Avaludan – A Drama That Rips Apart The Social Veil Shrouding Domestic Abuse

Cinematographer Muhammad Syakir Bin Subana’s camera languidly captures Radhi’s Appa, Raman’s (Sivakumar Palakrishnan) culinary skills. In goes the spices, the chillies as the rich gravy brews. We hear the faint music in the background as he expertly prepares the broth. It almost feels like a breezy summer afternoon; except that it isn’t. The dread is in the air–fierce and palpable. Right from its opening, director Darshan Kunasagran’s Avaludan is a sensorial indulgence. Each prop, each sound is designed to carry this 14:06-minute long cyclic narrative to its inevitable end. A slow drama that shifts comfortably between the past and the present, the short is an eulogy to marital violence and domestic abuse–a topic often masked behind the social veneer of class, etiquette and community-centric outlook.

Writers (Subash Kumar & Darshan Kunasagran) bring forth a tight screenplay that slowly unravels themes of victim psychology, culture-induced misogyny, and the compulsive need to protect one’s children. It’s a through-and-through gray-scaled film, making it hard to pick sides, and what makes it even harder is the convincing portrayal of the characters by the cast. Radhi (Dhurga Lingasparan) and her Appa are at the police station lodging a missing complaint of her husband, Rajan (Seshan Veerapan). Set in the 90s’, the investigating team (Abhishek Jay & Ashwini Nair) patiently grill the Singapore-based father-daughter duo. Again, Subana’s stellar camera work along with the editing and sound design (Shireen Halimah) make the interrogation scene compelling. The shots oscillate between Radhi’s narration of her marriage, abuse and the blurred lines in between and since Rajan’s sudden disappearance. Care should be taken to note Ashwini Nair’s make-up work as it pointedly contributes to the flow in the narration.

The music (Pavethren Kanagarethinam) is appropriate, lingering in the background, letting the audience feel the tension in the air. As the story begins to unfold, we begin to wonder about the reality of the society we live in, the social norms we have come to accept and the undeniable truth of the burden we bear to maintain a decorum. We question if the times have changed, and what sets the wrong apart from the right. We regret at how slow we have progressed, and the cross we must all bear. The dialogues, a raw reflection of the ingrained thinking helps the story transcend between its timeline.

As the police begin to understand Radhi’s version, we begin to question what victimhood entails, and if there’s only one way to escape domestic abuse. The acting is riveting as is the crisp editing that keeps the short engaging. That towards the end, we feel entirely convinced of the rage, the terror and subsequent shudder is a testament to the cast’s honest effort at bringing to screen characters that clearly exist amidst us, even now.

Avaludan (With Her), is a poignant tale of a parent’s love, of a victim’s battle and a society’s shameful chapter, at, yet again, letting a crime happen over and over again.

Watch Avaludan Short Film