Mathu Vadalara Movie Analysis

Mathu Vadalara

Written & Directed by: Ritesh Rana

Mathu Vadalara is a film made with a lot of visual stylistic choices, Requiem for a Dream style edits, bold texts appearing on screen, pop culture references and a voice which keeps saying 'Who' which is used as a background score by Kaala Bhairava, a technique used by his father Keeravani in the trailer of Baahubali: The Conclusion, with 'Why'. There is a brilliant Andhadun-esque sequence, which is supplemented with two of his friends speaking his voice. There is a mockery of a TV-serial going on as a subplot which is mostly irrelevant to the plot, but you can't help but laugh at it. The reference of Breaking Bad starts with a fly irritating Satya, after which we see a wall in the background with the legendary cast of Breaking Bad. They break the fourth wall, with news scrolling in the bottom of a news footage. The aspect ratio changes in the first few minutes of the film, which I thought would've supplemented his difficult life better had it changed at the apartment scene which changes everything.  The colors and lighting used are different from what we usually see in Telugu cinema, it has a modern neo-noir feel to it. 

The place behind the book shelf, reminded me of the basement in Bong Joon Ho's Palme d'Or Parasite. A whole new unexpected element being introduced into the story can be exciting for the audience, if done well. Other than the serial mockery, the humor never disrupts the core story at any point. This has been a trend now, which started with Arjun Reddy which seamlessly incorporated humor sometimes just with the pacing of the editing. Here too, in tense situations we get to laugh at a lot of things. The narrative unfolds in a way that, it keeps closing all the possibilities one can think of and when the audience is blank, it surprises them with a twist. The twist is unpredictable, but it would've been more satisfying if we had any clues before. There was a set up and pay off explanation given by him in his narration of the events, but they weren't any clues for us to figure out otherwise.  The usage of old 500 notes, is also justified at the end. At one scene, an old woman who is supposed to be dead is breathing. It confused me, if it is a film making mistake by the film maker or if it is indicating that she is alive. The film also explores themes like capitalism and a sense of righteousness which people have when it is another person and lose when it comes to them in a subtle way.