Balagam – Telugu movie review

Simplicity has its own sheen that is unmatched by any amount of glitz and glamour. Agreed that, all those pomp and hype surrounding releases from Super stars have their own space. But they are like soap bubbles and have an equivalent life term. Movies..rather..stories like Balagam are like honey sweet fragrance from a freshly blooming flower, which even if it is spread then, never dissipates completely. I watched this movie with zero expectation and the first ten fifteen minutes was not helping its cause. There are zero known faces, except for the hero, who I remember playing the role of one of the friends surrounding the hero in a movie previously. Maybe the rustic casting added to the authenticity of the story and may be their take on the characters were actual resemblance to real time people. This is a movie that works as a sum of many parts, where each part is a short story. There is a grandpa character who could be naughty, haughty, nosy, helpless and many more as the situation demands. He breathes his last suddenly that sets the movie up and running. He lives with his eldest son and his family. The entire premise of rest of the movie is around the ten-day activities that follows the death of the old man. His other kids gather along with their family. There is an upcoming wedding of the grandson, who is counting on the dowry from the wedding to pay off his loans. The younger son of the old man having his own plans for the inheritance. The decades old feud between the eldest son and the son-in-law of the old man pivoting some interesting situations. The short-lived romantic escapades of the grand son and his immediate change of heart when he gets to know how rich his uncle is and falls for his mora ponnu. And above all, Crow the bird. I guess after paati vada sutta kadhai, this is one story where Crow gets to play such an important role!! It leaves an impact on the screenplay by its absence and its grand entrance in the end making its presence felt resulting in an emotional climax. The story deals with family squabbles and small issues that result in egoistic feuds causing rifts in relationships and how the dying old man had always cherished the happy moments he spent with all his kids. The story is very simple infact so simple that makes one wonder, what will make the crow eat the offerings and who will succeed in making it happen. Eventually, when everyone unitedly succeeds it leaves a positive taste not just on the crow’s beak but in everyone’s heart as well. I felt the movie could’ve been tighter by ten fifteen minutes other than that, it felt like watching an RK Narayan story unfold on screen. May take a bit of patience to settle in, but worth it.