23 movie leads
Mallesham and 8 AM Metro director Raj R takes three well known cases which shook the 1990’s of Andhra Pradesh and interconnects them to raise some pertinent questions on the functioning of our judicial system. The director explores the issues related to caste and class in an authentic manner, the star cast led by mostly newcomers do wobble on some occasions and the character of Jhansi as a psychologist feels underdeveloped. However what powers the movie is the relevancy of the social themes it addresses
Star cast: Teja, Tanmai, Pavan Ramesh, Jhansi and others
Genre: Crime/drama
Director and writer: Raj R
Dialogues: Indus Martin
Producer: Venkat Siddareddy
Production Company: Spirit Media
Presenter: Rana Dagubbati
Music: Mark K Robin
Cinematographer: Sunny Kurapathi
Running time: 2 hours and 25 minutes
The core of Raj R’s 23 (Iravai Moodu) is the statement from a famous novel Animal Farm written by the well-known Goerge Orwell. The statement goes like this, ‘All are equal but some more equal than others,’ the director uses this as a foundation tone making the viewers look at the concept of crime and the preparators through different perspectives related to social hierarchy.
The movie’s premise is majorly inspired from three shocking incidents which shook the state of Andhra Pradesh back in the 1990’s. The first one being the brutal caste-based violence against the Dalits, the second being 23 passengers losing their lives due to two young lower caste men and lastly a car bomb explosion in 1997 where 26 were killed and many injured. Among the three the 1993 Chilakaluripet is the main focus, Raj R narrates this tale through an emotional love story featuring Sagar (Teja) and Susheela (Tanmai). The movie spans across many years and numerous tribulations which the couple go through, in case of Sagar it’s the guilt of being responsible for killing 23 people along with his friend, for Susheela on the other hand she has to face the social stigma of becoming a mother before marriage. This is the story in a nutshell.
23 movie song
A strong aspect of 23 is how Raj R has interconnected the three cases. On the surface there is no direct link given that all the three are of different nature, however what binds them is the societal aspects. In the first case the upper caste men find a way through the high court after being sentenced to life imprisonment. They are eventually released thanks to the money and social backing. The same thing applies to the third case as well; a mastermind of the crime walks away scoot free due to his political backing and a supposed image of good conduct. However, in the case of the two lower caste men it’s a long and hard ordeal. In fact, the two have a hard time finding a benevolent lawyer in the first place due to a decision from lawyer’s bar association. By linking the three Raj R makes some scathing comments on how people with power can get away with anything even though their crimes are intentional in nature.
Mention must also be made of the sensitive manner in which Raj R and dialogue writer Indus Martin have treated the entire scenario. Yes, they portray Sagar and his friend through an empathetic gaze but at the same time their is no hesitation in making them introspect about the wrongs specifically in the case of Sagar. The viewers see Sagar going through a lot of emotional turmoil almost becoming mad in Shakespearean style. A palpable anger among the victims of the dead families has come out well like the scene where a man expresses his anguish on losing both his leg and livelihood. Raj R at no point absolves the two friends just because they didn’t intentionally set the bus on fire. The movie provides no easy answers to this complex scenario.
An important subplot in the movie is the need for reforming prisoners before they are released from prison. There’s a key incident in the middle of the second half where a prisoner protests on not wanting to go back to the real word as he isn’t ready yet. The person ends up doing another heinous crime. This makes the jailer feel guilty on how he should have listened to the prisoner. Another subplot worth mentioning here is the use of caste system to design certain chores to prison inmates, this includes cleaning the toilets something which is generally associated with lower caste people.
The love story in 23 takes a while to get going specifically in case of Teja’s Sagar. Both the accent and the scenes demanding emotional gravity needed a stronger actor however the actor’s sincerity shines through, and he gets better as the movie progresses. Tanmai fares much better delivering a moving act as a young woman facing the brunt of society’s judgmental tone. There is a quiet strength to the role which she pulls of well. Pavan Das as the cynical friend is all right too.
Thagubothu Ramesh in a serious role lends a lot of warmth to his part successfully breaking away from his usual drunken parts.
Jhansi makes an entry well into the second half. She brings in the required worldly wisdom particularly in the portions where she converses with the inmates, however her entire track needed better integration and suffers somewhat on the account of a sketchy screenplay.
The cinematography of Sunny Kurupathi along with Laxman Aeley’s production design is successful in taking back the viewers to those turbulent times. Mark Robins songs are also soulful giving depth to the intense proceedings like the song Egaraale.
Final word: Raj R’s 23 needs to be watched for relevancy of the story. Its a movie that will make you ponder on issues that still affect our society.
