The political lives of insignificant stars
Anurag Kashyap, Filmmaker-
This is a film playing inside Pa Ranjith’s head . There is an order in his chaotic mind. Where so many of his identities are having conversations and conflicting with each other..
Anurag Kashyap, as always presents what he felt about a specific angle in Natchathiram Nagargirathu so good that I had to start with the above quoted lines.
The film is indeed chaotic with a number of character journeys, some journeys that are intertwined with others’ and the journey of the whole troupe’s psyche. I’m trying to just collect my thoughts about different aspects of the film here. Expect chaos.
There is an order in this on a different dimension- on the level of ideology and what it strives to change in society. The change aimed here, as I understand from Ranjith’s interview with Baradwaj Rangan is not wanting to stand ‘against’ all the time, but to invite who think otherwise to a discussion and make them understand the oneness and the significance of actually being so insignificant in the universe.
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There are moments in the movie that require articles of their own. Some congratulating what it achieves and some that act as a cross-section of the symbolism and music playing. There are a lot of moments where music feels as a part of the middle ground of the shot and not just the background. Filling the three dimensional space around moving characters, the music disturbs and unsettles you in a good way. That being said, I did have moments where I was not fond of the music.
In Blackklansmen Spike Lee ends the movie showing raw footage (not a Spoiler) of brutal violence against Black people in a protest area. It gives an answer to the people who often say, moments like these happen only in movies and to the ones who are detached from the world of discrimination owing to their social capital and the privilege. This moment of non-fiction in a fictitious creation hits you unannounced and says loud that the movie is happening in the same world as the ones with honour killings and caste oppression. This moment in Natchathiram Nagargirathu works to its full potential. It was a moment of truth and introspection.
I really did not have any qualms with the ending of the movie because of the space I was watching it in. Coming back to other’s thoughts about the ending made me think about it. I did not feel as troubled still. Maybe I’m one of those viewers who got engrossed in the film that I had something or the other to focus consistently.
Ranjith has been able to create a world that sometimes gets too real and sometimes fades away before you expect. While we can understand that the latter could be an aftermath of censor and runtime choice, the film’s impact is in the movement that it would create and the uncomfortable conversations that it sparks is huge. Here’s hoping that we take the conversation like 2nd half Renee who understands the position of Arjun. While its an incredibly tough thing to expect, it’s not harder or painstaking as it is to expect to catch a shooting star in a metro city with light pollution.
Cheers to insignificance!
