Awe — A Novel Concoction of Short Stories
How often do you get AWE-struck by watching a Telugu movie? Well, you know the chances are rare. Awe offers you such a rare chance. True to its title, the movie is full of Awe-ful moments.
Awe, the production debut of Nani, from Wall Poster Cinema, has raised enough curiosity ever since the poster designs released. After an interesting and intriguing trailer, the movie released on 16th of Feb amidst a bunch of expectations.
Directed by debutante Prashanth Varma, who earlier directed short films like Dialogue in the dark & Savi 3, the movie features a ensemble star cast — Kajal Agarwal, Regina Cassandra, Srinivas Avasarala, Nithya Menon, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Murali Sharma, Eesha Rebba, Rohini, Devadarshini.
STORY, ANALYSIS, TECHNICAL & PERFORMANCES
The movie starts with a soulful song ‘Viswame..’ and the key characters are introduced to us in the form of animations while the title cards appear on the screen, that fits the likes of Sukumar, who is known for his creative design of title cards.
The story opens up with Kali’s (Kajal Agarwal) introduction, who is seen sitting at a table in a coffee shop and tearing flower petals, to arrive at a decision, similar to what the character of Shah Rukh Khan does in Darr. Within five minutes of the movie, you will experience your first awe-struck moment, with one of the key character’s intro and that’s when the title of the movie appears on screen, teasing you for the shock it gave just then. The story then introduces all the principal characters one after another and establishes their relationship with the coffee shop and its premises.
The story basically revolves around multiple plot lines that intersect at a particular juncture at a later point to divulge the theme of the story, which is also the pivotal crux of the story. The best part of the movie is that it binds you wholly with its narrative and keeps you glued to the screen. You will find yourself scratching your heads for the clues and biting your nails in anxiety to interpret the events happening in the story and their relation to each other. Awe is a story that is difficult to brief for the sake of it and is something to be witnessed on screen.
Coming to the plot, Awe is a web of stories that are set up in a single place (coffee shop). By the time the movie begins, we can see the principal characters placed in their respective positions to lead the story when their turn comes. The stories revolve around a young traumatic girl, contemplating suicide, who finds life hell on earth (Kajal Agarwal), a younger couple & an older couple in discussion about marriage and sexual preferences (Eesha Rebba, Nithya Menon, Rohini and Balakrishna), an unemployed youth not worth a dime, fighting tooth and nail to get a job as a chef in the coffee shop(Priyadarshi Pulikonda), a drug addict ,plying a plan along with her boyfriend to settle down in life by illicit means (Regina Cassandra), an ego-centric magician, who claims to be the greatest magician in the world (Murali Sharma) and an orphan hoping to unite with his lost parents by the help of a time-machine (Srinivas Avasarala). The extended characters to the plot are a bonsai tree and a parrot fish.
Well, its really tough to categorize the movie under a specific genre. Can I call it a Comedy,?. No!.. but it has enough comical moments. Can I call it a Thriller?… No !, but it thrills you with tense moments. Can I call it a Horror?..No!, but it scares you and send chills down the spine! Can I call it a science-fiction? …No!, but it deals with sci-fi elements. Can I call it a fantasy movie?…No! but it portrays fantastical elements!
So, let us call it an experimental movie, for the lack of a particular genre and for the choice of a better term. This is not also a hyperlinked story like Vedam & Nagaram, as one would assume after reading the synopsis of the story.
The director deserves kudos for this unique concept, that is undoubtedly the first of its kind in TFI. This is definitely a complex theme and even in the climax, there are dots left unconnected and perhaps done deliberately to seek audience’s interpretation, without the director having the obligation to explain. Let us not the blame the director for not spoon-feeding us with the story and instead, thank him for challenging our intellectual acuity.
Kudos to Nani for bankrolling such a novel script and pulling in potential actors to back up the roles in the movie. Let us hope he would show the same taste in selecting the scripts for his movies as a hero in the future.
The two pillars of the movie that strengthen the movie’s narrative are cinematography and production design . These two departments are splendid by mood-lighting through aesthetic visuals , and the intricate design of the coffee shop interiors. As the entire movie is shot in a closed setup, these two played vital roles in evoking the required mood.
Among the lead characters, Regina steals the show, with her attire and performance as a drug addict. She is seen with hair locks, wearing a nose ring and tattoos on her arm. Her transformation for the role is impressive and her performance as a panic-stricken girl deserves applause. Among others, Srinivas Avasarala and Murali Sharma get good screen space as scientist and magician respectively.
On the negative side, the magician’s episode is a tad too long and becomes repetitive and appears like more a magic show to entertain kids. Also, the complex theme is a bit difficult to unravel, and it might need more viewings to solve this crossword-like puzzle.
Mark K.Robin’s musical piece ‘Viswame..‘ is soul-stirring and haunts you, as you leave the theatre and walk till home. The movie opens and closes with this song. Ravi Teja and Nani have lent voices to the Bonsai tree and Parrotfish respectively, that adds needed entertainment to the movie.
There are many messages to take away from the movie — perspectives about sexual exploitation, psychological disorders post child traumatic stress, gender discrimination, same-gender marriage, the importance of trees, emotions of animals etc.
To sum it up in a single line, Awe is a focal point of various emotions and feelings, in one’s life that is beyond one’s understanding of depth, that disguise as monsters and clash against each other paying way to mental unrest.
The movie is sure to catch the audience off balance.
