Thithi, Sairat, Chauthi Koot: Films Other Than Visarnai That Could Have Entered The Oscars 2017 Race

Visarnai, India’s official entry to 89th Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film Category, is a film that has been subjected to polarised views ever since its first screening. One can’t deny the existence of good cinema and bad cinema in a country like ours – but the degree to which it is described is ofcourse subjective. Visarnai or popularly known as The Investigation is a film that somehow, falls in between the gray area existing between good and bad cinema, according to a lot of viewers.

Vetri Maaran brought to reel a true incident from the real life of M Chandrakumar, an auto driver and a survivor of the gritty incidents depicted in the film. The survivor penned down these events in a book titled ‘Lock Up’ which received national fame even before a film was planned on it. It’s a gruesome account of police brutality over four helpless immigrant labourers taken off from the streets of Chennai. It takes into account the haplessness of the poor and the pride of the authoritative and churns out a hard-hitting narrative - that might get a little difficult to survive if you’re a faint-hearted person. From painful kicks in the groins to punches in the teeth, the film is a series of scary and unpleasant scenes – with blood spilling all over and screams of help overpowering one’s conscious every now and then.

Not denying that it’ll leave you with an aimed unpalatable experience, but how long will we use squalor to make it big with the western audience? It might be real and intrepid but is it really worth an Oscar run? We aren’t really sure.

This particular year has seen a host of films which had the potential to make the cut. Raam Reddy’s Thithi was a perfect satire based on how different generations of people react to the death of the oldest man in their clan – Century Gowda. The perfect balance of humour and pathos, layered with human emotions and needs, made this film more than what meets the eye during its running time. The fact that none of the characters in the film were actors per say made the film as intriguing off-screen as it did on-screen.

Another great contender is Marathi cinema’s precious possession – Sairat. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat has got back regional cinema its dying significance and fading grace. Carving its way to one of the biggest sleeper hits this year, it represents a rather unsettling upshot of falling in love in India. An upper-caste girl falls in love with a lower-caste boy and what follows next is a series of cruel scenes to bring in light the stark reality of our country. It hits the stereotype in its face and makes a strong statement about the perils of inter-caste love existing in various parts of our country.

Punjabi film Chauthi Koot or The Fourth Wall’ is another film which could have shined at this year’s Oscars. Much of the power of this film lies in the fact that nothing happens during most of its running time – it’s not spelled out, it’s not spoken about but, you still feel the chills. As the characters’ life progresses, so do your emotions. Director Gurvinder Singh transports you to rural Punjab during an era post-1980s – wherein there’s atmosphere of doom post operation Blue star – with a profound impact. There’s a story within a story presented with layers of emotions and symbolisms. The film in a way personifies the adage – less is more.