First-time director Vishwak Khanderao’s Telugu film ‘Skylab’ is a delightful musical comedy featuring quirky characters
If doomsday is near, will we retain the empty pride we derive from our wealth, education, caste or social status? Or will it make us hook up with people and hope to make a fresh start after the worst is over? Debut director Vishwak Khanderao raised these questions through Telugu film skylab, which is like a period musical comedy-drama. The film is a fictional story inspired by the events surrounding the supposed crash of the NASA space station Skylab at Karimnagar on July 11, 1979.
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The first few minutes establish why Bandalingampalli is a village like no other, full of strange people. Instead of taking the regular route of portraying a grounded, close-to-reality village setting, Vishwak and cinematographer Aditya Javadi took the cinematic liberty of merging the mundane with a carefully color-coded canvas that bursts with vivid colours, Mainly blues. Music composer Prashant Vihari joins in to deliver the other-worldly treatment with his rustic-meets-international score.
skylab
- Cast: Nithya Menon, Satya Dev, Rahul Ramakrishna
- Direction: Vishwak Khanderao
- Music: Prashant Vihari
Once you immerse yourself in the surroundings, it becomes easy to enjoy the slow-paced comedy drama. The characters are diverse – Gauri (Nitya Menon) who can’t write to save her life but is determined to identify herself as a journalist rather than living in the shadow of her father’s name, the opportunist Dr. Satya Dev) who needs money to get his revoked license back, and ‘subedar’ Rama Rao (Rahul Ramakrishna) who hates the debt he has to deal with, but the empty pride of his family’s past is actually For any work that comes in their way.
Several other characters add charm to Bandalingampalli. Tanikela Bharani has a scooter but won’t ride it, a young boy dives into a temple pond to retrieve coins, an elderly Dalit sculptor who is not allowed to visit the village temple, an idol Banana begins to see the radiance of what Gauri’s loyal assistant Seenu (Vishnu Oi) wants, a villager who wants to punish anyone by parading him on his buffalo…
These characters cross paths and lead to moments of laughter that stem from perfectly timed repartee that is sometimes delivered in a sing-song manner. Gauri’s attempts at writing, Rama Rao’s desperation to see that his mother and grandmother’s actions have put him in financial trouble and his unlikely collaboration with Dr. Anand at an unfortunate location in the village guarantee funny moments.
The news of Skylab’s possible collapse puts him and the village on edge. Some incidents unfold along expected lines exploring superstitious practices, while others are scathing remarks that are still relevant today. What’s doom for some opportunities for others. Take the example of how Gauri is scared and delighted at the prospect of a cover story.
Before the humor begins to thin, the narrative changes course to probe deeper into people’s psyche. The coming-of-age journeys of the three lead characters are effective with poignant moments. But other aspects, especially the Dalits who had entered the temple, could have been told more effectively.
The film gets the benefit of good performance. Nithya is believable as an aristocrat who craves for her identity but hasn’t done enough for it yet and Satya Dev appears to be every opportunist, who later has a change of heart and returns home. He and Rahul Ramakrishna demolish the house more than once. Coming to Rahul, it is impressive how he and Vishnu make the rustic and funny portrayal look so effortless and natural. Tanikela Bharani, Tulsi, Subbarai Sharma and many others are effective in their parts.
skylab Deserves a pat on his back for moving away from the oft-repeated mainstream narrative. Slow motion may require some patience; But ultimately, this tale of a sleepy village is fascinating and funny.
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