‘Dear Comrade’…At last, a Telugu movie that acknowledges the existence of its heroine, and for a change, tells her story.
I can’t remember the last time a woman’s role mattered in a Telugu movie, especially in a mainstream masala movie, ones that have all the makings of an entertainer — romance, action, drama, music, dance, and in a majority of them, the heroine is only responsible for the ‘romance’ part. She is there to look pretty, and dance to the songs, and if she has anything more to do (with the plot), well, that just calls for a celebration.
Except for the occasional romantic comedies, female leads in Telugu cinema occupy an insignificant part sadly. There have been a few movies with strong female leads, or are female-centric like Arundhati, Size Zero, U-Turn, but they are far too few. So imagine my surprise, when I walk into Dear Comrade, starring the extremely popular star Vijay Deverakonda, that actually tells the story of the woman he falls in love with.
Written and directed by Bharat Kamman, Dear Comrade is set in Kakinada (then eventually shifting to Hyderabad), and tells the story of Bobby (played by the talented Vijay Deverakonda), a hot-headed student union leader, and Lily (an effective Rashmika Mandana), a state-level cricket player; this is thankfully not just a description that is just thrown around to make the female lead seem interesting.
Bobby is deeply inspired by his grandfather (the veteran Charuhasan) and his Marxist ideology and works hard to solve the problems the students bring forth, but his uncontrollable temper repeatedly leads to violence. There are parts that seem to worship this, with slow-motion action sequences, especially over the opening credits scene over the Comrade Anthem song, but the people around him, don’t seem to think the same. His friends are fed up of this rage, that leads to unsolicited fights, and are always trying to keep him calm to talk things out, and Lily’s first reaction to seeing him angry is fear and horror. So far, he had been the shy neighbour, who had a crush on her cousin sister (a charming Shruti Ramachandran), who spouts poetry and plays the guitar, but despite his anger management issues, Bobby is a great character, a little underdeveloped, compared to Lily, but belongs to a rare breed of men that we hardly encounter in Telugu cinema.
In a short touching moment, when Lily confesses to losing focus on the game because of Bobby, he tells her, ‘The day you love me more than cricket, that day I will distance you from myself’, and later when she quits (due to an incident that defines the second half), he complains ‘Now I am like losers, talking about love and marriage’, realizing that he can’t watch her play anymore. It’s a very short dialogue, but speaks volumes, and shows us the pride Bobby feels for Lily’s dreams, the respect he has for her, and how badly he wants to be a part of it. This aspect reminded me of Abhay Deol’s character Kabir, in Zindagi Nahi Milegi Dobara, when he freaks out upon hearing that Natasha (Kalki Koechlin) wants to quit her job to focus on their relationship and marriage. A huge reason, both men love these women, is that they are defined by their career, and how hard they work to achieve success in their respective fields.
Kamman also acknowledges them as individuals first, then a couple. During the song Kadalalle, there is a shot of both of them conversing on the phone, while she is one practicing cricket as he aimlessly walks around. Even when Bobby confesses his love for Lily (in a very well directed scene), she explains why it wouldn’t work in a rational and calm way, and how their paths are different.
The second half of the movie does drag, as the plot drifts off to Ladhak for a while, and there is something to do with sound therapy, instead of which, I would have loved to see interactions between Bobby and his grandfather, to understand why exactly he follows in his grandfathers footsteps, and his grandfather’s view on his violent streak.
But I have to say, I am loving how Vijay Deverkonda is shaking things up in the Telugu film industry, with such a variety of stories. Towards the interval, when Bobby is beaten up by the local politician's goon, I was half excepting the second half to be about him fighting them back, seeking his revenge.
Along with different stories being told, how they are being told is also changing. The music by Justin Prabhakaran was fresh, and the cinematography Sujith Sarang, captured Kakinada beautifully.
The makers and the actor, seem to be aware of the large fan base they are going to cater to, and skillfully touch upon issues of depression, therapy, sexual harassment, and societal pressures. When Bobby jumps to help, Lily doesn’t appreciate it, as she declares that, ‘It is still the men that are making decisions for me.’ and one of my favourite dialogues, ‘You hit me when she just went out with me, so why don’t you show the same anger on him.’ which Bobby shouts at Lily’s father when he refuses to stand by Lily, fearing what people will say. This one line sums up our inability to fight for justice or stand by the one who seeks it, just because we are scared of what people will think.
