Naan Kadavul Analysis

 Naan Kadavul (2009)

Directed by: Bala
Starring: Arya, Pooja, Rajendran
National Award for Best Director & for Best Make Up Artist. 

This film is set in a very dark world. It explores what humans could be capable of. I think we should watch films like once in a while, to be in touch with the brutality of life. To be grateful for the basic and good things in life - which we often take for granted. When one of the woman says that she won't beg - she is beaten to pulp and asked to beg. Physical torture is the manifestation of the worst plights of humans. The ending is so brutal. We usually don't punch down that hard. A blind woman who is sold to the Beggar Mafia - she is suffering throughout the film. We expect some sort of redemption to her, and the ending brutally spins the entire expectations - her redemption is death. Like a suffering animal. 

The filmmaking is solid, the way they introduce the world is so good. A lot of times, I could sense that I'd understand what's happening in the film even without the dialogue. Because everything that happens in the film is so extreme. They don't apologize in a subtle way, they fall on the other person's feet and beg them. The way the scenes are constructed - the way they cut to reaction shots is crucial in this film, because this film has a 'fish out of the pond' structure. It's about an aghori who comes into the normal world and everything he does is weird - and this difference generates humor and drama. To portray the difference, the reaction shots are the only way. Especially the scene where he goes home, those scenes with his mother were hilarious. Here, his audacity is what makes it funny.