Thank You, Brother - the doors are closing

 

Thank You, Brother

2021, Telugu

 

Directed by Ramesh Raparthi

 

Stars Anusuya Baradwaj,Viraj Ashwin, Anish Kuruvilla, Archana Ananth, Mounika Reddy

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐

One of the things I love about the city once called as Madras was how many of the buildings have the  classic British lift in them.  Being claustrophobic, I have found great comfort in the fact the only thing separating you from the outside world is the metal grate door.  It would be just a matter of opening it when stuck to jump out onto a convenient floor to perhaps invite yourself for tea at a neighbor's, while waiting for it to be repaired.  If nothing else, one could carry on conversations with passersby while stranded.

This is not certainly not the case with the flamboyant young man and the pregnant woman in this Thank You, Brother.  It seems odd, but perhaps telling of India's ongoing issues, that a skyscraper in an affluent neighborhood wouldn't have an alarm in its elevator, or would not have a security staff who would be able to address the issue immediately.

 

 Thank You, Brother has much to say, about the failings of Indian society, about objectifying women, and about the apathy of the rich, even towards a devastating pandemic.  But, much like we in the West are helpless to come up with a good way to process it all, the director has a hard way of conveying it.  So, he just throws it out there, without soliloquy or heroic solution.  Just stuff for us to think about as we struggle along with the characters, awaiting the inevitable miracle.

Lord knows, the world could use one.