As a structuralist critic, here is my analysis of the movie Drishyam

This blog is a response of our classroom activity.

Structuralism focuses on the study of literature with focusing upon work as self - organised linguistic structure, it analyse the narrative material and examine the underlying structure. Gerald Genette defines structuralism as a method is based on the study of structures
           
With the view point of a structuralist I would like to analyse a bollywood movie "Drishyam" with the gener of mystery and thriller, written by Jeetu Joseph and directed by Nishikant Kamat. The general narratology has an order of A1(a murder occurs) B2 (the circumstances of murder revealed) C3 (At the end murderer is caught) but the movie has a 'novelty value' with quite different and interesting narratology as it starts with the ending part of story but the beginning scene of the movie and the protagonist flows in flashback sitting in a police station and a murder occurs and in B2 part where the circumstances are revealed to the audience properly but not to the detectives, they know the mystery of murder but there is lack of evidence. In the C2 part the murderer should be caught but in the movie murderer has successfully escaped and living happily.

There is a repetitive frequency that an event is occur once and narrated by almost all the characters in movie with the same manner. The duration between the murder and narration is around 20 days. The voice of the narration is Intra-diegetic, all the characters who are connected with the incident.
Perspective of the narrator is internally focalized.
Here we could realised the versatility of stucturalism that it's not important that always a murderer is caught.
Here is the concept of sign signifier and significant we could take struggle between truth and visual memories "Drishyam" as a sing, the signifier is the efforts has been done by the protagonist to save his family and it signified that you always remember what you have seen and narrated repeatedly. The referent could be given by a critic that a very little educated person with a very powerful general knowledge can gain victory over the well educated police officers is quite a new structure and concept but could be more unrealistic.

Ferdinand de saussure has given three terms on which structuralism based, They are
1] Langage- the entire human potential speech
2] Langue- the system that each of us uses to generate discourse that is intelligible to others
3] Parole - our individual utterance. In the movie three Languages have used, English, major part in Hindi and as parole there is Marathi. Here Saussure has given an idea of sign, signifier and  signifie. Every sentence has this three parts and in Drishyam we could say that a sign is the visual memories (a tv serials and movies which the protagonist watch) and signifier is the knowledge he got, and the way he used that  knowledge is signified. Here the another point by Saussure is applicable that there is a relationship between signifier and the signified is arbitrary(with respect to nature but not with respect to culture) as in Drishyam he used the knowledge for hiding the crime which has done by his daughter, nature could understand the emotions of father but culturally it is not good, as per culture hiding a crime is like supporting a crime.

The movie has 'rules and convention of different signifying system', the process which should be used in solving the case or should be used for caught the murderer has used for hide the crime and criminal.
As a structuralist, it can be said that the movie is very Logically structured the situation is very perfectly handled by the protagonist and his family but as far as realistic point of view is concerned the circumstances like that is rarely happens.

Analysis of a song from a bollywood movie

कहीं दूर जब दीन ढल जाए
सांज की दुल्हन बदन चुराए चुपके से आए
मेरे खयालो के आंगन मे
कोई सपनो के दीप जलाए

कभी हुई जब युंही बोझिल सांसे
भर आई बेठे बेठे जब युंही आंखे
कभी मचल के प्यार से चलके
छुएं कोई मुझे पर नजर न आए

कहीं तो ये दील कभी मिल नही पाते
कहीं पे निकल आए जनमों के नाते
घनिं थी ऊल्जन बैरी अपना मन
अपना ही होके सहे दर्द पराये

दिल जाने मेरे सारे भेद ये गहरे
हो गए केसे मेरे सपने सुनहरे
येह मेरे सपने यहीं तो हे अपने
मुझसे जुदा न होगे इनके ये साये
कहीं दुर...

In the very starting of the song there are very effective metaphors which evokes our imagination with beautiful visual imagery. Such as evening has described as the bride who is shying, and slowly allows night to come over it. In the first line the word "kahi dur" suggests that a poet is in need of peace and that is the reason that he thinks about the place which is far away from routine life. Further he expresses his imagination that when darkness is covering his life at that time someone comes with the brightness in his life. The imagination of lightening lamps of dreams is quite notable. It's suggests that he is hoping for something good to be happen.

The next stanza is about of burden in life as sometimes our own breath became heavy and the word "yuh hi" suggests that we have such pains which continuous follows our unconscious mind. Air has not such weight but the breath is used as metaphor here to describe our life and responsibilities. Further he talks about our pains and sorrows which are laid in our unconscious mind and when we are alone all that pain comes out as tears. In loneliness poet feels that someone is fluttering around him with love and it touches him but he is not able to see, it suggests that poet expects someone around him or it can also be said that there is some spiruality around him to console him that he is not alone there.

In the next stanza he talks about the myth of rebirth with satire on society by saying, sometimes  lovers are not able to live life together and on the other hand  lifetime connection emerges. He says that our own heart is our enemy because it should think about us but it always care about others. The personification of heart is presented here.

Poet says that his dreams has became golden and he concidered his all dreams as they will only stay with him, again it suggests loneliness and the presence of his dream after his death and it will be with his soul.

There are such visual imagery which we could feel by even one reading, like the picture of sun set, an image of evening and someone moves around with love but we could not see that person.

The figurative language is presented quite interestingly that the comparison of evening with bride,thoughts with courtyard,  dreams with lamps, and the golden dreams.

Personification of heart as enemy evening as bride, heavy breaths, heart as best friend who knows all deep secrets of poet and shadows of dreams are also sounds interesting.

There is a paradox in the language as an evening has presented as bride but bride as metaphor suggests a new beginning of life and evening is an ending of the day and the whole song has a pessimistic undertone.