Mature handling of tough situations

Sheetal

It’s so hard to review a good film. From negative emotions, provocative words to controversial topics, we consume it often and unknowingly, thus conditioned to respond in the same manner. Avinash Arun’s ‘Three of Us’ inspires you to take a pause, be forgetful of what’s wrong and focus on the good intentions of people, in the film or otherwise.

The plot revolves around Shefali Shah, who plays Shailaja, a married, working woman affected with early signs of dementia. The actress is more expressive in her silences than the others are with their dialogues. And yet, it’s hard to miss the creative touch of dialogue writer Varun Grover. As the film progresses, it pans out as an ode, almost a poem, to the memory of love, separation and a childhood trauma that changed Shailaja. While Shefali steals the limelight, actors Swanand Kirkire and Jaideep Ahlawat, paired opposite her as her husband and school-time lover, respectively, are as excellent in taking the slow-paced plot to the climax with their stellar performances. Their acting talent is well matched and both are equally exquisite in portraying their characters.

Suffering from dementia, Shailaja visits her childhood town, Vengurla, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Her husband, Dipankar (Swanand), is understanding about Shailaja’s desire to reconnect with her past and where it is coming from. Pradip Kamat (Jaideep), a banker in Vengurla, loved Shailaja in school. When she suddenly comes back in his life, even though for a limited period, he does not know what to make of this situation.

It’s hard to pull a ‘pati, patni aur woh’ angle without showing emotional conflict, but director Avinash Arun has subtly dealt with the story in a mature manner. Husband Dipankar has the guts to leave the old love-birds (Shailaja and Pradip) alone to talk while Pradip, who believes communication to be the bedrock of a marriage, shares all his feelings, poems and thoughts with his wife Sarika (Kadambari Kadam).

Such movies reassure your faith in cinema. It is impressive to see what a simple story with no over-dramatisation and subtle acting can achieve.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete urban jungle, the scenery too plays a role in the movie. The beautiful cinematography makes you long for that ‘pause’ and travel to the unexplored towns of India like Vengurla. The background music is carefully chosen and fits the narrative frame by frame.

There’s a scene where Shailaja’s dementia kicks in during a performance of Bharatnatyam, which ignites childhood memories. The performance explains the two strands of memory and forgetfulness that she is sailing on. Pradip’s poetry, which often feels incomplete, also reflects his unprofessed love for Shailaja.

The deeply-moving film is about mature relationships and how one works around them. As Pradip describes in one of his poems, ‘Kal toh tabhi aayega, jab aaj khela jaayega’.

It’s not always that you wish a slow-paced film to last a little longer. But the movie leaves you with a lingering thought about whether to leave the ‘what ifs’ of life as it is, or be done with them for good.

In ‘Three of Us’ resonates a story that many people would identify with. And that is why the film is absolutely worth watching.