warning: spoilers ahead.

watched nadikar. and i didn’t watch any reviews or roasts of the movie. i don’t want to be influenced by others’ opinions. i’d like to formulate my own opinion.

i like the movie.

for those of you who have no idea, the movie is about the story of a very famous yet rude and arrogant superstar named david padikkal and his gradual transformation. while it’s easy to dismiss him as just a rude and arrogant guy without understanding him, i think there’s a reason he became who he is.

i am analysing the movie based on the internal family systems approach, created by richard schwartz, so a lot of the IFS related terms are mentioned.

he was abandoned by his mother as a child. the feeling of betrayal, loneliness and the loss of love had resulted in a trauma in david’s mind. he eventually became a very successful superstar, who is loved by many, but the abandoned inner child who thinks he’s worthless remained inside. and his protector parts, in their limited sense of the world, did what they can to make him happy - they introduced him to alcohol, drugs and sex.

those protectors thought these elements would keep david happy, and keep him from accessing the inner child. and the protectors exiled the inner child who they thought was causing david a lot of pain. but the decisions taken by protectors thinking it’s good aren’t good in most cases, because the protectors themselves are burdened by hurt and fears, plus the Self hasn’t yet emerged from within the individual.

with that said, i expected the movie to be a bit more deep, because the subject deserved it. and in my opinion, all the cussing and the random stuff could have been avoided. the traumatic memories of david, inserted in different parts, felt like it was more of an afterthought. i personally think certain movie sequences could have been completely avoided, and the movie could have given more emphasis on the psyche of david padikkal.

there was this part where david opens up to a random stranger. well, it seemed kinda weird when he opened up to a stranger, but hey, i can’t say that because i have discovered a lot of friends in strangers. but the way that guy responded, downplaying david’s trauma as some sentimental sad crybaby stuff and equating it to his rejection, and telling david some cheap advice like “set aav bro, power aav” really irked me. and the worst part was david was somehow okay with it.

the movie was “unbearable” in the sense that 60% of the movie is david padikkal faltering, being rude and arrogant towards people, and that was bothering me. but later i learnt that it was a part of me who was becoming frantic because “why won’t the guy just get his act together”. we all have that part, that inner critic who tries to blame yourself, and force yourself to be perfect or whatever. but is that the way to betterment? no. that was more of a reflection of my mind more than the movie.

that is to say, you treat others the way you treat yourself. love and compassion comes from within.

and the “movie scenes” inside the movie looked kinda weird, but maybe that’s the whole point. maybe the team made them look outlandish so as to create a contrast between the “real world” and the “movie”.

and soubin’s character might be a good acting coach, but he seems disoriented at times. i dunno.

and i saw a lot of people hated the climax, but i actually loved it a lot. i’ll let you know why.

in the climax, david padikkal was to enact a scene in which his character talks to his father, who he is meeting for the first time in his life. similar to david, the character was abandoned by his parent. his character feels the rage, the pain and the sadness, as david does. but while he enacts the scene, within david, there’s an internal conversation going on.

it is that he finally is able to let the hurt inner child have a conversation with his mother. if the exiled inner child is able to finally talk, that must mean the protectors have finally found trust in david, and so they let their guards down and let the exiled part come out. you can see the effect of the protectors leaving their dysfunctional roles when david talks to people very calmly and joyfully, when he does things for others, when he goes out of his way to apologize to people. and finally the inner child is able to find closure and heal.

of course, all of what i said is not evident, but in the light of IFS, i would like to interpret the movie as such.

after watching the movie, i was very impressed with it, and i looked its reviews up on youtube, only to find the most shallow and ragebait-y takes. constructive criticism is always welcome, but this is something else: pure degradation. zero analysis. just cherrypicking and mocking. i think they have some agenda or something.

people in the comment boxes are something else: it’s as if they’re trying to find faults in everything, and it’s as if they want to see everyone fail. they criticize everything mindlessly. i guess they have very unhappy lives.

here’s one thing i learnt: don’t listen to youtube reviewers and roasters. don’t watch their videos. if you wanna know if a movie is good or not, then watch the movie, formulate your own opinion. use your brain. don’t outsource your thinking capabilities to anyone else.