Rangasthalam, my favourite Sukumar movie, turned six yesterday.
One of the most simple yet striking points in the film comes in the form of a small action by Naresh, the father of Chitti Babu and Kumar Babu. Early in the film, he is told to retire from tailoring since as he is running the risk of losing his eye sight due to old age. Kumar Babu is back from a foreign country and Chitti Babu too is earning. So he quits. Around the halfway mark, when he is forced to let go of his ancestral property, he feels helpless. The same night, after coming from the panchayat, out of humiliation, he doesn’t eat food and instead goes to his tailoring machine and resumes working.
It’s a very painful moment, communicating the guilt of the son and the devastation of the father without uttering a single word.
Now, let me tell you why I found this moment so beautiful and remarkable.
Almost two years before Rangasthalam came out, after the release of Naannaku Prematho, Sukumar gave an interview to the late TNR garu and shared an anecdote. We all know that Sukumar was a maths lecturer in a junior college before he ventured into filmmaking. Recalling that time, Sukumar says that it was the first time he was earning a good amount of money, having taken the financial responsibility of his home. Since Sukumar had reached a point of financial stability, his father, who was in his early seventies by then, had finally retired and was relaxing, spending his time reading books he couldn’t read earlier. Taking about seeing his father be relaxed, Sukumar was, “choodataniki chaala mucchataga undedhi.”
But then, Sukumar realised he was getting comfortable with his life and if he stuck to his job, he would never take the risk and become a filmmaker. He says that he eventually decided to go call it quits, meaning he was risking the financial security and the peace of his father too. He informed his father about his decision and as a result, his father had to resume working at that old age. “I gave my father only one year of relaxation,” he says, adding that it’s something that had deeply hurt him at that point.
This is exactly the pain and helplessness Kumar Babu experiences at that moment in the film. I’m not saying this moment is directly inspired from Sukumar’s life (only he can confirm or deny that) but I’m saying this is why Sukumar is special. What sets his films apart is that they are driven by a very intimate emotion at their core. They are big but very personal.
It started with a pavva.
It ended with a tequila.
Tonight’s gonna be a combination of both 🙃
To all of you here who make me feel loved everyday. I love you more.
Cheers!
Happy new year ♥️
#Dasara#HiNanna#ThankYou2023
We are coming early..
Dec 7th is the day..
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This year needs to end with love and we are here to serve it :)
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2 great teams mi nd csk,204 matches,14 seasons,11 playoffs,8 finals,5 trophies.hopefully 6th tonight. It’s been quite a journey.I have decided that tonight’s final is going to be my last game in the Ipl.i truly hav enjoyed playing this great tournament.Thank u all. No u turn 😂🙏