Director: Girish Kasaravalli (2002, Kannada, 132 mins)

Reviews: RottenTomatoes (N/A), IMDB (6.0), Wikipedia.

Watch online: YouTube, YouTube, YouTube.

Similar movies: family, village life.

Summary: A village is about to be submerged in water because of a dam. The goverment is paying a family of three a meager sum of money to relocate. However the family (husband, wife and husband's father) are priests. By relocating to a small town and starting afresh, they stand to lose the love and respect they traditionally received, generation after generation.

Many shots have water. The river, the rains, the jungle and lush green valleys would be lovely to see on a large screen with good print. Music is good, with a simple but haunting tune that plays in the background repeatedly.

The movie is attractive for a special reason. Through its characters, the director makes us think: Who is doing things? Is it us or the Universe? How should we face a situation? With optimism, fatalism, withdrawal or fantasy? The 'Inner Theme' section in the Wikipedia article has a well written summary of the belief systems and the approach to life of the four main characters:

As in all films by Girish Kasaravalli, Dweepa deals with an 'inner' theme: that of human minds that isolate themselves due to former beliefs and convictions. Each character emerges as a representation of different viewpoints. The protagonist Nagi (Soundarya) has been portrayed as an optimistic character whose support is hope and only that. One can notice how the character finally emerges as a symbol of positive thinking and optimism. Ganapa (Avinash), on the contrary, resigns to fate and finally, when they narrowly escape submersion, he fails to see that his wife has achieved the impossible. Duggajja (M.V.VasudevaRao) withdraws from the catastrophe rather than face it. He is devastated to see his convictions and beliefs crumble before his eyes and, in the end, he clings to his beliefs in desperation. Krishna (Harish Raju) portrays a typical dreamer, who can mesmerize the village folk with fairy tales about the world beyond the isolated island. In short, he encapsulates the 'fantasy' world we tend to dream about.

Just like the French movie Red, the main female character is awesome! She personifies hope, commitment and strength. I could watch this movie again to see how she deftly handles situations.