Debutant director Ramkumar Balakrishnan’s “Parking” (2023) begins as an ordinary tale of two families: one of a 60 approaching man with a wife and a daughter and the other of a 28-something IT guy with his heavily pregnant wife. The story starts from the point where the young couple moves to the house’s first floor, whose ground floor home has been rented by the older couple for the last ten years. Things begin amicably and then quickly escalate when the young guy suddenly purchases a car.
From the point of purchasing the car, the film starts to pick up pace, and we get on a ride through the harrowing lanes of patriarchy, ego, and the flawed concept of male love. It becomes increasingly clear with each passing second that there is little difference between the two men, Eeshwar, played by Harish Kalyan, and Ilamparithi, played by M.S. Bhaskar, apart from their age. Both men are driven by their egos, and their apparent love for their families crumbles quickly when their egos are bruised by each other.
“Parking,” like other Indian films dealing with the theme of the male ego, operates in a patriarchal world, i.e., the real world. One might be reminded of films like “Driving Licence” and “Ayyappanum Koshiyum,” where two males lost themselves in the maze of their ego clash. In “Parking,” we see two men, divided by age and their outlook toward life, ultimately clinging to the same patriarchal core. Eeshwar is someone who buys a car randomly because his pregnant wife faces problems going for checkups via rental vehicles.
Ilamparithi, on the other hand, refuses to spend money on anything, even on essentials like the mixer grinder for his wife, because he’s saving up for his daughter’s marriage. These men have very different ideas about love, and yet both ideas come down to being the savior figure. Eeshwar wants to ensure that he is the one providing his wife with all the luxuries, and Ilamparithi wants to be this father who is able to spend on his daughter’s wedding, even if that means ignoring his wife and daughter’s present issues.
This world of male ego quickly turns into a battlefield in “Parking.” The involved men sometimes apologize but are never in sync, and things keep getting escalated. Ilamparithi becomes so consumed by his ego that he involves his daughter to frame Eeshwar in a sexual harassment case. Eeshwar is able to keep his wife out of this, and that somehow makes him a better man between the two. The former’s misogyny is extremely overt, the latter’s not so much, and yet, it gets eventually established that he is also no better than a misogynistic husband who will go to any length to satisfy his ego.
What is interesting here is the portrayal of the three women. Eeshwar’s wife, Aathika, played by Indhuja, mentions she is an assistant professor on maternity leave. Ilamparithi’s wife, Selvi, played by the brilliant Rama Rajendra, is a housewife, and his daughter Aparna (Prathana Nathan) is a final-year Engineering student. Now, as a working woman, one would naturally expect Aathika to have an agency of her own. However, her character is simply there to show Eeshwar in a certain light.
But Selvi, despite being a housewife and the spouse of an out-and-out patriarchal man, has more command than Aathika, who has financial independence and modern education. Selvi scorns her husband, shows her disgust, and yet remains supportive when she thinks it’s necessary. Though she cannot bring any change in her husband’s character, she does not move from her own ideals. Even Ilamparithi’s daughter, despite being raised by a father like him, understands right from wrong and unflinchingly voices her opinions against him.
The actors of the film, especially M.S. Bhaskar, Rama Rajendra, and Harish Kalyan, should be hugely applauded for the way they embody their characters. M.S. Bhaskar’s menacing eyes and crooked and thin smiles make you hate him even more. The gradual descent of Eshwar into a state of obsession, as portrayed by Harish Kalyan, is bound to give you the chills. Every time he settles his spectacle with his middle finger and gets that look into his eyes, we are reminded of the sweet man he was at the beginning of the film and how far he has come. With her great facial expressions and dialogue delivery, Rama Rajendra nails her role of Selvi, the strong wife of a completely patriarchal and inflexible man.
The film has been edited brilliantly by Philomin Raj. The edits are seamless, and the cuts make the whole thing extremely visually appealing. Jiju Sunny’s cinematography and Sam C. S’s music ensure that there is not one dull moment in the film. One thing keeps happening after the other, and the audience is bound to remain on their toes, thinking about the next move of the egoistic men.
Though it gets a little predictable and stretched at the end, the film has a lot of shining moments. We see at the end that both the tenants have left the house, and a broker has brought a new couple to show the house, just as was shown at the beginning of the film. The fact that both of them have left the house indicates that it is sometimes possible to admit and understand your fault, and yet a happy resolution might not happen.
With its impeccable and intense portrayal of the male ego trip, “Parking” is an absolute delight to watch, though not always a comfortable one.
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