Saturday, April 8, 2017

Scene Breakdown/Analysis : Bharatham (Mohanlal)

Disclaimer : This post is purely my analysis on the craft that I am most passionate about . I love breaking down scenes to understand what made the performance so impactful. This is my understanding :)

I guess the fact that I am a student of how this man executes his craft is pretty evident through some of my my blog posts :P. Today I would like to do my analysis and breakdown of one of the famous scenes of Mohanlal from the movie Bharatham which is one of his most landmark performances. Though this movie won him a national award, I feel the movie and his performance here are still underrated. Here is the scene below :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oPBrobsN3E

***Spoilers ahead***

A little backstory for those who don`t know this film.
Gopi(Mohanlal)'s brother, Raman (Nedumudi Venu) whom he adores and practically worships is a well renowned singer who struggles with alcoholism and finally when the alcohol takes over him completely, it affects his singing and reputation and subsequent career. Gopi meanwhile through a turn of events ends up singing in his place and is heralded as the next big thing. This creates a lot of friction between the brothers owing to Raman`s ego taking over. After Raman realizes his mistake, he blesses Gopi during a Thyagaraja function where Gopi had replaced him and decides to mend his ways. After this function,Raman has been missing for many days with the marriage of their younger sister just a day away. Gopi secretly finds out about an unidentified dead body in another town bearing resemblance to his brother and comes to the local police station which found the body to find out secretly if it is truly his brother without informing the family. This scene is where Gopi comes to the police station  with his friend who is a high ranking Govt Officer to find out regarding the same(Praying its not his brother). The Police had cremated the body as no one claimed it, but the photos and belongings are available to check which confirms Gopi`s worst fear as  it is Raman.


0:34 Creating a thread for the scene : Gopi finds out body has been cremated -  Mohanlal uses his eyes effectively to project the confusion. Without saying a word it is very clear what he is thinking. He purely depends on his eyes to create and project what he is thinking while the body has almost frozen and become numb (This will be the character`s thread for the remainder of the scene - Numb body complemented by expressive use of only the eyes). This contrast of a numb body and expressive eyes keep the focus on the gravity of the situation yet convey the character`s thoughts. Also it works brilliantly well with the size of the shots planned for the scene.

0:48 Effective use of the co actor. -Mohanlal follows the inspector with his eyes even though he`s not in the shot and hence makes the scene more dynamic. It could have easily worked without looking at the co actor but that small act added a huge amount of realism. It also brings about a shade of extreme vulnerability and confusion like that of a child which makes the audience more empathetic to the character. Eyes are going berserk by the way expressing his inner turmoil. Character thread maintained . Subtle bro ! Subtle :D

1:00 to 1:06 Slowing down of the actions Govt officer(Played by the late great Murali) reminds him to control himself if God forbid it is his brother. Mohanlal slows down his actions by at least 10 times here . Keeping in mind the thread of the character, each move made seems to be an effort. If you watch his physicality in this bit it looks as if he is carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders, not metaphorically but almost literally ! His movements are slow, his breathing labored . Watch the last second where you can see his fingers shiver too. The entire body is "in the moment" A pointer by the way , this entire video has not one word of dialogue uttered by him.

1:30 to 1:46 Looking at the photos. The tension in these 15 seconds is unbearable as Gopi's confusion and heightened emotions reach their peak here. The body has almost caved in completely and the fingers seem to not be able to hold the weight of the photos. The face and the eyes project the fact that he can`t comprehend what is happening. This is what we call "in the moment acting". The actor is "there", has completely become the character and is living the moment in the character`s life as the character. The biggest plus point here for mohanlal is that he slowed everything down which brings maximum focus on every small move made and every move made was potent. As an actor he is still keeping the audience guessing because he hasn't broken down yet, He hasn't yet given in to the emotion. He is still keeping it at the "confused" phase and teasing the audience and hence increasing the tension and discomfort. This is where mohanlal is so good. He won`t do the predictable thing, especially when you want it. He is still maintaining the thread of the character from the beginning of the scene

1;50 to 2:26 And finally he gives you what you want. He lets it out. But only in the last few seconds.He lets go. By maintaining the numb body and slow actions he has created the environment for the dramatic change at the end when he breaks the thread of the Character for the scene and lets his body finally behave, his movements are not slow anymore, his body is not numb anymore. The last few seconds was such a dramatic change that the impact was stronger. Watch for the moment when he picks up the clothes (still slow and numb body) and then takes a deep breath before breaking that thread of the character in this scene to achieve the dramatic impact.

On a side note - Brilliant support by Murali(another gem of an actor) and Urvashi(unfairly known only for her comic timing,she can easily blend into drama and this movie shows that range especially this dramatic moment) and Subair as the cop.







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