Review of Naangal: A Film that Strikes a Phenomenal Strike with Dispassion and Profound Moving Content

Naangal is a part of the 15th Bengaluru International Film Festival’s Asian Cinema Competition schedule

Naangal (This Is Us), a remarkable film, is epic in length (almost four and a half hours), but it focuses entirely on the details of the lives of three sons and their very strict father. It would be slightly out of place to refer to it as a portion of anything because it is far greater than that.
The Tamil film Naangal, which is currently showing as part of the 15th Bengaluru International Film Festival’s Asian Cinema Competition, is a striking and expansive collage of countless, mostly unsettling fragments of memory that have been compiled and rendered into stunning images. The images are underpinned by an amazing background score and are put together with remarkable skill and imagination.

Naangal, written, directed, shot, and edited by Avinash Prakash, gives the appearance of a film by an accomplished director. It is a debut film, though. It’s a very personal piece, so comments about its length are inevitable. What matters is that Naangal seems to have every right to take her time telling a story that takes place over the course of around ten years. Growing up is never simple, especially when your “home” isn’t your true place of comfort.

Naangal begins with a title card that alludes to the Welsh concept of hiraeth, which she defines as being nostalgic for a place you can’t go back to or that never was. The film narrates the partially autobiographical tale of the filmmaker’s upbringing on an Ooty estate, where genuine, long-lasting bliss was absent.

The three siblings are the main subject. Their taskmaster-father is the only one who can choose how things work out for them; he does not pardon any wrongdoing. A boy receives a spanking for purchasing honey candies. Another suffers as a result of failing each of his six subjects.

Errors have no place in this oppressive universe. Education, according to one person, is the freedom to think. In practice, the parent in Naangal is not inclined to believe that idea, even though he may express support for it verbally.

Naangal is a touching depiction of a father who is certain that he is doing the right thing, with a cast of newbies who fit right in with the mood of the movie. He is so devoted to his three sons that, in an effort to chastise them and get them ready for adulthood, he will do anything to cause them mental harm.

Rajkumar, the father (a debutant named Abdul Rafe), uses harsh parenting techniques. However, he is not a monster at all. He does occasionally, although not always, express sorrow for being too strict or feel a pang of guilt. He tells his sons, “Give me another opportunity, I will bring your childhood back,” at one of these “weak moments. Does he, however, truly mean it?

The way he handles his sons, Karthik (Mithun V.), Gautam (Nithin D.), and Dhruv (Rithik M.), is influenced by his shortcomings as a man, a father, and an entrepreneur. His children live in perpetual fear as he swings between stifling care and overt corrosiveness.

The location, a house in the hills without power or running water, emphasizes the father’s concern. For months, Rajkumar has been unable to pay his debts. Thunder and lightning create dark streaks of light that shake the windows and fill the rooms on dreary nights. The third sibling, who is terrified of shadowy specters, is tricked by two of the siblings using practical jokes.

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However, their father is the one person the boys are most scared of. He’s mentioned in whispers. We see the man obscured by things or reflected in mirrors. Even when we are not around, he hovers over the house, and the boys’ anxiety is evident in his every word.

Naangal is set in the 1990s and is shot entirely in natural light, alternating between color and black and white. Padma (Prarthana Srikaanth), the boys’ mother, isn’t present. As the film progresses at a speed and cadence that roughly reflects the overall character of the difficult existence for the three boys, the reason for her absence becomes clear.

Their house is a depressing place to dwell, especially when dad is not feeling well. The dude has an almost ridiculous attitude. He runs errands to buy groceries and vegetables, makes the lads clean the house, gets up before dawn to gather water for bathing and drinking, and polishes his shoes.

One of the family’s everyday tasks is not cooking. They just eat butter and bread. It is frequently implied that Raj is unable to provide his youngsters with a healthy meal because of his financial situation. The family’s life continues, with Rajkumar’s angry outbursts and the boys’ frightened reactions to his extreme mood swings providing the drama.

The potato, strawberry, and tea farms owned by Rajkumar are no longer profitable. The teacher salaries at the school he owns have not been paid by him. His personal life is in complete disarray, despite his act of control. The impact of his shortcomings falls on the lads.

It’s not like the boys don’t have any breaks. They take in a screening of Baby’s Day Out at the neighborhood theater, check out comic books from the library (ranging from Phantom to Tintin), and, most of all, spend quality time with their pet, Kathy (Roxy), a German Shepherd mix named Rhyda.

The dog, who is often kept in a kennel behind the house, is involved in two significant flashpoints in the movie: the first shows the eldest son showing signs of resistance, and the second brings the family’s four members to profound sorrow. However, Naangal is not the kind of movie that adds extra dramatic flourish-filled scenes to build upon these pivotal moments. Rather of presenting dysfunctionality in all its glory, its main goal is to expose its inner workings.

While cleaning the toilet bowl, one of the boys starts singing a Tamil song about a King. Dad enters and asks to see if everything is 100% clean. The child responds, “It’s ninety-two percent clean,” fully aware that his father will always criticize his job no matter what he does.

Rajkumar is the father figure he aspires to be when anger does not overcome him. He even takes the lads to a movie and dinner. The 1991 movie Toy Soldiers is the title they decide on, and it has some relevance. The American movie told the story of terrorists taking over an all-male boarding school.

The only lighting in the all-male home of Karthik, Gautham, and Dhruv after dusk is provided by hurricane lamps, candles, and the fireplace.

Light pours in through the windows during the day, but it disappears as soon as the father enters the picture. Color disappears in a second.

Rajkumar’s wife, the person who could have been the most optimistic member of the family, is noticeably absent. She is not at her side to help with childrearing and maintaining the order of the home. The boys have no cushion at all, and a big part of it is because she’s not there.

The mother makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the new millennium in the movie. The tone and texture of the movie abruptly shift. The family has their first nice supper in a long time as the house brightens up and the colors start to shine once more. The final component is gulab jamun.

Naangal is a remarkable accomplishment; it is a detached yet deeply poignant movie that has an incredible impact.

Cast:

Abdul Rafe, Mithun, Rithik Mohan, Nithin Dinesh, Prarthana Srikaanth, John Edathattil, Vignesh Raja, Roxy and Kathy

Director:

Avinash Prakash