A revenge story with a buzz

from 2012-10 Sydney (2)

Go forth and seek your own happiness

This is a love triangle with a twist. It’s a story of a man, woman and... a fly! By now we’ve all heard of Rajamouli’s Eega cracking box office records in Tamil. The Hindi version comes to us with tremendous prerelease expectations. Shall we just say we were ‘eega’ to see this film?

Makkhi doesn’t disappoint. Not by a long shot. It’s a fiercely original and engaging piece of cinema replete with special effects that endow human qualities on a fly, making it a cool tool of vendetta.

Yup, the fly creates quite a buzz! Specially around the film’s antagonist Sudeep’s ears, as it tortures the hell out of the villain who had bumped off the leading lady’s angelic suitor, little realizing that he, the suitor, would be reborn as a fly.

On paper, Makkhi must have sounded like a corny adventure saga about a fly’s vendetta spree against a man who would go to any lengths to win over a girl who rebuffs his every gesture.

Sudeep’s effectual destruction by the fly has to be seen to be believed. To bring variations into the fly’s various means of torturing his adversary to death requires Herculean plotting and planning. Director Rajmouli excels in giving a human life to the fly.

In spite of the inherent repetitiveness of the concept (in how many ways can a fly ..er, fly?), the narrative’s pace never slackens. The special effects are incredibly adept. Full marks to Kannada actor Sudeep for creating exacerbated tension in a fight that is unequal from Round 1. Interestingly as the fly-hero’s vendetta intensifies, Sudeep’s character begins to appear comically vulnerable. By the time he gets unequivocally murderous we share Sudeep’s sentiments completely.

Aur nahin buzz aur nahin!

In theory, it’s a very shaky plot on which to build a whole film but Rajamouli’s sure-handed direction puts zing into the buzz. There is no dearth of innovative moments in the script. The sharp clenched narrative doesn’t let go of a single occasion to allow the fight to finish between the fly and his killer.

Honestly, who would expect a film entitled Makkhi to fly like a bird? Rajamouli’s ingenious idea and skilful storytelling take us completely by surprise.

Gutsy, sly and original, this is the entertainer of the season. Not only is Sudeep in top form, even Samantha Ruth as his object of adoration is sweetly effective.

Another unmistakable plus is M.M. Kreem’s music. The songs come on at opportune spaces in the storytelling. The background music nails the funny-sad-daring plot. A word about the Hindi dubbing. It’s so wellsynchronized with the original Tamil dubbing that nothing is lost in translation. Besides, a fly really doesn’t speak. And it is the hero of this cocky clever and compelling film.

This may not be the classic waiting to be re-discovered. But Makkhi holds our attention right to the end. It is a conventional love story turned into a ferociously innovative saga by one masterstoke.

By the end of it we no longer wonder, why a fly?

We’re too busy cheering the fly which knows its mind better thoroughly engaging English Vinglish is in some ways a lifechanging experience. It turns around the male gaze, making patriarchal tyranny seem like an acceptable tradition that we never thought we needed to break. With oodles of persuasive charm, the director breaks down the bastion of male pride with a film that generations will look back on with affection. As for the incandescent Sridevi, was she really away for 16 years? She makes the contemporary actresses, even the coolest ones, look like jokes with her flawless interpretation of a woman who seeks only respect because love, she already has.

Flaws? Yes, one. Amitabh Bachchan’s cameo, interesting as it is, overstays its welcome. Actually Shinde plays the Big B the best possible compliment in the opening credits: “100 Years Of Indian cinema 70 Years Of Amitabh Bachchan.”

To that we can add, a good 40 years of Sridevi.

Subhash K Jha

FILm: English Vinglish