Gantumoote Movie Review : An Innocent and Romance Highschool Story

 



Gantumoote or the meaning is Baggage is a 2019 Indian Kannada drama movie written and directed by Roopa Rao and produced by Rao and Sahadev Kelvadi. This film is set in the 90s and tells about the flashback life story of Meera. A girl who loves watching film since childhood. Her parents are a working couple and by watching movies, she find her happiness. Honestly, I'm a little struggling while watching this movie. At first, I was confused about what message this film really wanted to convey. But, after I finished watching. Surprisingly, this movie is full of moral messages and also precious. Actually, they are many hidden issues on this movie. 

Source:twtext.com

The issue that really catch my attention was when Meera went to the cinema alone and at the cinema she got bad treatment from a man who grabbed her thigh. I was surprised, why a little girl can get sexual harassment easily? It is really unwelcome and inappropriate action. I think that this incident stems from the patriarchal system that still exists in our society where women are still considered weak and can be made as objects by men. But, it was Meera’s favorite movie and she decided to entered the theater again. Meera want enjoy the movie, she had freedom to enjoy what she wants.

Source:theseventhart.info

Meera’s journey began to adulthood. The drama of life began when he entered high school. She faces a lot of condition such as she got academic pressure from her parents, she fell in love with a boy, and she got bullying at highschool. When Meera was in highschool, she is a big fan of Salman Khan, the actor from the film Hum Aap Ke Hai Kaun. She kept Salman Khan’s photos in her diary, but her mother found it and scolded Meera because her mother think it was the reason why Meera got a bad score at school. Until, she met her male classmate, Madhu. With her innocence, she likes Madhu because he has hair that similar to Salman Khan. Actually, Meera is a smart girl at school and she becames class topper. Until one day, she skipped the class and watched movies with her friends while still wearing her school uniform. At the cinema, she kissed Madhu and because of that, she got bullying at school. Her male friend called her 'Dagar' which means slut. Meera felt sad and she becomes overthinking with that. I am personally annoyed with Madhu who not defending Meera. Meera finally found a way to prevent her from being called a slut by winning a speech competition at school. Here I feel this scene carries a message about patriarchy and feminism at the same time, where Meera defends her rights because she is not what her male friends say as a slut. Meera just found her happiness with Madhu even though at first she thought Madhu was just similar with her idol, Salman Khan.

Source:newindianexpress.com

During Meera’s high school story, she also got academic pressure from his parents and teacher. They want Meera just focus on the exam, while Madhu doesn’t want Meera get too much focus on preparing the exam whereas she will ignore Madhu. I think the character of Madhu relates to most of the men who only view their girlfriends as an object of lust. They don’t support her priorities and becomes toxic. And finally, Meera prefers to focus on the exam. The other side, she was also forced by her parents who wants she take engineering as her major instead of choosing the major she wanted. Oh really? I think this only happens in Indonesia where most parents force their children to take the major they want without thinking that their child will be depressed if they take that major.

The final exams are getting closer, but Madhu doesn't prepare well. He only focused on Meera. As the result, Madhu didn’t passed the exam. At that time, Madhu seemed unworthy to Meera because he had to repeat the exam and he became frustrated when his friends entered the college. Meera suggests giving her book to Madhu, so that he can study for prepare the second test. But, Madhu even felt uncomfortable with it. He felt considered stupid and Meera was considered like the senior who managed him. He also assumed that all happened because of Meera. Here I can see the patriarchal attitude carried out by Madhu. He did not accept that Meera could be better than him. Madhu doesn’t want Meera continues her studies. Madhu wants he can be better than Meera. He always remembered his principle, “If you get the first class, you get the first class life. If you get second class, second life”. He thought that it made him so useless. Surprisingly, in India, this patriarchy still exists today. As in Indonesia, this is still an under-seen problem and many women are still influence by the patriarchy itself. 

Source:indianexpress.com

Unfortunately, Madhu also came under pressure by his family. His family never respect and appreciate his efforts and only demanded that Madhu can passed the test. His family also didn’t care about his mental health. This issue also draws my attention when the parents didn’t know or maybe didn’t care about the mental health of their children. Though, mental health is as important as body health and if it does not get any attention, it can be fatal even causing death. Although this film focuses on the issue of patriarchy or the innocence of girl who chasing boy, but I just want to know and see another problem that this movie brings. Those what I got, parents must know the child's needs, know what problems the child is facing, and be more concerned about giving appreciation to all the efforts their child has made.

Overall, this such a great and touching movie. All the elements in this movie are so valuable. The plots are related with our life. The acting of the actor also looks so natural. I really appreciate Roopa who can make movie with all beautiful settings. I also learned from this movie that there is no lasting happiness. Many problems come to our lives, but we also have to be strong in facing that. This movie had quite impact on my life, I realized that no matter how tough life is, we have to survive. :)

This movie is really worth to watch!


 Official Trailer of Gantumoote (2019):


     Source: https://youtu.be/CY5c2VNaI2s

*This movie review is intended for Literature course only. There is no intention of making any profit. Thank you.


Best Regards:
Ramadhani Widita Andini Pratinawang
(Literature A/195110507111004)

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