"He has done it too. Why are you punishing only me for something that both of us did?" asks Deepa'(Sherlyn Bhosale) in 'HadinelenTu' ('Seventeeners'). It's a question that lingers in the viewer's mind long after the movie is over as it highlights many social and legal biases that plague the delivery of natural justice.
After 'Railway Children' and 'Pinki Elli?' Prithvi Konanur is back with another socially relevant theme. Rooted in realism, the Kannada film brims with engaging drama.
The sex tape of two teenagers (Sherlyn and Neeraj Mathew), shot in a college classroom, gets leaked and leads to serious repercussions for the involved couple, parents and the college authorities. The response from the college and the eventual fate of the students form the story.
The film has scenes straight out of your neighbourhood college. The teachers and people in the film might seem familiar. For instance, take the volleyball coach, who wants students from oppressed classes to shine. He goes out of his way to make that happen. It's interesting how his mindset has an influence on the case, which gets more complicated at every turn.
The movie traverses through many legal provisions such as SC/ST atrocity act, juvenile justice act, child welfare committee and more, before finally discussing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. It shows how meaningless our laws can be if the implementation is flawed. The movie also holds a mirror to people's practice of compromising the law for good and bad intentions.
Be it the subtle caste biases in our minds, and how we try to become better when the bias is pointed out or the lack of knowledge and strategies to deal with natural adolescent behaviour or pushing issues under the carpet without addressing their root cause, the movie digs deep into several societal issues.
'Hadinelentu' also depicts a city — it could be any growing city in India — in all its contrasts. The Dalit-Brahmin lead pair, the migrant population from north Karnataka and resident citizens of Bengaluru, and the discrimination towards girls from school and family members are portrayed convincingly.
The director weaves a well-rounded narrative around caste. We see people who are extremely aware of and sensitive to caste biases versus, those who feign ignorance about it, or those who may not have consciously thought about it, and people who actually oppress others based on caste and social status.
The natural dialogues are the film's biggest strength. No spoiler for this film can be an actual spoiler as the essence of this movie lies in its dialogues.
The sound design complements the narrative with its originality. It's easy to increase the film's intensity with the score. But 'Hadinelentu' has a minimal background score, letting the dialogues and live sound do the magic.
Shirley Bhonsle as the ever-suffering, gloomy Deepa delivers an extraordinary performance. While Ravi Hebballi and Rekha Kudligi have enacted their parts (principal and vice-principal) well, Neeraj Mathew's character could have been written better.
The plot loses its tight grip over the drama in the final act. The staging of the face-off between students and college lecturers could have been handled better. The straightforward cinematography acts like a double-edged sword. While it appears fitting for some scenes it softens the effect of some sequences.
Shot continuity and better editing in some scenes would have enhanced our cinematic experience. However, these flaws are negligible because there are not many movies like this in Kannada that give an unbiased perspective on such subjects.
'Hadinelentu' has the right intent, and displays it without being preachy. This, as many expressed at the end of the screening organised at the Suchitra Film Society, is undoubtedly a movie that should reach students, educators, the legal fraternity, the police, and very importantly, every parent out there.