Gypsy Movie Review Rating: 3/5
Production: Olympia Movies Cast: Jiiva Direction: Raju Murugan Screenplay: Raju Murugan Story: Raju Murugan Music: Santhosh Narayanan Background score: Santhosh Narayanan Cinematography: Selvakumar SK Editing: Raymond Derrick Crasta Art direction: CS Balachander
Raju Murugan’s Gypsy is a film that couldn’t have come out at a better time. With the memory of the recent communal riots in the nation’s capital still fresh in our minds, the issue that the film deals with – the politicisation of religion and its dangerous fallout – is extremely relevant now more than ever. The director uses the story of a nomadic musician who is literally named Gypsy (Jiiva, whose earnestness carries the film forward even in its weaker moments) to present his thoughts. The child of an inter religious couple who lose their lives in an Indo-Pak war, he is raised by wandering musician, who tells him to find and never let go of that face he would remember at his deathbed.
For the grown-up Gypsy that face happens to be that of Waheeda (Natasha Singh, okayish in a strangely passive role), a girl from an orthodox Muslim household. To her, Gypsy and his lifestyle represent the one thing that her life lacks – freedom. Raju Murugan doesn’t build up their romance as something grand. They are attracted to each other, but neither is consumed by a burning sense of passion. The way they elope has to be one of the most understated elopement scenes in Tamil cinema. There is no major drama that follows. Just one exclamation from her father, Muthalippu (Lal Jose). Gypsy took a long time to release, and that’s where the film’s issues lie. From the time the film’s production started, a lot of movies with similar messages have been released, which might make Gypsy seem a bit outdated. The treatment is also slightly off because every scene is packed with heavy elements. It takes a strong heart to witness the interval block and the scene before the climax.
In most of the scenes involving Natasha, Selvakumar’s frames create a feeling of being trapped along with her. The way the communal riots are shot deserves praise, especially when the scenes are required to hide certain colours owing to censor cuts. The VFX looks patchy in those portions, but the messages trumps the flaws. The placement of the song ‘Venpura’ too deserves a lot of praise.
Gypsy is Jiiva’s best performance in recent times and it’s a delight to see an underrated actor like him score and carry the film forward. The supporting cast consisting of Sunny Wayne and Lal Jose and the character who plays Senior, stand out. In the scene where Senior dies, Gypsy doesn’t check his pulse or breath, but places his head on Senior’s heart to check for the heartbeat. Similarly, the film too appeals to your heart and pricks your conscience. It doesn’t villainize anyone but instead makes its villains a victim of the system in place. It also makes a war cry for peace by including various art forms like Graffiti, band performances, posters and more.
Overall, Gypsy ends up as one of the strongest films in the recent past. The message it hopes to drive is strong and more than relevant to the current situation. The political commentaries on many issues including beef-eating, water disputes, religious disharmony and so on are effectively placed in the screenplay. The writing is at its best when the man who kills many in the riots is shown as a mere pawn and humanizing him should hopefully serve as an eye-opener for such men. The idea of bringing the riot victim and her tormentor on the same stage, in the end, is commendable. Naming the horse as Che and the baby as “Vellai Pura” are poetic punches
On the downside, the love between the hero and heroine which is the crux of the screenplay could have been written more effectively for the audience to care for them which sadly does not happen here. The film also fails to do justice to the love story or the political story and falls somewhere in between leaving the audience in a spin. There is also a feeling that though the writer tries to balance the damages on both sides one side is villainized more. The hero singing to win back the girl borders on the comical and dealing with PTSD is rather immature.Raju Murugan must be commended for boldly tackling the religious-political scenarios and some of his moments are poetic while the others are authentic. However, it must also be said that though his larger vision is honest he could have done better with the writing and could have reached a wider audience.
