Muthayya
Cast: Sudhakar Reddy, Arun Kumar, Purna Chander M, Mounika Bomma, Sai Leela, Kiran Kumar, Jayavardhan Sagar
Written & Directed by: Bhaskhar Maurya
“Films are all I can think of every day. I’ll die in peace once I get to see myself on the big screen.”
Life is a funny thing. When you’re young, you’re busy all the time. You have responsibilities to your parents. You finish school, and you hustle to find a job. You date – maybe. You get married, either to someone of your choosing, or perhaps your marriage will be arranged. You’ll have children, you’ll work – and sometimes you’ll work very, very hard for many years. Then your children grow up, get married, have their children. Perhaps you’ll get to slow down a little, enjoy life a little more as you get older. Or, perhaps, you’ll find your spouse dies before you, and then suddenly, you reach an age where you begin to realize that you have more days behind you than you have ahead of you.
I think there is a point for many of us, as we age, when we realize that suddenly there are so many things left undone, so many dreams left unfulfilled, so much introspection, so much longing for the past, while at the same time trying to live the last part of our lives to the fullest.
This pretty much describes Muthayya (Sudhakar Reddy), the central character in Bhaskhar Maurya’s film of the same name. Muthayya is around seventy. He sleeps out in the field he owns and that he bought with his late wife. He wakes every morning, does his exercises, gets on his motorbike, goes to eat breakfast with his grandson, goes to make baskets. He visits with his friend Malli, who has a bicycle repair shop in the village. Sometimes, he and Malli drink together, or have tea together, and twice a week, Muthayya goes to the movies.
Because Muthayya is mad for movies and always has been. For him, the old movies were the best – “the songs, dances, dialogues – just extraordinary! Now it’s just random noises and silly dialogues.” Malli wonders why Muthayya still bothers to go to the movies if he finds them so meaningless. But for Muthayya, this is his chance to watch the acting of the younger generation, reasoning that he has to know how they act so he can know how to act with them one day.
Did I mention Muthayya is mad for movies? Muthayya so very badly wants to have a role in a film. When Malli wonders why he doesn’t just go to Hyderabad to meet a director, Muthayya reminds him that he’s older, his body isn’t as strong anymore, and it would be just too much for him. This is a reminder that sometimes our desires are more powerful than our bodies as we age. We might never be able to let go of those dreams, but we’re so less able to fulfill them as time rolls on.
And it’s not as if Muthayya had never tried to live that dream. He tells Malli about how, when he was younger, he’d decided to save up to go to Madras to try for a role in a film. He’d done it and actually managed to get the role, but his father died suddenly, and he decided to return to his village and support his family. And then he got married, and he and his wife both worked hard to buy their plot of land. But Muthayya couldn’t leave his love of movies behind, so whenever he managed to go see a film, he’d return and act it out for the village. Malli has never seen Muthayya act, and is skeptical about Muthayya’s chances of landing a film role, but one of the men at the tea shop tells him that Muthayya is actually a bundle of talent.
I have seen Bhaskhar Maurya’s film four times now – twice at festivals – and it never fails to charm. His writing manages to capture both the ups and downs of village life and of its inhabitants, and he creates a world where we are just dropped in and immersed immediately into the lives of these people. Karthik Rodriguez’s music deserves a special mention. With its folksy feel, it wends its way through the film and just underlines the structure of the film that, almost feels like a village play within a film – absolutely fitting for a central character like Muthayya who has a foot in each form.
Arun Kumar is great as Muthayya’s friend Malli. I love the fact that this is an intergenerational friendship, where each supports the other, even if, at times, they spat like school kids. Malli is in love with a local girl, and Muthayya nurtures his dream of marrying her, despite the fact that her father is set against it. Malli doesn’t always understand Muthayya’s longing to be an actor, but he makes videos of him on his phone, he rushes to find Muthayya when he discovers a film is shooting at a local temple, and his awe when he sees Muthayya perform the role of Daksha in a local stage play is palpable. “My goodness, old man,” he gushes, “I had no clue you are such a wonderful actor.”
But I’m not exaggerating when I say that the film’s greatest gift is Sudhakar Reddy as Muthayya. Reddy has charm and great screen presence, and when he puts on the costume of the Hindu god Daksha and steps out in front of an audience, it’s not just Malli who is mesmerized; it’s us, too. Perhaps because I, like Muthayya, am also still following my dreams, the story connected so very deeply, but I think Muthayya’s longing for his dream and his unwavering love of the movies will speak to everyone.
Are you wondering if Muthayya will finally achieve his dream? Then I highly recommend you watch this gem of a film. There are ups and downs and twists and turns on Muthayya’s journey, and it’s absolutely a joy to watch Muthayya navigate them.
I’ve known Hemanth Kumar, (one of the producers alongside Vrinda Prasad), for a long time. I know his absolute love of cinema and how the story of Muthayya must have resonated with him. Kumar and Prasad made this film out of a love of Telugu cinema, and they have spoken about the challenges to get the film made and in front of a public. It’s a little indie film filled with so much love and tenderness and respect, both for the movies, and for its central character, and it deserves a wider audience.
Muthayya is currently streaming on the ETV Win platform.
