'Gaami' is produced by Karthik Sabareesh. The latest box-office release has been generating a range of reactions from the audience. What is the film like? Let's find out...
Plot:
Shankar (Vishwak Sen) has been undergoing inexplicable mental torture as an Aghora. In Haridwar, his Ashram banishes him because he is accursed. If he is touched by anyone, he loses his mental balance and physical health instantly. It takes caring and nursing to revive him back to normalcy. He is advised by a Sadhu to reach the Himalayan Ranges on a specific day of the year to catch hold of a mushroom that can cure him. But this journey involves adventurous trekking and other hardships.
While this much was evident from the trailer itself, the film goes beyond in presenting two other stories. The first one involves a mother-daughter duo, while the second one involves a dark lab where inhuman scientists inhabit an evil complex.
Performances:
'Gaami' has been approached by Vishwak Sen as a magnum opus. He looks leaner than he was in his recent films because many portions were shot in 2018 and 2019. Yet, nothing looks out of place except for his dialogue delivery that looks too out of depth for the character.
Chandini Chowdary as Shankar's comrade performs well. Abhinaya and Mohammad Samad play a young Devadasi and a tormented victim of a lab experiment, respectively. Mayank Parak plays a negative role in the lab, while Dayanand Reddy has the role of a victim.
Technical aspects:
If we are even talking about 'Gaami' at length, it's because of the production values. The VFX teams did a commendable job. Vishwanath Reddy CH's cinematography and Pravalya Duddupudi's production design gel with the editing work. Naresh Kumaran's background score should have been way better; the sound design is far from perfect. This wouldn't have been a problem in a film with an otherwise average technical output.
Post-Mortem:
The Haridwar ashram scenes at the beginning are somewhat off. The fight scene is nothing but a proxy for the 'kusthi' scenes we have seen in so many village-based films. Why do the Aghoras and the Sadhus behave as though they have no philosophical depth?
By and by, 'Gaami' gets its act together. The three separate tracks keep the audience guessing about the link between them. In the first track, the protagonist is escaping from a curse. In the second track, a bruised and mentally exhausted male is trying to escape from a prison. In the third track, a woman is escaping from an exploitative setting while she stares at death.
Shankar, played by Sen, has forgotten his past. This plot point has been used to build the screenplay accordingly. There are no off-putting moments.
The film doesn't spoon-feed the audience. There are questions that remain unanswered on the surface. In retrospect, you will find the screenplay not loose.
The film doesn't engage throughout, especially if you are someone who looks for nail-biting thrillers every Friday. This is a deliberately slow-paced movie that is atmospheric and moody.
Closing Remarks:
'Gaami' has the potential to be counted as a worthy new-age Telugu film. It has its minus points but its several plus points hit the bull's eye.
