Film Review:

'Vidu' marks complete volte-face in style

Thulasi MUTTULINGAM

Asoka Handagama's latest venture in filmdom might surprise many. It's dubbed a 'children's film'.

His target audience in the past have hardly been children. Although dubbed a children's film, the latest release Vidu is not the typical fun and frolic genre of film in the 'Home Alone' model. Far from it, in fact.

The main protagonist of the movie is a young boy called Vidu. He is very intelligent and aspires to learn but his mother is unable to enroll him in a good school. She is a prostitute who has had Vidu out of wedlock and the boy's lack of a birth certificate as well as a paternal figure, marks him at a distinct disadvantage.

However, his mother has coached him at home to read and write and his English skills are better than his contemporaries who study at school; he has picked up the language by speaking to tourists on the beach.

Street smart and worldly wise for his age, he is able to fend for himself whenever life throws him a curve but there is also a poignancy about him; he senses that he has been given a raw deal in life and watching his beloved mother, with whom he shares a close bond, struggle to make ends meet in whichever way it takes and humiliated in the process, causes him much pain.

The plot revolves around the boy, his mother and a politician (possibly the boy's father) who seeks to exploit the boy's oratorical skills to his own advantage.

How much children will identify with this children's film remains to be seen. Although a departure from his usual style, it still has elements that children would not or should not, ideally understand. Not unless they, like Vidu have been unfortunate enough to be exposed to the harsh realities of a poverty stricken life from a young age and have had to grow up beyond their years.

It is not a happy and uplifting children's tale with a 'Happily Ever After', although it does end on an upbeat note.

The movie could be called poignant at best. The boy who plays the character of Vidu certainly does an excellent job; for so young a child, he seems to have understood his character very well and acquits himself as a very, talented actor.

The only times when he goes slightly off is when he is required to speak in English (although this is possibly more an oversight of the director than any fault of the child's).

The scenes require the child to be fluent in English because he has picked it up from foreign holiday makers at the beach. Unfortunately, his diction sounds rehearsed and strained rather than easy and fluent.

However, he performs excellently in the crux of the movie when he steals a microphone laid out for a political rally and addresses the public at large, perched high up on a tree, where he seems to have retired to hide himself.

He is supposed to show himself as a very good orator and he plays the part excellently. That said, it must be noted that the movie, though it addresses problems in society, doesn't seem to have a coherent message. What exactly it is that Homagama wants to portray is open to question.

The characters haven't been sufficiently developed and display some contradictory facets to their natures. The movie also doesn't lead to anything ultimately concrete or coherent.

It is worth a watch, if only for the acting talent of the two young boys in it, but one could wish that the storyline was a little more concrete and engaging.