Gamyam...a very good film!

Im groggy. Just woke up from an afternoon slumber. I open my blog. I type.

Gamyam is one of the best efforts in film-making in recent times. This Telugu film has won my heart. It is an 'everything roled into one' kind of a film. Very balanced, simple yet deep. Watching it with a select few, I was there on invitation from my director friend Priya. The film met with an unanimous applause when the director's name (Krish aka Radhakrishnan, a new find for Telugu cinema) appeared in the end. The writing, the scenarios, the characters, the relationships were all so real yet so well set in cinematic moments, that it is both life-like and larger than life.

Breaking streotypes, giving us moments that are picked up from your life or mine, making the characters speak as they should - Gamyam is a coming of age film in Telugu cinema. The very fact that this is a road movie (reminding one of Sideways, Motorcycle Diaries) is itself a clever platform to set the tone and mood of the film. The music is apt (newcomers Anil & E S Murthy) and the director does a cameo as a Naxal leader - (he does have options of playing villain to any of our big heros, or sticking to his sure shot scripts and making better films out of it!)

The film is about a clash of worlds - Abhiram (Sharwanand is aptly cast) is the sole heir to a world of riches and Janaki (Kamalini fits in well here), a medico, social activist. The film is also about Abhiram and his road buddy, Kaali Seenu (played so very endearingly by Naresh, a la Bachchan in Sholay! In fact the two also do a bike jig much similar to Jai & Veeru that one can't but smile in sheer nostalgia. Very clever of you Mr. Krish...!)

Yes, the stage dance by Janaki could have been well shot - but it is a new, 'why not this way' visual. Yes, the party scenes where Abhiram and Janaki have a fall out is an extreme slap on Capital Consumerism - but one that gives the drama their break-up requires (Watch out for the dialogues between Abhiram & Janaki in the car - one of the many scenes in the film that rate as Good, where the sheer impact of the simple words, leaves you with a deeper understanding on the differences between their worlds). Writer- Director Krish has his cinema in his control - be it in his edits, his use of song 'n' dance situations (the village record dance number is a treat!) his Naxal episode and the gun fight thereon ... Krish simply refuses to cater to your expectation of a scene. But he does cater to you also, but he does it when and how he wants to... and that's what makes the film a highly watchable experience.

P.S.: True to the spirit of the film we saw, our brigade marched onto the nearest Andhra Bhavan for our midday meal! Much like the film, this was also a highly enjoyable eating experience! (Didn't know a dull vegetable like Zucchini could be made into a spicy, dark looking, truly tasteful pachchadi!?!)