A Comedy-Thriller With Writing So Terrific That It Is Easy To Overlook Its Flaws

Director: Damodara
Cast: Anand Devarakonda, Saanve Megghana, Geeth Saini, Suneel
Language: Telugu

It's hard to ignore the meta baggage that Anand Devarakonda the actor comes with. He's the product of nepotism, while his elder brother is a star who broke those very shackles. But his unbratty air helps the roles he's been picking. Whether it was Raju in Dorasaani or Raghava in Middle Class Melodies, he seems to be picking roles where the world in his cinema views him as undeserving or untalented but by the end of each film even if he doesn't win the audience over completely, he at least gains their sympathy. 

Pushpaka Vimanam is another fun and fine addition to that list.

The plot of Pushpaka Vimanam is simple. Anand Devarakonda plays Sundar, a government school math teacher whose wife, Meenakshi (Geeth Saini), elopes immediately after their wedding. He's too ashamed to tell people about it. So, he hides this fact from his colleagues and other residents of his apartment complex until his plan backfires and police become involved.

The film begins on a terrific note at once behaving like a mean friend laughing at Sundar's plight and before the joke goes too far it sympathizes with him. There's a hilarious sequence when Sundar's colleagues come home for lunch and he just about stumbles his way into keeping his secret afloat with the help of an actor Rekha (Saanvee) and his friend (Kireeti Damaraju). 

So far this idea of laughing at a person's plight and helplessness is Telugu cinema's forte. The real maturity of the film lies in the way it handles the mystery and Meenakshi (including her reasons to go "missing"). 

This is where writer-director Damodara's success lies because most Telugu thrillers struggle in the third act where the motives of the criminal are revealed. Usually, the audience are two steps ahead of the protagonist or the reveal feels random and not thrilling enough. But the writing in Pushpaka Vimanam had me glued till the end and I was as desperate as Sundar to find the truth.

Damodara also succeeds in planting little clues and set ups. For example in the scene where Rangam (Suneel), a half-corrupt half-quirky police officer, comes to headmaster Venugopal Rao's (Naresh) house to search, the punchlines are doubly impactful because of these. It shows that, as a writer, he knows the confines of his universe and how to be creative within them.

It looks like Sundar and Rekha are done for. There's evidence literally served on a plate. And then bam. There's an "escape" using sex. In so many films this could have been a cheap joke played to the gallery but here it's layered. Who is doing it? Who is getting fooled? Who is watching as someone else is getting fooled for a change? And what does a joke about sex mean in the context of someone whose wife eloped immediately after wedding?

You can't help but laugh at this joke and applaud at how much hard work and cleverness has gone into its writing. 

Mark Robin who composed the background score and Hestin Jose Joseph who handled cinematography really come into their own once the thriller elements begin. Whether it's juxtaposing Meenakshi's reactions to Sundar's words with the camera but not overplaying the dramatic score or catching Sundar when he's alone like a sneaky neighbour hiding behind a door and letting an electric guitar scream so that the audience are soaked in Sundar's frustration, both the technicians complement these sequences perfectly.

Damodara struggles with songs and how to choreograph them and use them to the film's advantage. He tries to use background dancers to make it all mean something more than what's already been understood. There is a superb Bharatnatyam stretch choreographed to 'Swami Ra Ra' where Sanvee Meghna shines but other than being a set up to a small joke the song feels unnecessary during the film's most tense sequences.

All of the film's well crafted technical elements needed to be supported by the acting of its leads. Sanvee Meghana takes a role that could have been a caricature but she has fun with it and gets probably the film's biggest whistle worthy scene. Geeth Saini takes a role that's so easy to judge and leaves the audience conflicted about having judged her earlier.

It's Suneel whose performance left me most confused. He's an actor who seems to desperately want to not be labelled a comedian. But having tried and burnt his hands at the leading man game he's now doing these villainous or quasi-villainous roles but he plays them way too over the top and the effort shows. Whereas take the sequence where a constable passes a comment saying "Sundar looks innocent" and watch Suneel reply with his trademark sarcasm and it's obvious those comedy muscles are still there. They seem underfed by an actor who is reluctant to flex them again. There is so much more humour to come from there but a lot of the unintended comedy comes from his idea of villainy. 

Finally, coming to Anand Devarakonda's Sundar. Here's again a protagonist who is reserved, underachieving, and is constantly suffering from self-doubt. The superbly written sequences lift his performance but he's caught out when something flashy or dramatic is asked of him. I laughed a little at the sequence where he's asked to be unhinged alone in his room and you can see that he has the apprehension of someone who's worried that a broken glass piece from the photo frames might fly his way or that the book shelf he pushes might fall on him. His performance still doesn't feel a hundred percent committed in such sequences. 

I'm more impressed with Anand Devarakonda, the actor, who put his weight behind such a script. Because there are plenty of filmmakers who could pull off the "sweet man's wife elopes" comedy or the "is this sweet husband really as sweet as he appears" thriller. But to put his money (Govardhan Devarakonda is the actor's father and one of the producers of this film) and weight behind Damodara's script is commendable. You may dislike his performances or like them but all of his attempts in Telugu cinema have been brave, fresh, and unconventional.

I think the film is called Pushpaka Vimanam because it wants to tell us that marriage is all about acceptance and making space for another person in our lives. But in the broader context if Anand Devarakonda keeps acting and being present in films as fine as Pushpaka Vimanam there is more than enough space for him to cast his own shadow and be measured on his own terms.