SAKSHI
CINEGOER
We need films like Mithunam to think, reflect and get ready with a practical strategy for our twilight years. The strategy is plain and simple, to be fit by doing most of the things on our own if not all and maintain a sense of detachedness towards children living away from us. Last but not the least is loving, respecting and savouring every moment of togetherness till you have to leave the world without any regrets. Director Tanikella Bharani in his debut feature film addresses the situation faced by aging parents in a refreshing way. The couple have no time to miss their children and even if they do, they deal with their feelings in a very sensible and a matured manner.
Mithunam is a poignant story of a couple, senior citizens who live for each other in a secluded place filled with the bounties of nature, self sufficient and they are full of happiness and contentment. The man played by SPB grows vegetables, fruits, doubles up as a cobbler, tends to his cattle and does everything necessary to run a home, in the process he orders his wife to cook his favourite dishes. He is obsessed with food and enjoys the smell and the feel of the past; from pounding coffee beans to making filter coffee to dumping a variety of home grown vegetables into the 'dappalam' and serving it from an emptied and hollow pumpkin, Lakshmi does with a trace of fatigue but exudes lot of love through her expressions.
This is perhaps the only Telugu film that makes you fall in love with vegetables and will make you crave for a farm house. The vegetables are organic, the relationships and feelings pure. Whether SPB looks at a bottle guard affectionately and tends to the cattle like his child, his work is brilliant. The batter with which Lakshmi makes a Pesarattu sprinkled with onions and green chillies is textured with dollop of emotional ghee but her child-like anger melts it all over it in no time. She sulks, plays, teases, admonishes, argues, fights and cries for being confined to the kitchen and spending rest of her life cooking for him.
The director takes a lot of care to make sure that the story doesn't turn overtly sentimental even when the children from the US don't turn up as promised, but the last few minutes and exactly one sentence from Lakshmi in the drama tugs at your heart-strings. It makes every married woman feel the same as her. Another scene has the husband telling his wife to go slow on her excitement when her son invites her to the US, he tells her that they want her there to babysit while they go to work.
Mithunam focuses on companionship during the last phase in life, that husband and wife relationship gets stronger as years go by and that happiness lies in not expecting anything from children. In every home there are parents feeling insecure as they grow old, they are faced with a dilemma about asking their children to return for them but at the same time they do not want to jeopardise their career. Mithunam is a difficult yet an utopian situation but the two hour drama drives sense both into parents and also children.
GREAT ANDHRA
Rating: N/A
Banner: AMR Productions
Cast: S P Balasubrahmaniam, Lakshmi
Music: Veena Pani
Cinematographer: Rajendra Prasad
Editor: S B Uddhav
Director: Tanikella Bharani
Producer: Anand Rao
Release date: 21/12/2012
Tanikella Bharani who is known for award winning films like ‘Grahanam’ ‘Sira’ etc is back with yet another venture and this time he has chosen only two characters for it. Let us see how this is
Story
Appadasu (SPB) is a retired teacher and he lives in his native village with his wife Buchchi (Lakshmi). Both are senior citizens and all their children are living abroad. But instead of feeling lonely and insecure about their life, both Appadasu and Buchchi have their own share of romance happening and they treat each and every day as a special day and enjoy the moments. This relationship also has its share of ups and downs and what life has in store for them forms the rest of the story.
Performances
S P Balasubrahmanyam is not only an immortal singer but he is also a seasoned actor. He can deliver as per the character and there is a naughty glint in his eye which is always appreciable.
Lakshmi is a natural performer and she does most of her performance through her expressive eyes and shy smiles. She was in good sync with her role and delivers commendably.
Highlights
Banner: AMR Productions
Cast: S P Balasubrahmaniam, Lakshmi
Music: Veena Pani
Cinematographer: Rajendra Prasad
Editor: S B Uddhav
Director: Tanikella Bharani
Producer: Anand Rao
Release date: 21/12/2012
Tanikella Bharani who is known for award winning films like ‘Grahanam’ ‘Sira’ etc is back with yet another venture and this time he has chosen only two characters for it. Let us see how this is
Story
Appadasu (SPB) is a retired teacher and he lives in his native village with his wife Buchchi (Lakshmi). Both are senior citizens and all their children are living abroad. But instead of feeling lonely and insecure about their life, both Appadasu and Buchchi have their own share of romance happening and they treat each and every day as a special day and enjoy the moments. This relationship also has its share of ups and downs and what life has in store for them forms the rest of the story.
Performances
S P Balasubrahmanyam is not only an immortal singer but he is also a seasoned actor. He can deliver as per the character and there is a naughty glint in his eye which is always appreciable.
Lakshmi is a natural performer and she does most of her performance through her expressive eyes and shy smiles. She was in good sync with her role and delivers commendably.
Highlights
- Backdrop
- Performances
- Screenplay
Drawbacks
- Pace
- Genre
Analysis
The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel ‘Mithunam’ written by Sree Ramana and the director has adapted it very well onscreen. The challenge here is, there are only two characters, and there is no dance, fights, multiple locations or any other ingredient of a mainstream cinema.
But still, the director managed to weave a tale of two individuals and their lives with a good dose of emotion.
The attitude to take life positively and seeing the brighter side of it is the key essence and there is a general perception that old age is the most depressing.
But this film defies that and shows how even at the fag end of life a husband and wife can connect with each other and relate in a positive way. Given the genre of the film, it cannot be considered a mainstream flick. This is more suited for the art house audience and those who like some matured stuff.
Ideally, this film will work more for those who have crossed fifty and to those children who are living abroad and have that strong feeling in their heart to be with their parents in their native land.
Bottomline: A tender, emotional and sensitive tale of romance
The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel ‘Mithunam’ written by Sree Ramana and the director has adapted it very well onscreen. The challenge here is, there are only two characters, and there is no dance, fights, multiple locations or any other ingredient of a mainstream cinema.
But still, the director managed to weave a tale of two individuals and their lives with a good dose of emotion.
The attitude to take life positively and seeing the brighter side of it is the key essence and there is a general perception that old age is the most depressing.
But this film defies that and shows how even at the fag end of life a husband and wife can connect with each other and relate in a positive way. Given the genre of the film, it cannot be considered a mainstream flick. This is more suited for the art house audience and those who like some matured stuff.
Ideally, this film will work more for those who have crossed fifty and to those children who are living abroad and have that strong feeling in their heart to be with their parents in their native land.
Bottomline: A tender, emotional and sensitive tale of romance
TOI
Synopsis: Appa Das (S P Balasubramanyam) and his wife Butchi (Lakshmi) live all alone, but it is not lonely for them. Their five children are settled abroad and occasionally speak to them on phone. But it is not the ring of the phone that Appa Das waits for. He would rather live life to the fullest, sharing the rest of it, with his dear one.
Movie Review: GVK one. Inox. With tears rolling down their eyes, a couple clasp S P Balasubramanyam's hands outside Screen 1 where he is standing. They tell him that it is in a long time they actually shed tears. Some more people, unable to control their emotions, surround Tanikella Bharani and tell him how much they have been moved by the movie. That says much about the movie. Let's move on..
She's for him. And he's for her. Their world revolves only around each other. He runs after a butterfly and catches the beautiful thing for her. She's lovable, yet naughty. She makes him climb the attic and removes the ladder so that he cannot come down. Well, if you thought this is how 16-somethings have fun, it is what a 60-plus couple indulge in, in the evening of their lives. It's their life and they live it the way they want to.
Appa Das (S P Balasubramanyam) and his wife Butchi (Lakshmi) live all alone, but it is not lonely for them. Their five children are settled abroad and occasionally speak to them on phone. But it is not the ring of the phone that Appa Das waits for. He would rather live life to the fullest, sharing the rest of it, with his dear one. And so, you see the couple living it up in a hamlet.
That does not mean, it is only fun all the way. Appa Das simply loves the home food and does not hesitate to chip in with some suggestions when his wife is cooking. It could be annoying to her and she does express herself but it is all in the game. Oh, yes, in the middle of the night also, Appa Das can get up, sneak into the kitchen to have some jaggery on the sly, and in the process hit his finger with a hammer. His loving wife is there to take care of him in all his misadventures. And he does everything he can just so that his wife can recover from a fever.
You see the couple living a `yesteryears' life listening to Vividh Bharati's 'Man chahe geet' or tuning into other programmes whose signature tunes you are so familiar with, if you are a 'radio' generation, that is. A retired life, Appa Das, says means one should not do the routine work that he or she had been doing. It's time to do all other things that one did not and could not.
The only thing that seems to connect them to today's time is the mobile phone that Butchi hides in the 'pappu dabba' in the kitchen, to slyly speak to her sons sometimes who are in the US.
The movie brings back all memories of yesteryears for couples who are in their 60s, if they ever lived in a village.
The talented Tanikella Bharani scripts a story on to the screen and it strike a chord - with the audience that it is meant for. The flawless direction, camera work, and the minimal background scores keeps you engrossed. And there's a song on coffee!
Imagine a movie with only two characters! The only other voice that comes is heard only in the 43rd minute of the movie. But through the film, you know it is Tanikella Bharani who is speaking through every frame. Perhaps, this is what they call as an art film - the stuff award committees might like.
Movie Review: GVK one. Inox. With tears rolling down their eyes, a couple clasp S P Balasubramanyam's hands outside Screen 1 where he is standing. They tell him that it is in a long time they actually shed tears. Some more people, unable to control their emotions, surround Tanikella Bharani and tell him how much they have been moved by the movie. That says much about the movie. Let's move on..
She's for him. And he's for her. Their world revolves only around each other. He runs after a butterfly and catches the beautiful thing for her. She's lovable, yet naughty. She makes him climb the attic and removes the ladder so that he cannot come down. Well, if you thought this is how 16-somethings have fun, it is what a 60-plus couple indulge in, in the evening of their lives. It's their life and they live it the way they want to.
Appa Das (S P Balasubramanyam) and his wife Butchi (Lakshmi) live all alone, but it is not lonely for them. Their five children are settled abroad and occasionally speak to them on phone. But it is not the ring of the phone that Appa Das waits for. He would rather live life to the fullest, sharing the rest of it, with his dear one. And so, you see the couple living it up in a hamlet.
That does not mean, it is only fun all the way. Appa Das simply loves the home food and does not hesitate to chip in with some suggestions when his wife is cooking. It could be annoying to her and she does express herself but it is all in the game. Oh, yes, in the middle of the night also, Appa Das can get up, sneak into the kitchen to have some jaggery on the sly, and in the process hit his finger with a hammer. His loving wife is there to take care of him in all his misadventures. And he does everything he can just so that his wife can recover from a fever.
You see the couple living a `yesteryears' life listening to Vividh Bharati's 'Man chahe geet' or tuning into other programmes whose signature tunes you are so familiar with, if you are a 'radio' generation, that is. A retired life, Appa Das, says means one should not do the routine work that he or she had been doing. It's time to do all other things that one did not and could not.
The only thing that seems to connect them to today's time is the mobile phone that Butchi hides in the 'pappu dabba' in the kitchen, to slyly speak to her sons sometimes who are in the US.
The movie brings back all memories of yesteryears for couples who are in their 60s, if they ever lived in a village.
The talented Tanikella Bharani scripts a story on to the screen and it strike a chord - with the audience that it is meant for. The flawless direction, camera work, and the minimal background scores keeps you engrossed. And there's a song on coffee!
Imagine a movie with only two characters! The only other voice that comes is heard only in the 43rd minute of the movie. But through the film, you know it is Tanikella Bharani who is speaking through every frame. Perhaps, this is what they call as an art film - the stuff award committees might like.
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