Dream

Movie: Dream Rating: 3 Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Pavani Reddy, Jayashree Director: Bhavani Shanker Language: Telugu Genre: Psychological Thriller CBFC rating: UA Duration: 126 mins 58888 code: (dre) Byline: Karthik Pasupulate

Synopsis: Rajendra Prasad (Rajendra) is a narcissistic ex-serviceman suffering from a rare psychological disorder due to which he loses his ability to distinguish his dreams from reality. His subconscious mind plays havoc with his life.

Movie Review: The movie begins with a two minute long close-up of Rajendra Prasad blankly staring at the screen (with no background music), before going boo! Now that’s a whacky start. It’s is a psychological thriller that’s made like one. Well, psychological disorders in Telugu cinema, as a thumb rule have protagonists with a split personality disorder or memory loss, out to avenge the loss of a loved one or playing a self anointed vigilante. The disorder is never really the subject of the film, that’s where this one rises above the general mediocrity.

The filmmaker genuinely attempts to give us a peek into the world of a man who can’t tell a dream from reality. The protagonist Rajendra Prasad is a 52-year-old retired army man who suffers from a psychological condition called Hypnogogue Delusions.

He’s pessimistic and is convinced that he will die at 52 and wants to do something really thrilling before he dies. He lives in a plush gated community with his wife. A compulsive thrill seeker, he smokes pot, has an AK-47 tattoo, loves Jim Morrison, and fancies his teenaged neighbor. His biggest regret in life is that he’s never used a gun in all his life and that he might die without ever using it so he derives substitute gratification from playing combat video games.

His condition keeps deteriorating to the point where the thin line that differentiates reality from dreams goes completely blurred. His struggle is with making sense of his reality is conveyed through ruminations about dreams, the sub conscious mind and the works.

More importantly the filmmaker seeks to do it without resorting to melodrama. There are no unnecessary songs, forced comic interjections and over the top background score either. Instead the filmmaker relies instead on clever use of color, lighting, camera techniques and a visual grammar that we associate with French and German cinema. For that alone he deserves a pat on the back, considering it is his first film. It will be interesting to see what he will make next though for conventional wisdom suggest that this one might not exactly ring in the cash registers at the BO.

The writing is simple but effective and Rajendra Prasad tends to go over the top in a few instances, but that doesn’t take away anything from his performance which is pretty good. Well there are moments when the film looks a little wannabe in parts and on other occasions the filmmaker tries to dumb it down a little too much. The movie seeks to engage your intellect rather than carnal emotions, so depends on what you will go looking to the theatre. One thing’s for sure it is different and really so for a change.

Tip Off: It’s a little too cerebral and is made with a sensibility that’s not Tollywood, so try this only if you have a taste for the unusual.