The anticipation built around the Telugu film ‘Aarambham’ has been one of curiosity and intrigue. The title, translating to ‘beginning,’ and its source material, the Kannada book ‘Neenu Ninnolage Khaidi’ (‘I am a prisoner like you’) by Anush A Shetty, set forth expectations of a fresh narrative within the regional film landscape. Indeed, these elements gradually manifest their significance as the film progresses, revealing a few jolts along the way, with the most climactic revelations centered around a daredevil prison break.
The film’s resolution provides closure to several hanging threads of inquiry, making for a satisfying conclusion to those enduring the journey. Yet, the path leading up to these twists is not without its rough patches. While director Ajay Nag, in his debut, and his technical team deserve commendation for applying a diverse lens to a sci-fi drama set against a pastoral backdrop, diverging from the formulaic, the tug of story to engage viewers consistently loses strength in parts.
The principal tale unfolds with a mysterious prison break when Prisoner No. 299, also known as Miguel (played by Mohan Bhagath), vanishes from his cell without a trace. The investigation to puzzle out this enigma is shouldered by detectives Chaitanya (Ravindra Vijay) and Madhav (Abhishek Boddepalli), whose sleuthing tools comprise only Miguel’s diary and anecdotes from fellow inmate Ganesh (Laxman Meesala). However, what starts as a compelling escape narrative soon spirals into the realm of science fiction, a twist the detectives must process to unravel the case.
The film’s setting is rendered with picturesque beauty by Devdeep Gandhi Kundu’s cinematography, which captures the lush countryside that frames the lives of Miguel, his mother figure Leelamma (Surabhi Prabhavathi), the eccentric scientist Subramanya Rao (Bhushan Kalyan), and Sharada (Supritha Satyanarayan). The rustic environs, complemented by Sinjith Yerramilli’s evocative music and CS Manicka Prabhu’s nuanced sound design, become a character in their own right, influencing the unfolding drama.
It is the purity of childhood memories, such as when Miguel befriends the quirky scientist Rao and asks to use his television antenna to receive images on his radio set, that infuses the story with heartfelt emotion. The plot digs deep into human connections as it explores Miguel’s filial relationship with Leelamma and captures candid moments where characters navigate through the melancholia of solitude. These deeply human moments anchor our attention, especially when the sci-fi aspects begin to wane.
Conversely, when the narrative introduces a local dispute, it feels incongruous, jarring from the main storyline. Science fiction elements, such as déjà vu, infinity, and the notion of looping through time, aim to distill the essence of the scientific undertakings into comprehensible terms, segmenting the story into eight chapters that unleash surprises as the film wends towards its finale.
Yet the science experiment at the story’s core loses its grasp on the audience due to a lack of a compelling rationale. We learn of a deep-seated scar in Subramanya Rao’s past, but its relevance feels insufficient. Furthermore, the film divulges little about Rao’s wider connections to the scientific community outside the secluded hills of Shimoga—where ‘Aarambham’ is beautifully set—or what his grand ambitions are if his experiments yield success.
Strong performances, especially by Mohan Bhagath, keep us engaged, and the film discusses themes of fate, empathy, and the creation of warm memories through heartfelt conversations between key characters.
‘Aarambham’ boldly veers off the common thoroughfares of Telugu, and indeed Indian, cinema, marking an admirable experiment by film school graduates undaunted by mainstream conventions. Nevertheless, it required a stronger narrative thrust to keep viewers consistently mesmerized.
As the end credits roll, one cannot help but appreciate the film’s audacity to explore new storytelling avenues, despite feeling that it fell a little short of fully achieving the thrust needed to be an entirely gripping cinematic experience. It is a film with a heart, with enough thoughtful moments to earn a respectful nod from those steering clear of traditional entertainments.
