Dweepa - Summary This Girish Kasaravalli film is a spectacular metaphor for the changes taking place in India as we progress

toward fulfilling the now upward trending slope of our collective destiny using technology, new business structures, and different ideas. Furthermore, the pace at which we are changing is accelerating. In this change of pace lies tragedy - Society in the aggregate benefits while some individuals or groups of people are sadly left to wither on the vine. They simply cannot cope with this pace of change and we do not yet, either as a society or in the form of government, have the capacity to have a nuanced approach to helping those left behind in this inevitable process. To compound the tragedy, we do not also have the ability to preserve some of our customs and other facets of our rich heritage as we proceed further along a trajectory toward that new India of tomorrow The Film Technical Observations The visuals in this film are a treat to watch. The backwaters captured in this film are, in the moment, serenity personified. Yet, the camera person, without distracting the viewer, manages to convey the impending sense of doom that eventually envelopes the film and its characters. Aside from the actors in this film, rain is in itself another character that adds cheer, silence, gloom and any other mood in between to the magnetic quality of the visuals in this film. The music adds to the story and again like the visuals does not distract from the story depicted in the film. It is minimal in most cases and where the tempo does amplify it manages to help the viewer in sinking further his/her mind into the characters and their tragedies occupying the movie frame. The editing in certain cases was not as good as the rest of the technical expertise used in the film. Certain scenes were cut abruptly, and in other cases the movement from one thought to another was not as fluid as one would normally expect. The Film Characters, Story Telling & Narration The story of human flight and its consequences forms the large canvas underpinning this movie. The flight is necessitated by the construction of a dam

nearby. The consequences, while different for each of the families affected, are severest for Nagis family since the compensation proffered for what they are about to lose cannot be measured in rupees and paise. Even worse, most people including evacuees tend to move on in life for a variety of reasons and in the process tend to shed vestiges of the past. For the central characters in the movie thus, the past to which they are beholden, is as much a prisoner of geography as they are prisoners of what is about to be lost. Nagi is a powerful character. Ms. Soundaryas performance is a tour de force. She is the glue that holds the film together. She is vulnerable, strong, practical, optimistic, and above all haunts the viewer with her searing eyes and what they convey, in most cases, without a word being spoken. Her husband (played by Avinash) is a rather weak man by contemporary standards. He simply does not possess the capacity to adapt to changing times. He is very strong in his beliefs inherited from those who preceded him. This belief blinds him mentally to the point that he does not possess the clarity of mind to see his wifes contribution to his existence. He would rather pin any good fortune that comes his way on the cosmic rather than on the smarts of Nagi. Her father-in-law (played by M. V. Vasudeva Rao) is an interesting character. Unlike the husband, one would not expect the father-in-law to possess the capacity to change. Mr. Rao represents the traditional element that is being lost as we head in the direction of collective progress. He has some of the smartest lines in the movie to deliver. He does it with deadpan cynicism. His face, which at some angles looks a lot like Omar Sharifs, is weathered and thanks to some good camera work, troubles the viewer as it conveys the essential tragedy of this film in its silent and glassy stares at the nothingness that pervades his sense of future. Krishna (played by Harish Raju in a relatively weak performance) represents the madcap energy and hope that provides the counterpoint to the steadfastness of the husband and the father-in-law. The pace is at times languorous and this might have been a deliberate ploy on

part of the director to allow the viewer to contemplate and soak in the beauty of what might be lost. At other times, there are vivid interruptions of modern coldblooded logic into the lives of the central characters of the movie. This juxtaposition of a serene and innocent world about to be lost and the cacophony we are headed toward, albeit abrupt on occasion from an editing perspective, is a fascinating experience for the viewer. Upon leaving the theater, the viewer cannot but help feel sorrow for Nagis fate and for all that all of us might have lost in our inevitable march toward modernity.