3.75 / 5
The daring and gutsy Bala has chosen to portray the lives of impoverished and enslaved tea plantation workers in pre-Independence India, in his latest Paradesi. The movie has absolute focus in its script and after the initial half an hour or so when the director portrays the happy camaraderie in the Salur village, he shifts base to how these villagers are taken to work in the hills, on the basis of false promises of a decent standard of living.
One may feel that Bala is glorifying pathos, sorrow, torture, pain, hunger and other dark emotions as the second half is one deep and disturbing experience indeed. Paradesi is definitely not for the 'entertainment oriented' among the audience.
The intermission visual and the climax also score high on the impact quotient thanks to the hard-hitting realism and the performance of the actors. There are many such scenes when the actors' torture and pain get to you as well and you feel so sad for their plight.
Atharvaa knocks you out with his performance as Otti Paruki aka Rasa. He is the man who does all the dirty jobs in the village and he is an absolute workhorse who does these jobs for some food and a few annas in change. He isn't respected by the folks in his village and they even hesitate to feed him properly. That scene when he feels gutted on being snubbed for food by the villagers after a marriage is heart-wrenching. His bonding, with Angamma and his grand mother, is his only solace. Atharvaa's plight will surely leave you with a lump in your throat and his climax performance is the icing on the cake. The physical and mental effort that he has gone through for this role in immense. Kudos Kid ... Hope you grow as big as Vikram and Suriya.
Vedhika as Angamma is joy uninhibited and she shows that she can emote with the ease of a veteran in the emotional scenes as well. The chemistry between Atharvaa and Vedhika shines through in the delightful Avatha Paiyya number. Dhansika as Maragadham has also invested her heart and soul into the film and a pat on her back too. The bonding between Atharvaa, Dhansika and her kid is among the few solaces in the second half which is packed with how these poor souls are exploited by their heartless employers.
G.V.Prakash's BGM score places the movie on a pedestal and furthers the drama and intensity. A-Class work by the youngster. Most of his songs are dedicated to showing how the villagers suffer in the face of adverse working conditions. The way plague spreads due to their unhygienic living conditions in the tea plantation is sad to say the least. And the state of their medical care and attention is pathetic.
Chezhiyan's cinematography, the apt color tone and the shots in the dark are all perfectly in place as well.
Bala has also sarcastically portrayed how Christians went about converting the masses of the state and this takes a lot of guts too. Wonder if the Christians will have something to protest at the utter irreverence with which they have been portrayed. The British bosses have all been portrayed as evil womanizers who have a major addiction to alcohol.
On the whole, Bala's intentions of showing the dark and distressing tales behind the tea that we enjoy daily works big time, due to his uncompromising stand and hard-hitting film-making. In that sense, the voice-over by Rajkiran before the movie starts, is on the mark. The performances are of the highest order and all the technicians have shined in their roles.
But some are bound to question Bala's continued indulgences with the darker side of humanity. He stirs you, shakes you and leaves you pondering. If you are looking for a film to de-stress you, Paradesi is the last option as it will distress you, on the other hand.
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