Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo Analysis

Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo

Written & Directed by: Trivikram

This film has an interesting premise, which is presented in the first scene of the film, which I think is the best scene in the entire film. Using this premise, it creates similar settings, characters, themes and subplots which we have seen in Trivikram's earlier works in Atharintiki Daredi and in S/O Satyamurthy. A son wanting his father to be respected, a husband and a wife who have a fractured marriage, throwing the hero out of the house, hero being away from his crazy amount of wealth, a cunning character, and a villain with weird accent and appearance. These are similar tropes in his films. Trivikram glorifies wealth as hell, especially in his recent movies. 

I've always been a fan of Trivikram for the scope of literature he allows in cinema, be it in writing the film or the songs or his philosophies that he includes in film. Every time I hear a well written song, a chart buster, I wait to see how they'd have picturized it and I get disappointed every single time. It happened the same with Baitikochi Chuste and Samajavaragamana this time. You wouldn't expect much if they were some random songs in some random films, but when they're such well written songs with that depth in literature, you wouldn't expect them to dance on exotic locations to these songs. Using such songs in context helps tell story so much like Aaradugula Bullet from Atharintiki Daredi where there is beautiful figurative speech all over narrating the premise of the film, Peniviti from Aravinda Sametha, Chalore Chalore Chal from Jalsa and there's a brilliant song describing a fight sequence in this film. For me a rule of thumb would be, can this song be placed in another film after a generic situation? If the answer is yes, then it's a mediocre song.

I don't get why our protagonists are being glorified wealthy in many stories these days, be it Atharintiki Daredi, Agnathavaasi, S/O Satyamurthy, Maharshi, Srimanthudu, etc. There are different levels of wealth in the world, it can be a 3BHK apartment owner kind of rich, it can be a villa owner kind of rich, it can be a first class traveler kind of rich and then the private jet/helicopter kind of rich and every time they choose to tell a story of a rich guy they show them like they have infinite amount of wealth. Is it because they can afford to show them that way or does every time the script demands so? Doing this boxes characters and limits the scope of nuance. The action sequences are not good, I'm not even complaining about they not being in context. It's the choreography and the editing, they show a hand punching someone, cut to someone flying in the air. You don't get a sense of what's happening in the fight, you just know they're fighting. The fight sequence with the hen, works entirely because of the song in the background describing the fight. The scene where they dance to songs of the contemporary actors, I don't mind such scenes but filling up the film with such scenes leaves lesser scope for stronger narrative and exploring characters. I don't get the response that some audience give, is 'full meals' a description of how a film is? I don't know.

The core premise of the film is driven by a Valmiki, played by a brilliant Murali Sharma, who exchanges his baby with the baby of his peer whom he is jealous of. This seems like a similar premise but no, it is something I've never seen before. Valmiki mistreats his son and is happy that his biological son is growing in a rich family. I wonder if something like that is even possible, to not love someone who you have in your house for 25 years. It feels possible because Valmiki has another daughter, who he tries to favor over his son. It'd have worked more if the relationship between Valmiki and his daughter would've been explored a little more. That'd have given this character some shades. The part where Bantu says that he feels free now and he doesn't feel obligated to impress Valmiki anymore after he gets to know the truth, it's a good scene but it'd have worked better if they had established if Bantu tries hard to impress his dad all the time. They making fun of Valmiki for he being handicapped, wasn't cool at all. The cruelty of what Valmiki does to his son, should've been explored more. If you imagine, it is something horrible but it isn't shown as much in the film. If that would've been conveyed and then yet the hero takes it all and doesn't call his dad out, then the character of the protagonist would've been even better.