Movie: Oohalu Gusagusalade
Director: Srinivas Avasarala
Cast: Naga Shaurya, Raashi Khanna, Srinivas Avasarala, Rao Ramesh
Rating: ***1/2
“Oohalu Gusagusalade” as a film wants you to identify with its characters. It tempts you to predict their several traits from sequence to sequence. The smaller pleasures are its actual interests. The lead protagonists are on a holiday near a beach-side apartment in their relatives house. The male counterpart is flirtatious and the female, a near egoist who stumbles in accepting things to herself and her outside world. The boss is the one to play spoilsport.
The aroma in totality is what attracts you consistently. There’s no fussiness in the atmosphere. The boy gives his girl a hundred reasons to express his liking and that turns into a song. The girl’s offended and he pens poetic lines in the spur of the moment to say sorry. The male jumps in the mid-air and the girl teases him. There are some aspects left unsaid and unexplained, there are a few inspirations around but the director doesn’t give you a chance to question much.
The exterior is as simple as you saw in a small hamlet in Uyyala Jampala. The template of the film is such that it wants you to enjoy the temptation of proceeding to the next scene. It conveniently permits you to guess what is to happen next and fills the narrative with mild surprises. The glimpses generally take an urban turn. The two introduce themselves as dreamers and practical people respectively. Prabha prefers to feel her feet on the ground and Venky wants to spread his wings in the sky knowing no limits at all. These are introductions that could have fallen more into place if it wasn’t a primary toying with cliches drama. But, its the third character, very literally,that of Uday who brings the much needed humor into the story. Is he named Uday for the light he instills into the proceedings ? Quite true and coincidental to believe, but yes.
He is an extremely calculative person. He doesn’t know to talk to girls. Can you just rewind to Venky’s character ? It’s just the opposite. These are hints that you are given to proceed further. You want to peep more into Prabhavati. You want to know why was she a voracious traveller, a book-worm, a Rafi fan and had a fascination for Ravi Varma’s paintings. Was she trying to mask her sadness with these cultivated interests ? That’s left for you to answer which in a way is bold. Similarly, why do the names of Uday and Prabhavati mean the same ? There’s no spoon-feeding around. After this saccharine setting in a narrative, Srinivas Avasarala perfectly understands the need to give it a poetic touch. There’s a four year transition where you see the journey of the other two characters and lose sight of her. The lightheartedness in the air ensures free-flowing laughter. It’s fresh and most importantly doesn’t fiddle with the simplistic ideals of the storyteller.
The focus on tiny details in spite of the story-progress help it attain an accomplished coating. There’s so much life in the pigeons, the beautiful fish in the aquarium, the morning walk on a beach, the candle-light dinner and the roses you see. Kalyani Koduri uses silence with utmost craft in his score. Oohalu Gusagusalade is that very breath of fresh air on a misty morning. You know the time when it comes, but still fall for it. Srinivas Avasarala uses the opportunity to make a matured debut as a storyteller and so are the competent actors, Naga Shourya and Raashi Khanna, who are so much the love-struck couple next door you want to see more of.
Review by Srivathsan N. First published in Cinegoer.net
