The Paradise — Intensity Without Impact

Paradise is set in a village inhabited by Jadal (Nani) and Chemmaka (Sonali Kulkarni), who have been under the control of an upper-caste/class leader named Shikanja Malik (Mohan Babu) for many decades. Malik's rule is based on discriminatory actions, causing the oppressed people to seek out a leader capable of ending this state of affairs. A mother-son relationship is also damaged by a childhood incident, forcing Jadal and Chemmaka to face the difficulties between them. So, does the clan finally get its rights? Does the mother finally find happiness in having her son? By the time the film reaches this point, you might well have stopped caring.

The film has stalwarts like Mohan Babu reduced to mere screen time presence and nothing more. BGM(s) alone make up a great protagonist; it's the antagonist that elevates any protagonist. Here, there is Vikram Malik(Raghav), who is embarrassed by everyone calling him "Malik koduku" or "Chota Malik", a motivation that is never developed beyond a few lines of dialogue. Villains are mere caricatures who do nothing other than voice punchlines and end up dying comically.

The villains are mainly there in order to shout, display their presence, give what are meant to be important lines, and then die in a manner which is almost comical, making Nani's character appear much more formidable than the writing in fact manages to make out. There are also sequences which might have been extremely effective if the staging had contained sufficient conviction; the interval sequence in which Chemmaka is humiliated is a good case in point. It is obviously intended to have a shocking effect, but the film fails to do very much with the aftermath. The scene happens, remains rather awkwardly in place, and in the end contributes very little to the overall picture.

The writing, expressed in the most parliamentary way that could be, is utterly rubbish. The film might probably be the one that had the worst climax sequence ever, as it is tiring, with people playing handball with a random kid. The film was all over without the conflict being addressed or handled with absurd political understandings. Too much blood for no reason whatsoever. Everyone in the village/caste/clan takes a bath with Blood throughout the film that even blood banks can use buckets to get blood for rivers in the village. ACTION WITHOUT ESSENCE IS LIKE VEG CHICKEN BIRYANI. 

Jadal seems to be able to slaughter an army of henchmen using either a brass knuckle or a whip made from shrapnel, but when Malik at last comes looking for him, our seemingly invincible protagonist is suddenly entirely unprepared. The film's internal logic appears to be based completely on the principle of whatever looks cool in this particular shot.

The songs come next, most of them making their appearance as suddenly as an uninvited visitor walking into a funeral. With the exception of Aaya Sher, they seem to have been suddenly inserted rather than being naturally incorporated. However, the background music is excellent, but the problem is that even the BGM eventually ends up in No Man's Land, desperately attempting to create a sense of intensity that the script hasn't actually warranted.

There is also the romance subplot, which in some way manages to make the situation even worse. Subbu (Kayadu Lohar) is presented without any sense of natural character development; the way in which she appears in the story is so random that it makes you suspect that the wrong film had somehow got onto the set. The fact that she managed to persuade her mother to shoot a B-grade video of her is one of the most odd and decadent things I have seen in recent mainstream cinema. She even goes on to pay out her debts. It is not provocative, not funny, and isn't even especially useful to the story; it is just included there.

That about covers The Paradise. Srikanth Odela's Dasara was better, sadly.

Nani shows his typical screen presence. Anirudh produces some excellent music and background score. Kayadu Lohar provides a certain level of cringe, which the film seems to keep discovering new ways to exaggerate. If you combine all of these elements, the result is a jumble of ingredients that fails to come together in any way that is at all satisfying.

The Paradise has the aesthetics of an intense, politically charged, mass-oriented drama, but its writing, antagonists, character motivations and staging aren't strong enough to support the intensity it constantly demands from the audience. You stay through it since you have paid for the ticket, not since the film has provided you with a reason to remain. "Ratham la padam konjam kammi"

P.S. I'm not going to mention the political correctness well, not at all the absurdities connected with it. That topic needs another post for bashing. For example, "Ivar naamam potavar romba nallavar".