Engagement is the level where the viewer is focused on the film with some level of involvement yet still highly aware of his or her surroundings. This is why introduction of the protagonist or any other hook for the film is very important. That is the transition period where the audience moves from reality into engagement. And I strongly acclaim the whole church sequence in the beginning and also the way titling credits were shown fading in and out from the church sequence was a smart move to captivate the audience.
And of course, Rajini’s introduction and the moment he said ‘Naan Veezhven Endru Ninaithayo’was the instance where we as audience completely became engaged with the film and moved on to ‘Engrossment’ instantly.
And of course, Rajini’s introduction and the moment he said ‘Naan Veezhven Endru Ninaithayo’was the instance where we as audience completely became engaged with the film and moved on to ‘Engrossment’ instantly.
Engrossment is where the viewer has total focus on the film with a high level of involvement.The use of flashback in the first half and after the interval block was a neat way of presenting the narrative. There were many other factors that put us into the Engrossment stage- Rajinism was one of them. Right from Petta opening the gate (his first scene in his first film) to the shot where he roared ‘ulle po’, the director had finely peppered the entire film with enough Rajinism. The magic of course, was Rajinism but that right amount really hit the jackpot!
The engrossment level was attained by everyone regardless of age and that was truly the highlights of Petta. Another highlight was the song selection from the 60s and 70s and placing the songs appropriately in the story narration. For instance, ‘malarum malaraatha’song before an intense stunt sequence when Rajini waited outside the hostel for the gangsters. This could be interpreted in two ways- a song that highlighted brother/sister relationship when Rajini was thinking of his sister and her son. Cinematically, it was an intelligent choice song. A slow melody placed right before an action-packed scene- an intelligent juxtaposition indeed!
The narrative obstacle implies that viewers’ curiosity can be triggered through uncertain future events in the narrative. If someone were to dissect Petta’s narrative to its micro particles, it was simply another version of Kizhaku Cheemaiyile where Vijaykumar fought hard to save his sister and her child, a story that has been told several hundred times in Tamil cinema. But what made Petta different, was the unfolding of curious events and the tight screenplay.
From Engrossment to Total Immersion
Total immersion occurs when viewers are so involved that they detach themselves from the surroundings and lose their sense of time and place.
The success of Petta was that audience was carried over each stage smoothly and they attained total Immersion at several instances right from the start of the film. Every song, for me, was a celebration of total immersion. Personally, I was immensely immersed in Petta when I watched the visuals of Ulla Ulla song. The nostalgic feeling of Kicku Yerudhey kept kicking in. Furthermore, the scene where Nawaz in the after-math of explosion crawled around looking for his sister and Petta and jumped over the dead bodies- top class acting! Another moment of total immersion.
However, the sustainability of total immersion is difficult in a film. No story is perfect.There were moments in Petta when I felt I was put back to ‘reality’ stage particularly during the fight and stunt sequences in the second half. The travel from Udhar Pradesh by Rajini and his gang to fight with Vijay Sethupathi and Nawaz didn’t really work for me.
In addition, researchers Brown and Cairns describe how empathy helps in the progression to the level of total immersion. Empathy can be achieved because the human mind is able to simulate emotions, even though the source is fictional. When viewers empathize with a character, they take his or her psychological perspective and experience it in their imagination, to some degree, in order to simulate what the character is feeling. So how much did we feel with the characters in Petta?
Personally, I didn’t have any empathy towards any of the characters. I wasn’t worried for them including Petta Velan. That might be one reason why total immersion wasn't achieved at a greater length. For instance, when chitti robo in Endhiran 1 dismantled itself, I was able to empathise with it. When it cried “Nalla vela naan manushana pirakalai”, I couldn’t control my tears. Not necessary that you have to weep or cry to show empathy, but the fact that you could connect to a fictional character, was when one can say he/she was totally immersed in the film. In Petta, it was more of a superhero saving his people. I knew he would do it and thus, there was not enough space for empathy to be built. Probably, a drawback in many Rajini’s films.
Nevertheless, a superhero Petta fighting against all odds and that brilliantly smart twist in Petta’s climax brought me back to enjoy the ending of Petta. And of course, total immersion once again, when “Raman Aandalum” remixed version was played.
A friend of mine told me that she didn’t like Rajini playing this kind of mind twists with a guy like Vijay Sethupathi. She in fact, gave another intelligent idea.
“Rajini should not have revealed that Vijay Sethupathi was not his son. He should have just done it in his mind voice and made Vijay sethupathi danced along with him in the Raman song.”
WOW! I love this alternate ending too!
WOW! I love this alternate ending too!
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