An immersive soul-searching journey

‘Dedicated to the crowd’ reads one of the title credits of the Telugu film

Gaami (seeker). For the uninitiated, the film began as a crowdfunded indie venture before a reputed production house (UV Creations) threw its might behind it.

Gaami was in the making for more than seven years as its makers — debut director Vidyadhar Kagita and producer Karthik Sabareesh — took several leaps of faith to narrate a story that is not within the ambit of conventional Telugu cinema.

The result is an immersive slowburn film that offers plenty to unpack in terms of its narrative and technical finesse, resulting in a visually rewarding experience.

Gaami draws us into the world of its protagonist Shankar (Vishwak Sen) from the word go. In the opening segment, we see the plight of Shankar in an Aghora ashram somewhere in Haridwar. Even as we take in the different elements that have gone into creating the world of the Aghoras, we learn what torments Shankar — his inability to experience human touch. The ramifications of living with such a condition, which some of the Aghoras believe is a curse rather than a problem, is tough to articulate. The character’s struggles and his search for identity are gradually revealed by writers Vidyadhar and Pratyush Vatyam.

Almost like a fable, Shankar is told that he has to travel to the Himalayas where the cure lies in mushrooms with medicinal power; which are available once in 36 years. There are more conditions and he has to secure them within a narrow time window.

Gaami presents us with more than an adventure drama on the mighty Himalayas. We are privy to two other parallel stories. An illegal medical camp in a remote location uses adolescents as lab rats for experiments as lethal as lobotomy. From this hell hole, an adolescent, referred to as CT333 (Mohammad Samad), yearns for freedom. Elsewhere, in a hamlet in the Telugu States, a woman (MG Abhinaya as Durga) realises it is tough to shake off her ‘Devadasi’ past and her daughter (Harika Pedada as Uma), too, must run for safety.

Gaami opts for a deliberate pacing of the stories to allow us to empathise with the characters.

All the three characters are seekers of freedom. For one, it boils down to breathing fresh air and being able to look up at the vast skies. For another, it is the freedom to live without being preyed upon. From the claustrophobia of the medical camp to the vast Himalayas that dwarf humans, the visuals present the varied terrains in vivid detail.

For each step Shankar and Jahnavi (Chandini Chowdary) take on thin ice and fragile glaciers, we are conscious of the dangers lurking ahead.

While the protagonists of the three stories, set in different timelines, are almost cut off from what we would perceive as normal surroundings, Gaami introduces Jahnavi as a contemporary, urban seeker of medicinal miracles. There are scenes in which she is us, the audience, trying to understand Shankar and his search for cure.

Each of the three stories have cliffhanger moments and segments of dismal abyss when all doors seem to close in on them. The gory happenings inside the medical camp work to make us root for the escape of the characters in the camp. Mohammad Samad and Harika are terrific in their parts.

Towards the preclimax, it is possible to discern at least some portions of how the tale is likely to unfold. As Shankar’s search for a cure turns into a soulsearching exercise, it is impossible to not root for Vishwak Sen’s unwavering performance. The same goes for the characters CT333 and Uma and we desperately want them to move to safer zones. Chandini’s character, at the outset, might come across as underwritten. However, it ends up beautifully complementing Shankar’s tale towards the end. In her limited portions, Chandini is effective.

Gaami is a film that is likely to be rewarding with repeat viewing. It is not always on top of its game. But this is a brave new Telugu indie that deserves appreciation.