Director: Gautham Ramachandran
Cast: Sai Pallavi, Kaali Venkat, RS Shivaji, Livingston, ‘Kavithaalaya’ Krishnan
In the opening sequences of Gargi, we see the life of a lower middle class family turned upside down overnight. Sai Pallavi plays the role of Gargi, a charismatic school teacher in her twenties. She has a younger sister, a doting mother and a father (named Brahmanandam, played by RS Shivaji) who works as a security guard. Brahmanandam is accused of the rape of a minor girl and is arrested by the cops. Gargi, who herself once faced sexual abuse as a child and was rescued from her predicament by her father, refuses to believe he is guilty and gears up for a battle in court.
You could classify Gargi as a courtroom drama, but it is so much more than that. The director invests a lot of time in world building. He ensures we get well acquainted with Gargi and her circle of family and friends so that we feel their pain too when disaster hits. This in no way slows the pace of the narrative though. The screenplay is quite slick and that is down to sharp dialogues and a list of memorable characters.
Indrans, the lawyer played by Kaali Venkat is foremost in this list, along with the character of the transgender judge played by a fantastic Sudha. Indrans is a struggling lawyer himself and has been doing other menial side jobs to sustain his livelihood. But he is gritty and sharp, a perfect foil for the tenacious Gargi. The film quickly transforms into a memorable courtroom thriller and it is the underdog Indrans vs the powerful team of public prosecutors. There were whistles and claps on more than one occasion as Indrans, faced by ridicule from his senior counterparts, began stamping his own authority into proceedings.
If you observe closely, Gargi is quite different from other courtroom dramas. The case is not all black and white. Each revelation unearthed by Indrans and Gargi serves as a real tease for the audience. The film keeps us guessing and there are red herrings placed at perfect junctures to keep the suspense alive. Is Brahmanandam guilty or not? Was there another character at the crime scene who conveniently went unnoticed? There seem to be different versions of the fateful day being presented by different characters and we are quite at a loss to decide who’s to believe (shades of the Rashomon effect). The denouement is also the first of its kind in this genre, I would think, and I didn’t see it coming at all to be honest.
Sai Pallavi is outstanding in her role. She presents herself with amazing poise and class and her demeanor is perfect throughout. For Kaali Venkat, this could be a coming-of-age film. He has been around for some time now, but has mostly been playing support or sidekick roles. In this film though, his character takes center stage, and he pulls it off with supreme confidence and authority. Other supporting actors, such as the veterans RS Shivaji, Kavithaalaya Krishnan and Livingston, also leave a mark with their efforts. Govind Vasantha’s score is brilliant as always and elevates the mood of the film appropriately.
For some reason, Gargi wasn’t marketed extensively pre-release. But it is also a classic example of a film that grows in stature each day thanks to positive word-of-mouth. I’m already hearing that many multiplexes are moving Gargi to bigger screens. This is heartwarming and is further evidence to the fact that Tamil audiences do support good cinema passionately.
Overall rating: 3.5/5
