There have not been many films or series with characters sustaining a deep emotional wound carried from their childhood. The adults we have seen on screen with a not-so-normal perspective of life are often given only a few jump cuts or glimpses into their childhood. The most satisfying part in Rasu Ranjith’s new web series, Parachute, is that the parental conundrum gets a course correction before things could go too wrong beyond repair.
'Parachute' begins with an exhausted and nervous Varun (Shakthi Rithvik), looking for his little sister Rudra (Iyal) on the road while their parents file a missing complaint. It makes you wonder whether the children will be found again, why they went missing in the first place, and how bad parenting precipitates many wrong decisions. In five episodes, it answers all these questions.
Shakthi, as a naive and caring elder brother, and a smart Iyal covering for her brother’s goof-ups, are an apt foil for each other. The kite and the mark list incidents reflect the dynamics they both share. I don’t know if it is a conscious decision to design Kani Thiru’s character as a nameless housewife; it is useful in conveying that she lies in the periphery in deciding what happens in the house.
But she is taking home the credit for uttering the most powerful line in the series, hitting out at her husband for guilt-tripping them over providing them with more than he can afford.
Krishna’s cop character Kiruba gets some decent attention in the series when he takes up an investigation of the missing case. The series did not focus on his character, but that’s not much of a problem. Bava Chelladurai didn’t require much screen time to seamlessly suit the strong male figure that the family, except Shanmugam, resorts to in need of help.
A lion’s share of the series’ runtime, similar to a film, is devoted to exploring the relationship between Varun and Rudra; other characters are made to operate from the point of view of the siblings. Despite not thinking twice before starting a quarrel or bashing his son, an otherwise cantankerous Shanmugam (Kishore) hiding the liquor bottle from his kids, to not be a bad influence on them, is one of the rare instances we get to see while the children don’t.
The series, however, stands to benefit from a narration style from the children’s perspective. For them, a tippler is a helpful uncle; a person in charge of the seized vehicles is a ‘thatha’, and they give a chance for the unlawful ‘annas’ to redeem themselves by giving their bike or ‘parachute’ back.
This fresh perspective is a healthy departure from dubbing domestic violence as a token of love for decades in Tamil cinema. The series cautiously stops short of sermonising that Shanmugham is excused from using violence against his child as he affords him quality education in spite of working as a gas cylinder delivery executive.
With lines like ‘Avana moradanu nenachen, kolandhu maari aluvuraan’ and ‘Paasatha kaata theriyadha kovakkaran,’ the series explains that Shanmugham needs to change his ways but shouldn’t be dehumanised in the process. We are grateful to the creators that the children aren’t made guilty for taking umbrage with their father’s actions, like several ‘appa paasam’ films.
The writing gets sloppy when the narration begins flexing its messaging capabilities. Varun is so petrified by his father and wets himself when Shanmugham gets angry. So much petrified that Varun can even run to the next state but cannot face the wrath of his father? But the series gets preachy that it begins suggesting solutions for the Cauvery water dispute.
Further, the case of the bike theft is made a subplot, more or less to also add a cop procedural flavour to the series, carrying nothing crucial in itself. Similarly, logic too is one of the series’ failings. It feels forced to have made Varun and Rudra run away from the police when Kiruba could have easily contacted their parents using the vehicle’s registration number.
Such flat writing decisions indicate nothing but to dramatise the situation more. Dramatising in itself is not a problem, but there were several smarter ways to do that within the scope of this story.
'Parachute', in short, works in portions where we are shown the bondings and emotional reconciliations. When that alone forms the crux of the story, all the other dramatic devices function only as a jarring distraction. However, the series is praiseworthy for having its heart in the right place and pulling no punches with its opinion on domestic violence and parenting.
Director: Rasu Ranjith
Cast: Shakthi Rithvik, Iyal, Krishna, Kani Thiru, Kishore
Streaming on: Disney+Hotstar