Seventeeners (Original title: Hadinelentu) Movie Review: The sneakiest thing about love is it involves a ton of risks. The voyage to travel across the barriers of familial acceptance takes an eternity. To be liked is one; to be brought into the family circle is another. With such pre-meditated moves pasted as a guidebook for love, a risker move is circulating among the Gen Z communities. The discovery of lust with evidential copies for reference. What’s worse? When it is done secretly in a college compound.
In Seventeeners, two lovers are placed on a judgment stand for an alleged act of indecency. The act gets deeper into problems as it is also recorded for viewing pleasure. The aftermath of the act is toasted with multiple mishaps and ramifications that are shown from different perspectives of Hari (The male lover), Deepa (The female lover), and the college representative (Principal Badrinath & Vice Principal Seetha).
Hari’s Perspective – Hari is a typical teenager who wants to be adventurous when it comes to discovering love. Peer pressure to be cool by portraying an unwelcoming sign of maturity goes wrong. He seems to be decent when it comes to verbal conversations and equally modest at first. Director Konanur deliberately shows the age of immaturity among young men who are not ready to face the consequences of harmful risks. A student who is a bookworm and a class topper who joins hands with misery due to his actions is another layer that Konanur examines.
As Hari’s parents are brought in for interrogation by the school representatives, more hidden elements of social differences are exposed. The advantage of being rich is that it gets through the process of mitigating the mishap efficiently with multiple plans. A scene of Hari’s dad talking to the lawyer to send him to Canada to further his studies is a perfect example. Here, the planning process and decision-making get through easily from close contacts and money advantages. Yet, everyone suffers individually from the effects of the issue due to social constraints and dignity.
Deepa’s Perspective – There are lots of dreams that have molded Deepa in her college life. Her excellence in sports and love towards Hari has made her the queen of hopes. Yet, one particular misfortune has landed her in turmoil. Deepa seems to be the most affected by this problem due to many underlying reasons. Deepa’s background is on the other shade of the mirror, which highlights the low-income community. The cinematography by Arjun Raja captures the details of the poor communities brilliantly to clump the audience into a claustrophobic setting. Deepa, being the future breadwinner of her family, rides on a bumpy road when it comes to family discussions.
The talks about her future and attire cover the session’s topics timely with no excuses. Here, Director Konanur teaches the audience the plights of being poor, which diminishes any form of concrete plans to escape from misery. Help from activists is unwelcome in the college community, which tightens the justice system for Deepa. Yet, small pathways open up unexpectedly when the time is right.
College’s Perspective – Badrinath, being the principal of the college, becomes the primary decision maker to process the flaring problem in his college. The college’s reputation is at stake, and calls from parents on the ongoing issue pressure Badrinath to make a difficult decision. The college representatives believe that Hari has the advantage of remaining in the college while Deepa should be expelled due to a previous issue. One of the representatives believes that she is an asset to the college due to her award-winning involvement in sports. However, the judgment process seems to have loopholes and a few professional attributes to cover the session. Here, director Konanur slips the variance of views due to the influence of caste issues and favoritism indirectly.
The biased voting process is suppressed with unprofessionalism, making it harder to address the natural outcome of the issue. Within the context of the management, director Konanur pinpoints the negative shades of competition between peers. We see Seetha discussing with Badrinath the process of aging and her move to resign together with Badrinath. This was due to the built-up pressure from the recording issue that has tormented them coherently. Nevertheless, we also witness the vice principal calling the head of the college to inform him of her interest in being the principal upon Badrinath’s resignation. The masked competition between working individuals that turns them into power-seeking scavengers is covered elegantly by Konanur through his invasive screenplay.
Questions of social differences and various viewpoints become the main backbone of the film. ‘Is the act committed by the lovers a path to seek attention? Or is it to be on par with the vibe of “growing up” from the context of teens?’. ‘Is the act a crime due to immaturity, or was it rooted in the lack of freedom of choice?’ ‘Should caste issues and social inequality be added into decision-making when it involves the future of students?’. The answers lie in the film in a thought-provoking manner that changes the path of all individuals. Seventeeners also dives into the undesirable aspects of technology where privacy is invaded. A small mistake in the technological world can cause a major catastrophe to the lives of any individual forever.
Director Konanur showcases the difference of looking into a sensitive matter from a Gen Z and baby boomers perspective in a nutshell. Seventeeners is a manifesto of vulnerability from all sides of the community to solve a significant problem that highlights injustice. The diversion of the rich and poor, trust and betrayal among lovers, and workplace politics are covered comprehensively in this nail-biting thriller. The narrative utilizes the Farhadi formulae that elevate silent tension and pressure throughout. Like Konanur’s previous film, “Pinki Elli’ which focused on a chaotic lost child issue, Seventeeners conveys the same effect of chaos here with more insights. Konanur deserves the Best Director Award he won at the recent Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for the ideas that have structured Seventeneers on a socio-political ground.
While a setback gets toasted with misery, another explosive matter builds up at the corners of the college. A hidden aspect that travels in a parallel manner within the film’s narrative. What could that be? It’s best to be left unexposed. Yet, here’s a hint: The Power of Student Rights.
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