When Chandrasekhar Yeleti's "aithae" came around, the biggest surprise from the then unknown director wasn't as much about the caper story, the casual dialogues or even the confident acting of the debutants that was rooted in reality, a big departure from the loud theatrics ruling the roost at that time. The real jolt was felt when the misdirection was revealed, which, frankly, none saw it coming. That's the difference between shock and misdirection. Usually in suspense fares, when the reveal (towards the end) suddenly casts a character in an unseen angle, even with all its justifications, the reaction would only be one of shock, suddenly calling into question all that has transpired till then. And it is very tough act to pull off a shock that is truly satisfying. Even the greatest suspense movie in telugu filmdom till date - Vamsi's "anveshaNa" - didn't seem to stick its landing with the shocking reveal at the end, only because the justification (as it is for any shock) appears as an afterthought and that substituting one character for another in that situation doesn't spoil the shock value by much. Misdirection is different though. Unlike shock which is usually worked backwards and so given a wide latitude, the rules for misdirection are unforgiving. The seeds of misdirection have to be planted right at the start and the plotting should be such that the tracks should all be there in perfect order, so that after the surprise is revealed, the steps could be retraced and the origins of the surprise easily found. Shock is surprising, at best, but misdirection, when it works, is truly magical (Case in point: M. Night Shymalan's "The Sixth Sense", which was a fantastic exercise, both in shock and misdirection, an even rarer breed). And "brOchaevArevurA", like "aithae" before, joins the rarefied ranks of a well-executed (mis)direction.
Plotting could all be technical and calculative (manipulative). But it is the (natural flow of) dialogues that really steal the show (and the delivery too, specially by the trio). The greatness of them lies in their simplicity. Specially in a plot heavy scenario as this, the propensity to over stuff the dialogues with more and more information to move the narrative faster is usually very high (which is where the second half of "Agent Aatreya" faltered). And this other Aatreya (writer/director) exercises a lot of control and caution in this aspect, revealing only so much as is absolutely essential and yet maintained the rhythm and flow of a natural conversation, beautifully aided by the wonderful diction of Sri Vishnu. Whereas "aithae" pegged its surprise on a single reveal, "brOchae..." packs quite a few in the second half, landing the punches in a never ending one-two fashion, leaving the viewer breathless and surprised right till the end. And like "aithae", to pull all this off with no romantic angle at all calls for a lot of courage. Vivek Sagar's background score deserves a lot of, if not equal, credit when the votes are finally tallied. The nice blend of songs are score, both of which remain in the background, (similar to the contemporary Malayalam movies) alternate between unobtrusive and demanding attention. His orchestration (for the songs, using a lot of syncopation, right from the days of "peLLi choopulu") going against the grain and grammar of a conventional telugu song, definitely takes some time getting used to, but there certainly is no denying the underlying melody. Editing (like umpiring in cricket) stands out only when the flow appears disruptive and never when it is cohesive, deserves its piece of the cake here, balancing the multiple threads at play in a uncluttered and clear fashion. Now how much of it is the writing and how much the editing is like trying to separate water from milk. "brOchaevArevurA" is a proud and welcome entrant into the pantheon of new age telugu cinema, driven by content, clarity and confidence. Kudos!
checkout http://kanchib.blogspot.com for Srinivas's Blog.
