A (1998)

Please be warned that it’s necessary to include some small spoilers in the discussion of this film but I will not give away most of the plot. Part of the fun of A is watching events unfold and I wouldn’t ruin that for anybody. Also, please be warned that A is NOT appropriate for all ages and has some extreme examples of violence against women. If that bothers you, I would advise against watching the film – although you might want to read my piece first and then decide because the violence is not gratuitous – but if you are a sensitive soul who dislikes even artistic violence, then this is not the film for you.

After reading the very enthusiastic comments from some of my Kannada-speaking friends, I was prepared to enjoy A. Written by, directed by, and starring Upendra as the actor and director Soorya (got all that?), A is a volcano of raw emotion. I didn't just enjoy A, I had my mind blown. (Note: My mind was blown in a good way…)

The action beings in a mental hospital at midnight – an auspicious beginning. Some first person shaky cam footage sets the mood by filming the escape of a madman from the perspective of the madman. He eludes capture and ends up at a temple. Our first glimpse of the madman reveals Our Hero – Upendra – covered in the bright powder of the temple, as if God himself has marked him.

He’s got crazy eyes and is none too impressed with God, who he claims only put evil into the world so that good people would be forced to ask him for help. After literally chucking God down a well, the madman continues on his rampage – passing judgment on all and sundry while shouting (in all caps): I AM GOD; GOD IS GREAT.

An elderly man is rewarded with the favors of two women who are being punished. The action builds and builds to frenzy of fire and blood and really fast cuts between shots. I can’t keep up and we’re only 20 minutes in. Yes, the first 20 minutes or so of A: Film by Upendra is actually A: Film By Soorya and wouldn’t you know it but a loud, foreign lady wants to buy the film to distribute it overseas. There is just one problem—the censors chopped the ending of the film so badly that it no longer makes sense and they need to re-shoot. Actually, there are two problems: Soorya is not in any condition to shoot anything.

And the heroine of the film – Chandni playing Chandni – will not have anything to do with Soorya anyways. I can tell you right now, if you think you know where this film is headed, you are wrong.

A blends songs, switched points of view, flashback, film-within-a-film footage, and seemingly real life footage into a twisted and really emotional narrative that will keep your head spinning. (A still from some eerie footage that had everybody’s faces blacked out – were they filmed without permission? Is this real footage? Why doesn’t the Criterion Collection get on making us a beautifully remastered edition of this with a director’s commentary? Oh, right… because if it’s not by the “right” type of foreigner they don’t care.)

What holds the narrative together is the glue of love and power – men exert powerful forces and violent on women in the name of love and lust. And love itself has the power to destroy lives. This isn’t the soppy love of a thousand Yash Raj films but the immolating love of Layla-Majnun, Romeo-Juliet, and (if I may) Edward-Bella. Who has the right to love? Can you force somebody to love you back?

Love can turn you into a madman – the type who escapes from a mental hospital at exactly midnight.

Since the Soorya, as the Hero, is our main point of view character, we are inherently sympathetic to his feelings. Playing the enigma is much harder and I want to give a shoutout to Chandni, who is magnificent as Chandini. Her character is a difficult one to play and a difficult one to pin down. The viewer never quite knows how she is going to react or what her true motivations are – until the very end.

I hope it’s not giving too much away to say that Chandni’s final speech at the end of the film was the first time in this whole delirious film that the action paused long enough to let the emotions catch up to me. I cried.

But A isn’t all self-destructive love and violence – this is a masala film at its heart and we are treated to such delights as an item song! A very funny and clever song that compares film shooting to a cricket match. And… another song which just… I think you should probably watch it.

This movie alone should refute any charges that song-dance is all happy and romantic and dancing around trees.

I’ll close with a couple thoughts. First of all, from what I read about A online in the few English-language sources that I could find, the impression I had was that it was a film about the sleazy side of filmmaking, kind of like Page 3. Let me clear that up – A is on a completely different planet from Page 3. Where films like Page 3 sanctimoniously revel in the muck they dig up, A is not about scandal or shame. A is about raw human emotion – something mostly missing from Madhur Bhandarkar’s productions (Kangana Ranaut in Fashion is the exception.) The topic matter may be similar but if you found Page 3 preachy and unrealistic, don’t worry - A is nothing like it.

Secondly, from what I read about A, there were some accusations of misogyny towards Upendra and according to him, he lost female audiences after A. Now, I did see some violence against women but I didn’t see the misogyny nor did I see any of my most hated of female tropes – the helpless heroine. I really don’t want to give anything away but I will say that Chandni does goes beat up BUT later she also does some serious (and fatal) damage to the men who attacked her. And Chandni is never subjected to the leering camera – Upendra is very respectful of his actress, even as she is suffering some terrible torments.

Any misogyny in A comes from the society that Upendra is trying to capture in his film and not from Upendra himself.

(At least as far as I could tell – I want to emphasize that I do not speak Kannada and have to rely on subtitles. If I missed something, please let me know! I’m not afraid to be wrong.)

A is a remarkable film and solidifies my view that some of the most vital and meaningful cinema is coming out of Karnataka right now. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into more Upendra films.

In the words of the madman played by Soorya played by Upendra: I AM GOD; GOD IS GREAT.

(Originally posted March 20, 2011)