Freedom At Midnight - A Different Take

**CONTAINS SPOILERS!! READ AFTER WATCHING THE FILM TO GRASP A BETTER KNOWLEDGE.




Freedom @ Midnight, a short film released by the youtube channel Music247 stars Anupama Parameswaran and Hakkim Shahjahan. Due to the theme and subject discussed by the film, it opened various eye-opening discussions all around the community.

Technical Details:

The short film is produced under the banner of Posh Magicae Creations by Abigael Nothing. While the cinematography is by Abdul Rahim, the short film has been edited by Joel Ravi. The music has been composed by Lijin Babino. The film is directed by RJ Shaan.

Movie Synopsis:

The story showcases the life of a high school teacher, Chandra (Anupama Parameshwar), and her husband Das (Hakkim Shahjahan) who is a very busy businessman. The movie starts with a phone conversation between Chandra and her friend while her friend asking that did Chandra revealed something to Das. As the movie progresses, Chandra states that her husband doesn't understand her anymore and he has not been any more like as he was in the past. She also opens up about her sexual fantasy about doing sex with a stranger in a far-off mountain inside a tent. Stunned and vexed by this revelation, Das starts to state that this is not how being an 'ideal wife' and says that she doesn't had these thoughts in the past. Finally, Chandra reveals her knowledge about the extra-marital-virtual relationship of das with one of his chatmates. Faced with the truth, Das starts apologizing and Chandra leaves the scene. A sudden cut from the scene reveals that all this was her dream while she thought about how to handle the situation.

So, what's in it?

Since many of the online movie portals and movie enthusiasts showcased their take upon the freedom of women and sexual fantasies apart from marriage, I am not intending to discuss the same here. Let's look after something else which every family can relate to this.

Are you satisfied with your current relationship/situation?

All the major problems discussed here arose because Das has gone for an extramarital relationship while being a husband to Chandra and father for their daughter. So the major questions that arise here are:

1. Does everyone is entitled to have extra-marital affair while being with someone?

2. Does this happen in every house? Is this normal?

3. Why do these things keep happening?

4. What should we do to avoid/cope-up with these kinds of situations?

Marriage is a commitment made by both parties to each other. As the marriage vows state, the partners agree "to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part". It's a two-way agreement. Both partners have to keep up their promises while upholding other's respect and emotions. So both the partners should consider/understand that their other half also has the same emotions, ambitions, and other physical and mental requirements as same as they have. So this can happen in both ways and we can exhibit many examples where it had happened.

Considering the current scenarios, the probability of this happening in every house is substantial. But this mainly depends upon the emotions and actions of each partner, where it decides the outcome. Also, the current social conditions and the financial instability between both partners also carry a huge role where the events turn out. The widespread of social media has aided this a lot and nowadays it's easier to find all kinds of relationships online. This gives them a headstart and taking things further. But due to the social confrontation and the existing "perfect family models" in the society, people openly getting into these are very low. So, even though the current situations favor these kinds of actions, the events turning out into an extramarital relationship is less.

Communication is a key factor in every relationship. Whenever the communication breaks between the partners, intimacy starts to decline. External conditions and frustrations start to build and they lookout for a way to vent this out. Care, respect, and trust are the major pillars that uphold any relationship. Whenever these go into a downfall, the integrity of the relationship starts to decline and people look for other ways to get these. External factors such as workload, mental stress, etc also trigger these situations.

Coming to the movie itself, we can see that Das tries to reason with Chandra that he did this because of his heavy workload and mental stress due to that. What a major point he misses here is that Chandra is also facing a heavy workload and mental stress being a teacher, house-wife, and parent at the same time. Chandra also never cares about to talk these with Das, until the event of the current situation. Even though Das and Chandra appear to be a happy couple to the outside world through their actions, they were mentally a great distance apart. This is why Chandra was not able to notice the behavioral changes in Das or came to know about his virtual relationship earlier. Das also never cares about the responsibilities of Chandra and assumes that she is being happy with her chores rather than communicating about it. Das is almost on the verge of losing total respect for Chandra and thinks that he is giving her 'freedom' by not caring about her.

What we have to really focus on this is that marriage is very much different from being in a relationship. It's the next level of commitment and being respectful and trustworthy till life end is important to this. Before being in a marriage, it's a lot better to understand your partner and comprehend his/her life dreams, expectations, etc while trying to find out really he/she is the right partner for you. Even though arranged marriage setup confines these kinds of interactions, it has to be done in order to prevent future irregularities.

To avoid these kinds of situations in existing marriage bonds, opening up with your partners wholeheartedly about everything brings a much better change to the situations. Know your partner better and keep the value and respect in both ways. Share your feelings and stress with each other and try to be a better person each day. Mistakes are human nature and rectifying them is the way to a happier life.

One more thing to keep in mind is that, if you can't go forward, parting your ways based on healthy conditions is always an option. Divorce should not be considered taboo and it should be done in needed situations. Parting and living your own life is far better than frustrating and struggling your whole life.

(Please keep in mind that I don't glorify the behavior/actions of Das or Chandra in any manner or enunciate what Chandra showcases in the film is fine. We try to discuss an entirely different topic here.)

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