In Gypsy teaser, we see Jiiva explain that he is a gypsy and that means he hates religion. The people who are listening to him – a lowly police man and street performers who dress as gods, assume this means he is a maoist, and call out to their god.
Following this we see all things that come to mind on hearing the word gypsy – beaded jewellery, guitar, dirty clothes, foreigners, Varanasi, the reds and the oranges. Jiiva travels the country on his horse, and gets off his cart in a bhai area, he is in love with a Muslim woman.
He is then automatically drawn to communism, which means he sits in front of a red wall painted with Bhagat Singh, and he shows us the tattoo on his back. In a place that worships gods and Yogi Adityanath, he participates in mob violence, fights with the police, breaks things, and tells the media ‘hulla bol’, ‘urakka pesu’.
The teaser actually starts with a voice over saying, “Aimlessly I have travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, but I haven’t learnt the distance between one heart and another.” So one hopes that will become this gypsy’s aim. And there are sweet moments when he’s dancing with Natasha Singh on a gali with Muslim women, and he shows children that his horse too can dance, and they’re all carefree.
But we don’t know if this will turn into careless politics. It is against the right-wing, but what will remain of Jiiva’s politics if we minus the stereotypes? What is his history, what journey does he make before he comes to see himself as a communist? Why is Bhagat Singh, an atheist, a nationalist, and not a communist, in the picture?
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Gypsy has been called a travel-based love story by the film makers. It is written and directed by Raju Murugan, the director of Cukkoo and Joker. Malayalam actor Sunny Wayne plays a communist leader in the film. Lal Jose, Susheela Raman, Rajkiran and Sathyaraj play supporting actors.
Cinematography is by SK Selvakumar. Music is by Santhosh Narayanan. The audio release for the film’s promo song titled ‘Veri Veri Pedu’ released on 31 December 2018, with participation by Indian Communist Party members and activists like Thirumurugan Gandhi, Piyush Manush, Balbharati and Grace Banu.
The film’s release date is yet to be announced.
Watch the teaser here:
Image Courtesy: Times of India