I’ve read several reviews of the latest (?) Darshan starrer Yajamana, but none of them got the point of the movie. I think this is the first movie to have suffered such an ill fate solely based on the collective inability of the reviewers to grasp the crux of the film. It is an intelligent movie. Probably the most intelligent one since A, or Upendra. I guess people just brushed this movie off as a shallow, no brains mass entertainer based on the cast and crew.
It’s as if a small group of people managed to change the perception of a movie among the larger masses with their power of social influence.
It’s like watching a Nolan movie in real time.
Yes, on a surface level, the movie ticks all the tropes in an average Darshan movie. Where Darshan rides a Bullet, low angle shots of him make him look like a bull (in a good way, don’t lynch me), there are two heroines- a mod one and a gowramma one. There’s a “special song” with the modern female lead. And the actresses are at least a couple of decades younger to Darshan. So on and so forth.
Then there are the things you don’t expect in a Dharshan movie- a strong social message that’s painfully relevant to today’s times that’s hidden under the garb of a mass entertainer.
Yajamana talks about the dangers of a foreign language trying to overpower smaller, diverse, indigenous language systems in a far off region. I’m sure this seems pretty obvious once it’s been worded like this.
The allegorical references are in your face, just like the overbearing action sequences. But this amount of bluntness and blunt force trauma is warranted in a Darshan film for it to be a Darshan film. He is no longer in a position to make another Namma Preethiya Ramu anymore. I would put in some explanation to why this is so. But goddamn it, you have to watch the movie to recognize these nuances.
And the names of the characters are chosen carefully, so as to serve a symbolic purpose. Which has again been ignored by the general reviews. Never have I seen such strong names, contextually, since Kamal Hassan’s Mahanadi.
Darshan’s name is Krishna. Rashmika’s name is Kaveri. Both rivers in the south. Tanya’s name is Ganga- a river from the north, but revere in the south as well. This also acts as a foreshadow- considering how the river Ganga can never come between Krishna and Kaveri, it means Krishna and Kaveri are made for each other.
Devi Shetty’s office is modeled after RGV’s office. This has absolutely no significance to the point I’m trying to make. But it’s RGV, and me being me, it ought to be here.
There are many such occurrences, and they are far too frequent and carefully littered throughout the movie for them to be accidental.
The only weak point in the movie comes in the second half of the first half and continues well into the second half of the second half. Where a small town David takes on a big city Goliath in the said city and wins. Except the climax isn’t in satisfactory enough. Dude, where’s the big action sequence? Where’s the punch dialogues? After elevating the protagonist and antagonist, having them battle it out “legally” is a huge letdown. It’s reminiscent of the silk farmer sequence in another Darshan flick, Sarathi.
Which is why I call this the VIP treatment, after the Dhansh starrer Tamil flick of the same name.
Yajamana is undoubtedly one of the most intelligent movies to come out of the Sandalwood stables because it managed to drive a strong point, subliminally to the audience.
So go watch Yajamana again. This new found knowledge will definitely change your perception of this movie.
Bhot hard. Bhot hard.
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