“Veedu” (1988)
An old man pays a visit to his house which is under
construction. Seemingly unmindful of his
frailty, he walks up the stairs to the terrace to cherish a breath of fresh
air. Happiness to him comes not from the
way the house is being constructed but from the realization that the travails
of his family might be nearing its end. Often,
the joys experienced by the poor result from the absence of sorrows. And, it is the union of their joys and
sorrows that spawns Balu Mahendra’s “Veedu,” an exquisitely crafted tableau of
simple human emotions that leaves us with a heavy heart.
Sudha (Archana), a lower-middle
class bank employee, lives in a small rented place with her Grandpa
(Chokkalinga Bhagavathar) and her kid sister.
With the support of her close friend (Banuchander), she throws her heart
and soul into building a small house on a piece of land owned by her
Grandpa. To overcome the mandarins and
corrupt officials of the Government is no simple task and it is the resultant
hardships of her family that at are at the heart of “Veedu.”
“Veedu” finds its greatness in the
smallest of moments that also end up being the film’s richest of moments. Archana gifting her sister a half-sari before
the latter’s School Day function; the affectionate Grandpa consoling his
granddaughters during monetary troubles; “Pasi” Sathya (playing one of the
workers at the construction site) sharing a lighter moment with Archana are all
scenes where we just feel like a witness to these characters’ lives unfolding
in front of our eyes. “Veedu” is
completely devoid of any sensational moments or twists but instead, gets its
vitality from Balu Mahendra’s quest for extreme realism. Yes, the movie moves at a languorous pace but
that is exactly how a movie about these people should play out. The process of constructing one’s own house
(in
A couple of sequences in “Veedu” are
symptomatic of Balu Mahendra’s exceptional writing and deft direction. One is the sequence mentioned in my opening
paragraph. That scene is memorable for
two reasons—Bhagavathar’s facial expressions and Illayaraja’s background
score. He was one of those rare actors
whose face seemed to be a transparent window into the character’s soul. Now, that sounds like unnecessary hyperbole
but in this scene, just the way he smiled—reflecting pure satisfaction and
contentment—convinced me that I was really watching an old man admire his own
house. Only the subtlest of narrations
can achieve this and “Veedu” comes up trumps on this front. Illayaraja’s bgm (from his album “How to Name
It”), with his famed use of violins, juxtaposes pathos with happiness in a
musical way that is mesmerizing yet minimalist.
Another sequence that stuns us with
its emotional sincerity and authenticity is the one that takes place on
Archana’s birthday. The manner in which
she reacts to an expensive gift from Banuchander (at a time when she is bogged
down by problems of her own) is a telling depiction of the frustrations and
yearnings of the lower-middle class. Her
subsequent apology to him is devoid of words but replete with genuine emotional
power. These down-to-earth scenes not
only help us identify with the protagonist but also make us mull over their
privation.
“Veedu” does not have
a climax that offers a solution to all of Archana’s problems. With a voiceover, Balu Mahendra leaves it
open-ended. While I agree that the
purpose of the film is to make us ponder over the issues instead of offering
solutions, the open-endedness seemed more like a stylistic choice than a necessity
for this movie. I, for one, felt that a
powerful climax (given the potency of the penultimate sequence involving
Grandpa’s final note) would have increased the emotional pull of the movie. Maybe Balu Mahendra looked at the penultimate
scene as the natural point of termination of the movie.
One of the most thankless jobs in
the movies is to ‘behave’ instead of ‘act.’
There is a tendency to overlook performers who aim for subtlety instead
of theatrics. But thankfully, realistic
cinema brings out the best in artistes.
And, Balu Mahendra is a filmmaker who excels on this front. He draws out fine, understated performances
from his cast and complements that with his unobtrusive yet attentive camera. Archana, Banuchander, Chokkalinga Bhagavathar
and “Pasi” Sathya all turn in exceptional performances that do not call too
much attention to themselves yet in the context of the story and the style of
narration, fit in beautifully.
It is only a select group of movies
that seem to transcend the medium and find a place in our psyche, thanks to the
creator’s sincerity of purpose and the relevance of the theme. “Veedu” is one such noble effort in Balu
Mahendra’s oeuvre that is not to be missed by the discerning moviegoer.