. I was very curious when I first heard the concept of bringing natural sacred elements Earth, Sun and Moon as form of film characters and was thrilled to watch the plot revolving around these characters.

"Love is the irresistible gravity between hearts that pulls them into the game of fate."

Hanu Raghavapudi was repeatedly asked in many interviews if the film or the characters of the film were inspired from Mani Ratnam's "Geetanjali" and each time the director has refused of any such influence and suggested that the paradigm of characters of the film may resemble with that of characters of Mani Ratnam films, which is that all the lead characters of the film have the same level of intelligence.

Midhuna(Earth), Surya(Sun) and Gowtham(Moon) have same level of intelligence, their shared sense of intellectualism, their passion for the other, their individualism and their possessiveness. It is a perfect set for a triangular love story but with its own irreplaceable rules outlined by fate.

Midhuna is Earth or she represents Earth or shall we say she is the daughter of Earth, Sita? Well, if one is well versed with Indian epics, one is bound to sense the tragedy that has already settled in the air and the meaning of Midhuna translates to "Pair" in English, by now one would have got a nominal understanding of the character, Midhuna.

Sometimes surprises baffle me. After a very long time, soundtracks which can be categorized as genuine Telugu songs are found in Andala Rakshashi, apart from one song which is just good, all the other songs are brilliant. I am baffled because, when the majority of the Telugu film industry was moving in some other direction, the music of "Radhan" was rebellious and was attempting to move in the opposite direction. Of course, history has repeatedly taught us that one should be economical when praising new music directors, at least 5 films should be the barometer to judge the real talent of a music director and this is especially true in Telugu film Industry.

Nevertheless, music by Radhan cannot be ignored unless one chooses to close his ears and the enticing background scores which synchronize perfectly with the lead characters. The beautiful orchestration of "Yemtio", the opening tune of "Manasu Palike" with Sitar, the energy filled "Ye Mantramo"etc.. are almost perfect.

Telugu film Industry is now devoid of Veturiness, we are sure that Telugu film industry will not see a lyricist like Sitarama Sastry for next 100 years, but there are some hopes in Vanamaali and Ananth Sriram – but who imagined that there is still hidden talent hidden somewhere in the young folks, it’s just that someone has to excavate it.

మనసు పలికే భాష ప్రేమ
మౌనమదిగే బదులు ప్రేమ
మరణమైనా తోడు ప్రేమ
మనకు జరిగే మాయ ప్రేమ

Gowtham is Moon, or a lineage of Chandravamsam. Chandrvamsis are known to be trapped into ambiguity when it comes to emotions and epilogue of the great epic suggests that they somehow end up with women who by the rules book belong to other men, and later its because of their actions the wheel of fate is pushed.

నువ్వే లేని నేను నేనుగా లేనే లేనుగా
లోకాన్నే జయించిన నీ ప్రేమ వల్ల పొందుతున్న హాయి ముందు ఓడిపోనా
జారిందిలే జల్లంటూ వాన చినుకు తాకి
తడిసిందిలే నాలో ప్రాణమే
ఈ బాధకే ప్రేమన్న మాట తక్కువైందిగా

Surya is Sun, or a lineage of Suryavamsam. They are known for their righteousness, they are known to be pure in their thought and very often they get tested by time harshly. One of the oldest love story of Suryavamsam is a tragedy, a tragedy of high emotional magnitude.

కళ్ళల్లో కదిలిందా, కలగా కల కరిగిపోకలా
ఎదురయ్యే వేళల్లో నువ్వు ఎగిరిపోకలా

Earth, Moon and Sun seldom appear at the same time, they compliment the earth when either of them is absent, they give a sense of hope to earth but all the three can never exist together in peace - these are the laws of nature. "Gowtham" which translates to "main stream" or the one which 'shows the path'. Gowtham gives superficial solution to the triangular love story and eventually Midhuna (Earth) and Surya(Sun) are there for each other but with their hearts broken and emotions shattered and its for Earth to bear the emotional load.

మనసా మర్చిపో లేదంటే చచ్చిపో
గతమా కాలిపో మరుజన్మకి ఆశతో

I guess Hanu Raghavapudi has every scene written on paper, the long shots are perfect to the situations, the zoom shots are tantalizing, the POVs and I guess the best use of track shots in the recent times by any director which move to and fro from one character to another. The screenplay got stumbled at some parts, and director forgets that patience levels of audience for a tragic love story is not directly proportional to the emotional content but its the other way.

It is always hard to judge the threshold of characters from a viewers point of view, the suicide of Gowtham, later accompanied by the confusing ending doesn't get digested unless there is a explicit closure to the game decided by fate. But, Andala Rakshasi is a melancholic ecstasy - one needs to have the bladder to endure the emotional pain with the characters to comprehend it completely.

My above views of Andala Rakshahi should not be seen as a film review, I wasn't trying to be a critic, and I wasn't even doing a post mortem. I just felt the need that opinions should be expressed, someone had to recognize Ram Gopal Varma, someone had seen creativity in Krishna Vamsi, the authentic flavor of Chandrasekhar Yeleti, unique talent of Ravi Babu, the simplicity of Sekhar Kammula and someone definitely needs to endorse the beautiful celluloid texture of Hanu Raghavapudi. I wouldn't strongly recommend Andala Rakshahi to everyone but it does touch some sensitive strings in your heart.