The Eternal magic of Gunaa (Paartha Vizhi)

THE ETERNAL MAGIC OF GUNAA (PAARTHA VIZHI)

Gunaa is the story of a mentally disturbed man (Kamal Haasan) who imagines a fictitious woman called “Abirami” to be his future wife. When he sees Roshni (Roshni) in a temple he believes that she is the “Abirami” and abducts her, he then keeps her captive in a cave atop a mountain for a period of time while her family and the police are out on a search for her. The story as such ends in a tragedy with the death of both the lovers, thus immortalizing their relationship with the rightly glorified line “Manidhar unarndhu kola idhu manidha kadhal alla, adhayum thaandi punidhmaanadhu”. The plot of the movie primary revolves around this very concept, how the naïve and childlike Gunaa not just loves the woman “Abirami”, whom he sees in Roshni, but goes on to almost worship her as the embodiment of the universe’s feminine energy. The opening shot of the movie shows Gunaa standing in the iconic Nataraja pose of Lord Shiva; when the audience is shown Guna’s house the camera pans and stops at the framed picture of Arthanareeshwara (Half Lord Shiva and Half Goddess Shakthi) and throughout the movie we hear references of people telling Guna he is “more than a man” or “almost god” further concreting the idea in his fragile mind that he is Lord Shiva and that he has to marry the mythical “Abirami” on a full-moon night (Pournami). The first verse of Adi Shankara’s Soundarya Lahari according to me summarizes what the crux of the movie Gunaa is based on, “Shivah Shaktya yukto yadhi bhavathi shakthah prabhavithum” which means “When Lord Shiva is enjoined with Shakthi, he is empowered to create”.

The subject of this write-up isn’t the movie as such but a four minute sequence in the movie that has not just become a cult classic but has enshrined within it the best of cinema. Right from the jaw-dropping performance of Kamal Haasan, extremely interesting cinematography, the mind-blowing background score, the mesmerizing song by Isaignani Ilayaraja and the metaphorical visuals that convey a lot more than pages of dialogue possibly can. The Paartha Vizhi Paartha Padi song sequence. 

SETTING UP THE SCENE

Guna’s uncle (Janakaraj) convinces Guna to help him and a bunch of his hooligans steal from a temple, the naïve Guna too goes along with them. They dress in orange garbs resembling men of religion to blend into the environment of the temple.  On the way Guna asks his uncle “Abirami eppidi varuva” or “how will Abirami come” to which his uncle replies saying she will come with a lot of fanfare, drums, and a procession. This gets strongly registered in Guna’s subconscious and acts as a Chekhov’s gun moment (setup and payoff of certain facts or circumstances) for the upcoming sequence. Guna is in the temple and suddenly hears and sees some sort of a commotion and the magic begins there.

CATHARSIS

Guna chances upon a woman when she walks past him; she is walking along with a procession of people around her and many people running before her. He has a gut feeling that this woman could be the “Abirami”, his “Abirami”. There is a sudden hope that arises within him that he might actually be seeing the woman of his dreams in flesh and blood, this rising hope makes him lose himself completely and run towards her. He hits his head against the temple bells but nothing stops him, a blanket that was hung loosely flies away in the wind and allows bright sunlight to fall on him. He pushes a signage when he comes to a stop and it turns and points towards the direction of the mystery woman (Roshni); Guna believes this to be the universe talking to him and approaches the woman. He sees her face clearly between the crowd; *insert Ilayaraja’s magical song*, Guna experiences euphoria for the first time, the emotions that cross Kamal Haasan’s face range from unfiltered happiness, relief, excitement, love, affection and just pure unadulterated joy. The acting performance of Kamal Haasan in Gunaa got him the best actor award at the Filmfare Awards that year, the recognition was given for his performance through the length of the whole film but in my humble opinion, the few seconds of euphoria that he brings to life on the screen is proof enough to give him any award for acting.

Guna’s orgasmic happiness is cut short by a security guard who pushes him towards a line that has other men dressed in orange garbs waiting to collect prasad from the mystery woman who at the point completely embodies the emotion that is “Abirami”. Guna joins the line and sways with the others to get a good look at her, this image coupled with K.J.Yesudas’s divine voice singing “Paartha Vizhi Paarthapadi poothu irukka” elevates the sequence from mere human emotions to something truly divine. The audience after looking at the glowing face of Roshni and the absolute trance that it has put Guna in begin to think she may actually be the goddess reincarnated. This is the effect that good cinema has on its audience, irrespective of the time, number of years and existing situations that have changed from when the movie initially released. The line inches ahead, Guna reaches Abirami and stands a few feet away from her, to his good fortune the plate holding the prasad gets emptied so he is able to look at her from such close quarters for a few seconds longer. When she gives him the Prasad he collects it with both his hands and unable to rein himself in, he bows down and kisses her hands, from this point the sequence moves away from terrestrial consciousness.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1.     CAMERA ANGLES AND MOVEMENTS:

The way the cinematographer uses the lens to capture a scene and how the way of capturing a sequence adds to the overall storytelling and impact that the sequence has on its audience plays a crucial role in any movie’s cinematic experience. The lens of the camera is how the audience looks into the life and universe of the characters onscreen and the movie Gunaa uses this to its complete advantage. The cinematographer Venu in Gunaa has used the lens in a very interesting manner. When Guna runs to catch a look at Abirami the camera doesn’t stay steady and follow him, the camera too moves in a haphazard manner as if the audience is running along with Guna in a moment of sheer desperation. Through this method, the cinematographer involves the viewer in the actions of the protagonist. Similarly when Guna sways with the crowd while standing in the line, the camera sways along with him uplifting the impact that the already powerful sequence has on the audience.

2.     LIGHTING:

The movie as such does not have a very bright or colorful tint, including the appearance of the protagonist and various locations and situations; the lighting is on the darker side of the spectrum. This is due to the mood of the story as well as the personality and emotions of the protagonist. The “Paartha Vizhi Paartha padi” sequence is also subdued matching the other aspects of the movie, but when Guna catches a glimpse of Abirami the lighting suddenly becomes brighter hypothesizing the notion of her apparent divinity to the audience. When Guna runs toward her, a blanket hung loosely flies away in the wind and shines bright light first on the audience and then on Guna further cementing the idea that the entry of Abirami is something that is beyond human cognizance and is the source of light that will remove the “darkness” in Guna’s life.

METAPHORICAL VISUALS

When Guna is pushed away from Abirami after he kisses her hand, the scene cuts to an imaginative sequence where Guna portrays himself as Lord Shiva dancing the Aanandha Thaandavam in Mount Kailash. We also see Abirami there imagined as the Goddess Shakthi herself and at one point Guna and Abirami through the course of the dance end in an enveloping embrace. The frame cuts at this image and from where they were standing, a Shiva Lingam rises from the clouds and the female protagonist is shown to be worshipping it.  Metaphors in movies are usually subtle in nature and allow for some amount of interpretation from the audience, Gunaa on the other hand keeps the metaphor subtle for a good amount of the first half and at a very crucial moment breaks it open and spells it out in such detail that the audience don’t have the necessity to read between the lines.

CONCLUSION

Gunaa is a movie that holds a special place in the history of Tamil Cinema because the movie deals with complicated issues like the Stockholm syndrome which Roshni could actually be suffering from; when in the end she falls in love with the same Guna whom she hated for abducting her. The movie is also commendable for taking on a very spiritual and philosophical perspective by bringing in the concept of combining nature’s Masculine and Feminine energies which is the underlying notion of the comparison to Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakthi. Further, the director and the story writer ensure that the love that Guna fosters for Roshni whom he thinks is actually the "Abirami", is not merely terrestrial, they directly compare it with the relationship that the divine couple share thus breathing life into the ever resounding line “Manidhar unarndhu kola idhu manidha kadhal alla, adhayum thaandi punidhmaanadhu”.

By combining the superb acting performances of Kamal Haasan and Roshni along with the technical expertise of the cinematographer, script writer, editor and the director, the team has given us a movie that gives us goosebumps to this day almost 30 years after its release.