Domestic abuse also called “domestic violence” or “intimate partner violence”, can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. It can occur within a range of relationships including couples who are married, living together or dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.
– United Nations
MELBOURNE, 23 October 2022: Ammu, reminds me of The Great Indian Kitchen, the ugly truth of domestic violence or intimate partner violence in societies across South Asia, and also other parts of the globe. Ammu (original in Telugu) is another sad tale told often. Ammu (Aishwarya Lekshmi) and Ravi (Naveen Chandra) have a fairy-tale wedding and bliss seems to be thriving. Ravi is a cop and Ammu settles as a homemaker. Until, one day, Ammu forgets to take Ravi’s lunch to the police station. Director Charuskesh Sekar’s slow-burn drama sees the transformation of a loving dream husband into Ammu’s nightmare. Or, was he always like this? Does she marry for getting slapped? Or, face humiliation from her partner.
Step-by-step Ammu while facing regular domestic abuse and the contradictions of a loving wife not ready to confront abuse, musters the courage to take on the devil. In a rather unusual way of doing this through a convict on parole, she moves ahead to protect her dignity. The convict escaping and the interactions with Ammu are a bit overdone. But this is her retribution. And, Ammu decides to move on her own path.
Aishwarya Lekshmi and Naveen Chandra do justice to their roles, at times quite intense. The direction is good, but less length and a bit of tight editing were desirable. Despite its second-half drawbacks, the Director has given the message. And, that is what this movie is all about.
I give Ammu, three out of five stars.
Name- Ammu (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi).
Duration- 2 hours & 16 minutes.
Content- M
OTT platform – Amazon Prime (running now)
Director – Charuskesh Sekar.
Actors – Aishwarya Lekshmi, Naveen Chandra, Bobby Simha…
