In Gantumoote, debutante director Roopa Rao beautifully blends a coming of age tale with an in-depth character study of her protaganist - Meera, who is also our narrator. The major portions of the movie which is set in the early 1990s revolves around an intense teen romance of Meera with her classmate Madhu. It is a romance that lingers on to create ripples through her life well into her adulthood. This teen love story is showcased with a rare sensitivity and without any frills that cry out for attention or sundry commercial compromises.
Director Roopa Rao builds the narrative of this school time romance with a good deal of poise and grace. The budding interests, and its evolution into a warm romance is captured with great care and authenticity punctuated through poetic voice-overs, several stolen glances, those sheepish looks, multiple magical moments when two sets of eyes converge to exchange private notes within a crowded classroom and the loving gazes that sets both the hearts aflutter.
The fact that she could convey the intensity of the emotional tumult within Meera as she goes through the journey of life without translating the same into melodramatic scenes is a testimony to the maturity of Roopa Rao and her mastery over the medium.
The cinematography by Sahadev Kelavadi is unobtrusive as it captures the precious moments without compromising on their innocent charm. Background score and songs by Aparajith Sris has the rythm of a summer day's gentle breeze that caresses the back of our neck to pleasently surprise us.
Roopa and her team deserve kudos for their apt casting choices for the lead pair as well as the entire supporting cast. Teju Belawadi dives into the heart of the character of Meera and aces the entire palette of emotions with those big expressive eyes. Nishchith Korodi provides a perfect foil as he rings in the right kind of boyish charm as well as the vulnerabilities of Madhu.
Gantumoote feels like a personal conversation that we have with our closest of friends. During the course of the movie, we feel similarly connected to Meera as she confides in us and bares her soul. Both the debutantes - the director, Roopa Rao and the lead actor Teju Belawadi - have heralded themselves as talents to look out for the future.
Overall, Gantumoote is a delicately crafted, deeply personal, poetic movie that surprises you often with its unique perspective and is sure to stay on with the viewers long after they have watched it.
A GEM ! A MUST WATCH !!
RATING - 4/5
PS - Gantumoote is streaming on Amazon Prime Video
ಸೆಂಥಿಲ್ ನಿಮ್ಮ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಣೆ ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ. ಗಂಟು ಮೂಟೆ ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ನೋಡಲು ಉತ್ಸುಕನಾಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ.
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