I saw Dia (2020) a while back. If anyone had even so much as looked at me then, I would have killed them, or perhaps myself. I had it on my watchlist for a while and I started it with the expectations of a typical south Indian movie. If you know me, you know me I mean this as the greatest form of respect. But here's the thing, may it be mainstream it Art, (these distinctions are really blurry in Malayalam, Kannada industry slowly spreading to the neighboring ones) I can predict the hell out of it! I know where a movie is going and Dia panned out quite the same for a while. and then it slapped me so hard my ego ran away to hide in the deepest pits.
Dia is Organic- something that warms you u and yet leaves you with moisture in your eyes. The actors were perfect, their smiles and eyes conveyed a lot more than words. Especially Prithvee- he was charming, cute, and pulled off the tragedy better than... well, Oedipus. (no shade)
And something that really surprised me was the absence of songs. A love story without songs in India is unheard of, Songs in movies is a tricky business that some movies can effortlessly pull off, while some stand out to be gross and unbearable. Nevertheless, love stories have been notorious for using songs in key moments to express love, pad runtime, or elicit responses from the audience in sad moments. My mind is so used to this I expected songs to pop out of nowhere -(that is when I usually grab water), but surprisingly I was parched throughout. And despite this it never felt different, the flow of the movie is impeccable!
*Spoiler Alert!
This movie is unlike those who slap a death at the end, just cause. This movie grows towards it and you realize that after it has ended.
*
Now, that I am done fangirling over it. Time to get down to important things.
Suicide. to say that the topic is poorly handled would be an understatement, cause it hasn't been handled at all. The movie doesn't delve into it whatsoever. It presents an 'all is good as there is this guy who is happy' philosophy. And I quite like Adi- he's understanding, clever and empathetic. But these things are not enough. Suicide is an important topic that cannot be handled so lightly. However, this explains the fate of the characters at the end. We know that these qualities weren't enough cause Adi eventually ends up on those tracks. It is a tragedy- performed to perfection.
The characters have their flaws- which only justify the ending.
Therapy, though growing popular, is still unheard of in many contexts with certain groups of people. Dia didn't even consider it.
Dia is a perfect example of a warm tragedy. it is unexpected, it is predictable at times, but not inorganic. The Movie had been working towards that particular end, and you realize this only after it ends. You get this feeling as you are watching that there is more. I knew in my gut that there was more, I was expecting something more and as it neared the end, I felt uneasy, sort of uncomfortable thinking about why the 'more' hasn't come yet. And then it does.
