Ammu is the first Telugu language original film released on Amazon prime Video on 19th October 2022. It is written and directed by Charukesh Sekar and produced by Kalyan Subramaniam & Kaarthekeyen Santhanam of Stone Bench Films. It is a drama thriller film, with a runtime of about 2 hours and 15 minutes long.
The cast of the series includes Aishwarya Lekshmi as Amudha, Naveen Chandra as Ravi, Bobby Simha as Prabhu, Darbha Appaji Ambarisha as Ravi’s Father, Maala Parvathi as Kalpana (Ammu’s mother), Raghu Babu as Beggar, Satya Krishnan as Sathya, Anjali Ameer as Linny, Subba Rao Vepada as Ismail, Anusha Prabhu as Geetha and Prem Sagar as Iqbal.
-Ammu Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
It tells a story of is a story of resilience and courage. Ammu thought marriage was a fairy tale – full of love and magic. It all changed when her cop-husband Ravi hit her for the very first time. What Ammu thought was a one-off incident turned into a never-ending cycle of abuse, trapping her and breaking her soul and spirit. Pushed to her limits, Ammu teams up with an unlikely ally to break free.
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The film starts off with some dimly lit shots, where a girl is lighting the candles and we see glimpses of her, adorned in a beautiful saree and jewellery. The opening sequence visually looks like a period drama scene and soon we get to know that the girl is Ammu, who is getting married to her neighbour Ravi.
Her little sister asks her if she even likes the boy, as the sister is even scared to look at him. But their families meet and they get married soon after. Initially, their marriage is nothing less than a fairy tale, Ravi is really loving and keeps her happy. But as the honeymoon period wears off, so does his good behaviour and all the decency that he showed.
Ravi effectively creates an image of a responsible policeman in front of everyone, someone who helps people in need, from molestation cases to domestic abuse cases. Everyone thinks that his wife is the luckiest to have him as a husband, but he is far from his public image. Initially, it was shouting and fighting over small issues but soon it turned into severe physical abuse over time.
Even when Ammu tries to tell her mother about her ordeal, the response she gets makes her even more hopeless for her future. Society immediately questions the women, if they have done anything wrong to deserve the beating. This makes her dwell on her own pain and suffering, without asking for any help.
There is a song in the film, which aptly describes the thoughts and the mind space she is in and what the victims of domestic abuse might feel, in general. They keep on thinking if they should leave or stay with the abuser; often time they end up blaming themselves and think that maybe if they try enough then the person might change and appreciate them.
But the change never comes and often ends up in tragedy. However, things take an unexpected turn when she meets Prabhu, a criminal out on parole, at the police station. Their unlikely friendship and empathy for each other might bring in the necessary change and maybe even the justice, that both of their lives need.
Summing Up: Ammu
This drama film on domestic abuse takes a creative and near-to-real-life approach to the story. The unpredictable ending feels satisfactory and shows the true resilience and courage of the female lead. However, I found the abrupt transition of Ravi from being shown as this loveable guy to an angry, out-of-control person, as odd.
The whole montage of their happily married days could have been cut short, or mixed in with some scenes in between that show Ravi, being this angry abuser from the start, but in a controlled manner. Nobody changes personality over a phone call and that was not built up clearly. Apart from that, I believe the film clearly gives the audience the intended message, with good intentions.
Overall, the film is a recommended watch, which does not portray the victim as a lost cause, who needs someone else to rescue them. We are often trapped in the prison of our minds which stops us from making the right decisions at times. But once we make up our minds then nothing is impossible for us.
Ammu is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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