Virupaksha, Dasara, Balagam: Where the bird turns an effective visual metaphor

They say it right that you don’t need to go afar to find inspiration in life - the immediate surroundings, the nature around us too tell a story we aren’t always willing to hear. Perhaps that’s what prompted filmmakers behind the Telugu blockbusters Virupaksha, Dasara and Balagam to tell simple yet engaging stories that struck a chord with viewers.

If Karthik Dandu’s Virupaksha was a thriller where the protagonist was trying to find the truth behind a series of deaths in a village, Venu Yeldandi’s Balagam was a funeral drama where family members milk the death of a patriarch for their selfish interests. Dasara, directed by Srikanth Odela, was an action drama about three childhood friends and how village politics wreak havoc on their lives.

Balagam (streaming on Amazon Prime Video), which throws light on traditions specific to villages in Telangana, focused elaborately about a ritual where crow needs to eat a meal offered by a deceased person’s family members if the departed soul had to attain salvation. The crow was used as a metaphor in the story and the bird eats the meal only when the family members rise above their differences and stay together.

Similarly, in the Nani-Keerthy Suresh starrer Dasara (streaming on Netflix), when a pivotal character dies and their closed ones perform post-death rituals, the crow not eating the meal is to used as a gesture to drive the story forward. Only when Nani marries Keerthy and performs the ritual, the bird consumes the meal. However, with Dasara, the portrayal of the tradition is restricted to a sequence or two, at best, unlike Balagam.

In stark contrast to Balagam and Dasara, the crow in Virupaksha (to stream soon on Netflix) is used as a signal of the dangerous supernatural spirit to unleash fear in the hearts of the viewers. Here too the crow is integral to the superstitions, black magic practiced by the culprit and the sound design effectively enhances the impact. After these films, whenever we notice a crow, it’s simply not another bird, we realise.