padmanabha
4th December 2006, 07:46 PM
[tscii:6eba1e3a79]Symbols and signifiers have found their space on celluloid but what Devan Nair has tried to convey through Atheetham are strands from contemporary life, a journey that many undertake in their youth.
The film begins with the course of events in the life of Anand (Rahul Easwar) a young man for whom the ashram is his home and the Guru (Dattatreya) true mentor. Before the austerity of the ashram to creates a monotony, the director sets it on a different and difficult path when the date of ordainment of young Anand draws to a close. Events in the locality have triggered a sort of skepticism in the mind and things comes to such a pass, that ANAND refuses to go through the motions of entering monkhood. It is the typical of his age, when Anand turns away from the Spartan and disciplined existence within the confines of the Ashram. But what has turned his mind away from the religion he knew till then is the class-less society promised by the ideology of Marx.
There is new hope and enthusiasm because the promised land where all men are equal has a magnetizing effect on Anand. He now is drawn to classes where the initiation into an ideology that propounds change through violent revolutions is awe inspiring. The idealism is only a façade, because events prove that ideology is only a means to catapulting the self into important positions.
Disenchantment sets in. Anad wavered, travels to Varanasi. Interaction with sadhus, the shelter provided by the madam of a pleasure house, are places where he learns something more; that there is a nexus at work everywhere.
The words of the lady in charge, “you need only do what has been assigned to you. The last person sent off because he exceeded the brief.” And sure enough the message reaches Anand.
The destination is never in sight because the hero is yet to receive a convincing answer to many of the unanswered questions he still carries with him.
The film draws to a close when Anand’s journey ends in the Ashram which he had left.
The quest for self, and peace and the pains of existence are answered, but one wonders, if the ashram is his escape route from the real and the complex realities.
Atheetham is the debut film of Devan who is basically an ad film maker. He is the producer of Naalukettu, a serial based on MT’S story for TV. “My idea was to produce a film based on the spiritual theme.” He explains. Atheetham took three months and has cost him 30 Lakhs. Being his maiden film it is natural he has its anxieties but is convinced that what he has touched on is something that dominates the inner thoughts of each of us. FOR THAT REASON he believes that the film will receive positive response freedom viewers.
Atheetham is a film of new faces except for Sreeraman and Urmila Unni. Music is scored by Pradyumnnan Sharma of Mumbai for Isra Ansari’s lyrics. Lata Ramdas has sung the only song in this film.
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The film begins with the course of events in the life of Anand (Rahul Easwar) a young man for whom the ashram is his home and the Guru (Dattatreya) true mentor. Before the austerity of the ashram to creates a monotony, the director sets it on a different and difficult path when the date of ordainment of young Anand draws to a close. Events in the locality have triggered a sort of skepticism in the mind and things comes to such a pass, that ANAND refuses to go through the motions of entering monkhood. It is the typical of his age, when Anand turns away from the Spartan and disciplined existence within the confines of the Ashram. But what has turned his mind away from the religion he knew till then is the class-less society promised by the ideology of Marx.
There is new hope and enthusiasm because the promised land where all men are equal has a magnetizing effect on Anand. He now is drawn to classes where the initiation into an ideology that propounds change through violent revolutions is awe inspiring. The idealism is only a façade, because events prove that ideology is only a means to catapulting the self into important positions.
Disenchantment sets in. Anad wavered, travels to Varanasi. Interaction with sadhus, the shelter provided by the madam of a pleasure house, are places where he learns something more; that there is a nexus at work everywhere.
The words of the lady in charge, “you need only do what has been assigned to you. The last person sent off because he exceeded the brief.” And sure enough the message reaches Anand.
The destination is never in sight because the hero is yet to receive a convincing answer to many of the unanswered questions he still carries with him.
The film draws to a close when Anand’s journey ends in the Ashram which he had left.
The quest for self, and peace and the pains of existence are answered, but one wonders, if the ashram is his escape route from the real and the complex realities.
Atheetham is the debut film of Devan who is basically an ad film maker. He is the producer of Naalukettu, a serial based on MT’S story for TV. “My idea was to produce a film based on the spiritual theme.” He explains. Atheetham took three months and has cost him 30 Lakhs. Being his maiden film it is natural he has its anxieties but is convinced that what he has touched on is something that dominates the inner thoughts of each of us. FOR THAT REASON he believes that the film will receive positive response freedom viewers.
Atheetham is a film of new faces except for Sreeraman and Urmila Unni. Music is scored by Pradyumnnan Sharma of Mumbai for Isra Ansari’s lyrics. Lata Ramdas has sung the only song in this film.
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