The star cast of Subham
Cinema Bandi director Praveen Kandregula presents a far fetched yet an interesting tale by using the stale nature of TV serials as a background to explore the concept of the hugely popular Alpha male image. The movie successfully dwells into what married women really want by critiquing a certain idea of masculinity. In a way the movie feels like a jibe on director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s idea of a hyper aggressive male
Starcast: Harshith Reddy, Srinivas Gavireddy, Charan Peri, Shriya Kontham, Shravani Lakshmi, Shalini Kondepudi and others special appearance (Samantha Ruth Prabhu)
Director: Praveen Kandregula
Writer: Vasanth Mariganti
Producer: Samantha
Production house: Tralala Moving Pictures
Music: Vivek Sagar and Shor Police
Cinematography: Mridul Sujit Sen
Running time: 2 hours and 5 minutes
TV Serials also called daily soaps form an integral part of many middle class households. Numerous housewives particularly of a certain strata are addicted to them, its their only form of entertainment. They get very emotionally attached to the various trials and tribulations of the primary female characters in the serials. Their attachment is used by the television directors to stretch the episodes endlessly with more melodrama filled with portions of abuse. Praveen Kandregula along with writer Vasanth Mariganti use this addiction of TV serials in the format of a horror comedy. There is a constant satarization of both melodrama and a lack of logic often found in daily soaps, underneath the laughs though the movie also presents a strong social critique leaving the viewers with an important message on how a modern male should not be.
Without giving much away Subham focuses on a group of three friends led by Srinu (Harshith Reddy). Compared to his other two friends specifically the character played by Srinivas Gavireddy Srinu comes across as a soft guy with dreams of being a perfect husband. However the other two encourage him to be an Alpha man. In simple terms they want him to come across as a rough guy through his voice and overall demeanor. Things take a huge turn for Srinu when his wife Srivalli (Shriya Konatham) completely ignores him on the wedding night getting absorbed in a serial. This leads to a series of incidents turning the lives of not just Srinu but the other married men too upside down. Samantha has an extended cameo as a female baba with an eccentric nature.
Shriya Konatham as Srivalli
A strong aspect of Subham is the director’s effective use of a fictional TV serial in exploring a rather misguided notion of masculinity. There is a brilliant scene in the second half when the three wives talk to the actor playing the lead role. They question him about the big change in the protagonist from how he started to how he has become. They specifically mention certain episodes where the hero used to be very adorable with sweet gestures. The actor replies by talking about the rising TRPS because of the guy becoming more rough and behaving like an Alpha or toxic male. He further adds about women preferring these kind of men in real life. This entire portion of arguments made by the actor and the counter arguments to that is the soul of the movie and pushes the story beyond a standard horror comedy.
The characterizations of the three men with specific character traits is another big strength of the movie. Srinivas Gavireddy gets the movie’s funniest moments, his role is of a proud Alpha male, he is very boastful about dominating the wife through just a click of hand. The portions where he gets a reality check gives the movie some of its best laughs. By breaking his notions the movie redefines the concept of popular masculinity, the movie talks about the importance in understanding and there by empathizing with the women in your lives.
In more ways than one the movie takes a strong dig in the way mainstream heroes are being presented. Mention must also be made of scene where one of the protagonists is getting down on his knees in order to propose but the other two stop him, on surface its a simple act but underneath it reflects a certain kind of thinking.
Praveen Kandregula also deserves credit for the various potshots he takes at the lack of logic and stretching on episodes just because a population of women are obsessed about it. There is a wonderful meta scene where the serial hero is talking on the phone expressing his anguish about the missing wife and saying that he will definitely find her. Cut to the next shot the heroine is seen walking while the hero is busy talking on the phone. By the time he puts the phone down the heroine has walked away. This leads to an elderly woman fuming about the proceedings.
Talking about the laugh out loud moments a specific mention must be made of the portion where all the men are completely scared and out of their wits, yet they don’t utter a word to each other. Underneath the laughs it also reflects a certain kind of loneliness. The scenes of Samantha with the three protagonists also raise ample chuckles. Samantha’s character is again a spoof on the intense babas that we generally see in movies of this nature. Samantha is an absolute riot with her expressions and the way she uses her body language.
Samantha in an extended special appearance
The cast of Praveen Kandregula’s Cinema Bandi is also seen in this movie. They have been smartly integrated into the main plot, among the Cinema Bandi actors Rag Mayur makes his presence felt. Among the technical departments Mridul Sujit Sen does a fine job in capturing the place of Bheemli, in spite of the horror situation there is a certain beauty as well. The background score of Vivek Sagar also adds to the narrative.
The performances of all the actors is very good but the ones who stand out are Srinivas Gavireddy and Shriya Konatham.
Final word: Its good to see actresses putting their money behind projects like these which question patriarchy in a subtle way.
