 |
| Picture Credits: That Cinemaholic Guy - WordPress.com |
“Actually, the definition of ‘normal’ isn’t universal.”
Love isn’t always sweet as sugar and wrapped in rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes, you may shock yourself at what love can change you into. Wherever you think the story will go, I’m sure you’re mistaken and should keep reading instead.
Movie Name - Aamis (Ravening) (2019)
Directed by Bhaskar Hazarika
Written by - Bhaskar Hazarika
Starring - Lima Das, Arghadeep Baruah
Duration - 1h 48min
Genre - Drama
Language - Assamese
Plot (Spoiler Alert!)
Nirmali (Lima Das) is a pediatrician in Guwahati, who is married and has a kid. Sumon (Arghadeep Baruah) is a Ph.D. student much younger than her, researching meat-eating traditions in North East India. As the two characters bond with each other over various meat-eating sessions, they find themselves drawing closer to one another by degrees.
A very sensitive and unique relationship is seen to be constructed and there’s a glimmer of a very subtle romance, but with no touching of the skin. Nirmali and Sumon put a large amount of emphasis on the platonic nature of their relationship. Sumon has even seen to google the definition of ‘Platonic Love’ in a scene.
However, the relationship isn’t the only thing that is growing; Nirmali’s hunger for meat is simultaneously escalating by degrees. Her gradual desire for eating meat is hinted at while she is searching for meat at the dinner table.
At a party at Nirmali’s place, Sumon initiates a conversation about different meats, the camera moves towards Nirmali as she slowly closes her eyes evoking a feeling of almost an orgasmic pleasure. On the other hand, Sumon starts to feel the need for physical intimacy in their relationship.
Themes Involved
Director Bhaskar Hazarika deals with themes like forbidden love and the limits of one’s greed and hunger. Food is one of the recurring elements in the film and the base of Nirmali and Sumon’s relationship.
The first half of the film is deeply appetizing with several scenes of the two trying different dishes involving several types of meat, but as the story takes a darker shift, it starts feeling almost wrong to have felt like eating.
Food has also been used as a device of symbolism and metaphor here. Nirmali’s dissatisfaction with her marriage and her relationship with her husband turning bland is reflected in the scene where Nirmali seems uninterested in the food on her dinner table and searches for meat in the middle of the night inside her fridge. She is looking for an escape, which is embodied in Sumon.
“With you, I feel like eating only meat,'' Nirmali tells Sumon. And that is how meat and food become a metaphor for sex and physical intimacy. Sumon telling his friend that he’s looking for “alternate ways to become one with your lover” directly points at his lust and the extent he’s willing to go to fulfill it, which ultimately results in Nirmali’s gluttony.
The Tonal Shift and The Visual Grammar
A sinister tone starts to take over the film from here on and it enters dark territories. Sumon feels the desire to experiment with his physical needs, after a fantasy-like dream about Nirmali.
He cuts a piece of his flesh, cooks it, and sends it over to Nirmali in a lunchbox without informing her about what’s in there. Nirmali texts him that the food was unique and delicious, asking Sumon to cook the dish again.
Nirmali is struck by thunder when Sumon reveals to her that the dish contained a tiny piece of his flesh. As the movie goes forward, Nirmali's extreme desire for that specific type of meat takes over her shock.
As the characters step into these uncharted territories being fully aware that their deeds are considered a sin by society, the visuals, and the sound design take on an eerie and disturbing tonal shift.
Sumon soon realizes the horrible mistake he had made when Nirmali takes him to a morgue and requests him to get a big piece of flesh from a freshly dead body that hasn’t been registered yet. The conversation after they exit the morgue has been shot and edited brilliantly.
A series of bokeh city lights and handheld camera movement collide with their horrifying but very casual conversation about how to make arrangements for the human meat. The filmmaking attempts to evoke a feeling that the thin line of the morality of both the characters has been blurred.
In a particular scene, we see Nirmali gazing at a grilled chicken in a street shop which brings a witch-like smile to her face. It should be appreciated how the director decided to use Lima Das's smile and create an arc out of it throughout the film.
As the film progresses, Sumon promises Nirmali that he will arrange the meat for her and satisfy her hunger, once and for all which ultimately leads to the downfall of their fate.
As Sumon and Nirmali are taken out of the police station and are surrounded by the media as the state is declaring them a shame to the community, the foreground music is a very sweet score instead of a tense one because even if they lost the fight with their morality, they consider it as a victory for their relationship.
The final shot of the film shows their skin finally touching each other as they slowly hold hands and accept their fate.
Director’s Inspiration
One may find it difficult to believe but Bhaskar Hazarika in an interview said that the idea for the film originated when he saw two random people at a Dhaba eating meat.
Critical Reception
The movie took film festivals and then the Indian audience by storm. It was lauded and given countless stars by respectable critics. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had said that audiences "have not seen anything like Aramis coming out of India" before. He further added Hazarika is "fearless and is telling a story that is unique."
The Bottom Line
Despite the subject matter, Aamis is at its core, a love story. You may love it, you may be repulsed by it, but you will appreciate the genius that went into making this film. I assure you this - “You’ve never seen anything like it!”
My Ratings for the movie - 4.5 on 5
Watch online on MovieSaints - Aamis
Written By - Kristi Mazumdar
.jpeg)
.JPG)
0 Comments