Dia (2020) – It’s the Little Things that Matter

This is the first Kannada film I have ever watched. It is an industry that seems rarely to get any attention, with the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi industries getting most of it. I heard good things about it. The film is a bit slow-paced, so might not be for everyone, but the characters keep you engaged. It is also very, very cute and romantic. The train scene, that’s all I am saying. Also, this movie will crush you emotionally.

Summary:

Dia Swaroop is a chronically introverted and studying biology in Bengaluru. She has a serious crush on Rohit, a senior student. Years later they meet up and start dating. Then, a tragic accident happens. Dia is left depressed, until Adi comes into her life.

Major Spoilers Coming!

The director, K. S. Ashoka, concentrates on the small moments in life, as well as the silences. There are monologues by Dia in the beginning, but they are lost once the film turns more towards Adi and her love life. The world is real, with some beautiful dialogues.

Kushee Ravi as Dia Swaroop is the driving force of this film. We hear her monologues, while the world hears only silence. Now, as an introvert, this film hit very close to home. The rehearsed scrips of possible scenes in the head, the rehearsing of sentences before saying them, the lack of sleep, indecision and loosing oneself in daydreams – they all too familiar. As the film goes on, turning towards the love story, the monologues are lost. She grows, she makes friends and starts saying her thoughts aloud.

Dheekshith Shetty as Rohit is the perfect enigmatic embodiment of what one would think as the popular guy from school. He draws, he has a motorbike and he is good looking. The fact that it is revealed that he felt the same way as Dia did about him is very, very sweet.

Pruthvi Amber as Adi is a free spirit. He is very easygoing and says what he thinks. By sheer accident he meets up with Dia and the two begin a friendship. He is clearly in love with her, trying to have her stay by his side a little bit longer, but she only thinks of him as a friend. It is clear that the wound fo Rohit’s death is still deep, so he waits and is just kind. He is just adorable, especially when interacting with his mother, played by Pavithra Lokesh, who is just the best. He is a very, very good guy, thinking of others before himself.

Now, this movie is very, very cute. Kushee and Pruthvi have amazing and adorable chemistry together. You can see why they’d fall for each other. He is a bit more open than her and she is mysterious to him. They both want to know each other. While the brief romance with Rohit was sweet, it was also built up of daydreams and expectations that might not have lasted in the long run. Adi and Dia share conversations, laughs and are very much in sync.

The twist happens, when it’s revealed that Rohit survived, except that he was in a unsure vegetative state for a long time. Her father and uncle decided to lie that Rohit is dead, in order that she can go on with her life. Doesn’t make sense logically, but for her emotionally one can understand why. Dia and Rohit have to somehow come to terms with what happened, since he sincerely still loves her, but she has emotionally been put into a conundrum.

Dia has to make a choice, her past or her present. The agonising silence as she doesn’t dare cut the conversation with Adi short, since they both know how the each other feels, but are both being selfless for the other. This movie is good in giving that longing pain of love. Indeed, Dia first chooses Rohit, since it seems like the right thing to do, since her family was also expecting them to get married.

I do wish Dia had more of a voice and a choice when the movie goes to Adi’s point of view. The movie is named after her, so she should be the point of view character nearly all the way through. Instead, the men are the ones who take the attention and Rohit is the one to let her go. While she says nothing. It just feels like she looses a lot of that agency, her voice, as the movie goes on.

At the end, when she goes to Rohit, who is waiting at the train rails as she did when they first met you expect a romantic reunion. Instead, because this film wants to torture you emotionally, the train hits Rohit and Dia sees it. The poor girl already has trauma and now she has it twofold. Just, cruel. Very cruel indeed.

So, watch it at your own risk, I guess. It will make you love it, then wish to throw the tissue papers at the screen. It will not give you a satisfying ending. Yet the movie is brilliant, since it does tie all the threads together well and its executed perfectly. The ending though will make some people either love this movie or hate it.

Thank you for reading!