Drishya and the art of reconstruction.

Oscar winning director Roman Polanski had said " Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater" and I have personally not seen many movies of such kind. The primary purpose of going to a cinema hall is to have some fun,munch popcorn, get entertained and the film would be forgotten ten minutes after walking out of the hall. But it is very rare for cine goers to come out thrilled at the end of a movie with a feeling "Wow,we just watched a terrific movie!". Such movies have a long enduring value and become the talk of the town for a long time. The Kannada flick Drishya was one such fabulous experience where I did forget that I was in a theater since the happenings on screen got me involved so deeply,and I am certain a majority who have watched it would also agree.

There is nothing out of the world in the story,nothing that you would not have seen or heard before and yet the film managed to get into the viewer's psyche like no other recent film had done. While the scintillating screenplay and the thrilling twists in the tale could be a reason for that,the biggest plus for the movie was its relatability. It narrated the story of a common man in the truest sense of the word and we get a feeling that what happened to him or his family could have happened to any one of us.The lead character Rajendra Ponnappa portrayed exceptionally well by the veteran actor V Ravi Chandran depicted the struggle of an ordinary man,like you and me. There was no heroism at any stage,no unbelievable stunts,no item songs,zero exposure,no punching dialogues- the routine ingredients for a film to succeed commercially in India; but still the film succeeded not just at the box office,but won hearts too.

Faced with a highly challenging situation where the lead character has to save his daughter's honour and protect his family from certain punishment due to an unintentional murder, there remain only two options for him- Either make his wife and daughter to surrender or fight for them and help them escape from the jaws of severe punishment due to the involvement of high influence. Even before he makes the choice,the audience makes its choice clear; FIGHT HARD AND SAVE YOUR FAMILY! The way things unfold in the second hour is truly to be seen to savour the film and that is where it reaches its peak points. Coming back to the story,Ponnappa chooses the path of RECONSTRUCTION. Being an avid movie freak,he recreates situations just like a director creates scenes to showcase his film. It is this intelligent reconstruction which actually saves his family,creating solid defence which ties the hands of the police. The writers could have resorted to the same old formulas which in turn would have made this a run of the mill movie,but the trump card here is the concept of reconstruction which lands the cinema into the zone of a masterpiece.

The trouble before Ponnappa's family was daunting,but he proves that all problems need to be looked at from a positive perspective. If positives do not exist, CREATE them. Successful reconstruction requires a good DECONSTRUCTION at first. He goes to the crux of the issue,identifies the problem areas and carefully starts constructing scenes to suit his defence,which in a nutshell is the solution to his problems.Even when his family is subjected to torture,he does not flinch even a bit since he knows that they need to undergo temporary pain to relish long term gain.When the reconstruction is strong,the chances of RESURRECTION are high too!Why I consider reconstruction as an art is because it is hard to achieve, requires considerable skill and not many can master it. There are examples of so many civilizations,empires,countries,states,teams and individuals who have faltered miserably and have never been able to match their glory days either due to a lack of effort in reconstruction or not trying at all,being in a false paradise. Problems and unthinkable challenges are a part of life and many a times,they will be so massive that our very edifice would be broken and thrown away. It is at such times that reconstruction comes in handy and those who fail to do it would have to settle for what fate has to offer or they will be just going through the motions,occasionally trying some patch work which hardly ever suffices.

The problem is that too often,we wait for miracles to happen;we wait for messiahs like a Krishna or a Christ to do the reconstruction,to set right the things and to reinstate order. But what we must not forget is that many miracles have also happened due to collective human effort. Japan was virtually destroyed by the dropping of atom bombs during the world war; the whole world feared it would be the end of the road for the country,but just think where the country is now. America was not a super-power when it gained independence,but the people ensured that it became one. Closer home, our countrymen had lost hope that we could be a free country,but Mahatma Gandhi along with many others refused to believe so and the results are there to see.After the 2009 general elections,experts wrote off the BJP and said it is the end of the road for them,but propelled by a tea seller's tsunami,they got absolute majority in the next elections.Hindi film icon Amitabh Bachchan who ruled the industry in the 70's and 80's had an extreme rough patch in the 90's and was on the verge of bankruptcy,but the way he rose like a phoenix from the ashes is a stuff of wonder.There are many more examples like this and the one current flowing commonly in all the above cases is that of RECONSTRUCTION. They were not willing to go where the wind took them; even when they were down and out,they picked up the pieces,fought hard,never lost hope,chugged along forcefully in a positive direction,turned around situations to their advantage and reached where they wanted to be thus creating history.

If the idea is applied to the present context of India, it looks all the more pertinent because our country is in need of a reconstruction. Everyday,we hear about rapes,assaults,problems in law and order,poverty and what not. Not a single day passes without hearing or reading about many unpleasant incidents and that is why it is so crucial for India to meticulously deconstruct the problems and start judiciously reconstructing before it is too late.If I be more specific,it is not enough just to show compassion or sympathy for say a poor man.If you throw a coin out of goodness,nothing much would change for the man,because he will still be poor. Reconstruction involves striking at the very source of poverty. Deconstruct,hit the source of the problem,take firm steps to make it better and see the change happening. But what is imperative is a WILL to do it and this is not something that a single man can accomplish. Rebuilding is a tough process and takes a long time and more often requires a mass effort,but the end result will be very gratifying indeed.

Cinema is a powerful tool which has the potential to bring a change. Some movies directly give a message,but a few of them leave subtle,yet strong reminder about the things to be done and it depends on the discerning mind of the viewer  to extricate such beautiful messages. In Drishya,the audience roots for the common man's family, remains with them all along their journey for they believe that the tale is unfolding right in front of their eyes ,claps and whistles in the end when 'justice' prevails and perhaps this was in appreciation of their own victory,their own redemption.The movie is a fitting account of an absorbing tale of reconstruction and kudos to the writer Jeethu Joseph for this gripping story.These days,it is fashionable to talk of numbers that a film gets,but there are some movies like this one,which go beyond just numbers and are to be watched for the contentment that they give for having spent worthwhile time at the theaters. Watch the movie if you still haven't and try your hand at this art of reconstruction when it is time to do so,for you never know where you might end up if you do it! 

Remember the mantra: "Deconstruction->Reconstruction ->Resurrection" .