How Antony blessed me
Some time ago, I wrote some articles on LinkedIn. Among them were musings on professional lessons that some films taught me.
After a hiatus, I reflect on the insights that a Malayalam movie—Anugraheethan Antony (produced under the banner of Lekhsya Entertainments)—provided to me at a personal and subjective level.
Released in April 2021, the movie is now available on Amazon Prime Video[i].
I have a personal policy of not going into plot lines while discussing the insights received from a?movie. Thus, this article will contain no overt spoilers.
When translated into English, Anugraheethan Antony means Blessed Antony. The broad story arc revolves around how a dead person, spending the last few days as a spirit on earth, appreciates the value that the things he possessed while alive had. All this while he is attempting to give closure to some subtle aspects of his love life.
The name of the protagonist in the movie is Antony Varghese (played by Sunny Wayne).
Suddenly, the dead individual realizes the love that hid behind his father’s stern words. The boundless affection that the pets he hated had towards him. And how his friends and love interest deeply miss him.
To see the value behind all that he possessed, Antony had to lose his life to find and appreciate them.
While alive, everything usually seems commonplace. But are they truly so?
As it builds up to the climax, the movie is a beautifully crafted sponge that absorbs all the soft feelings innate in a human heart. It helped me realize a very subtle dimension of life. I will try explaining it through a metaphor.
Life is like surfing on top of an ocean’s waves. The board can flip over anytime. While surfing the waves with surety, it feels like all is under control. It, of course, takes great skills and training. The winds blow through the hair, the spray caresses the face, and the legs display magical dexterity in controlling the board’s movements.
All are vibrant. All is alive. All is focused.
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But when least expected, the crest may suddenly give way to a trough. An unexpected current may strike. The board flips. Everything is now underwater. The certainty of the earlier moment suddenly dissipates in the water’s lather.
However, while surfing the board, there is a spectacular focus, an intense bonding with the present moment and its wiggles. There is self-discovery.
That is also when I realized that the world of work, too, is an arena of spectacular focus, an intense bonding with the present moment and its wiggles. And all the people that I have met so far as part of my professional life were teachers who led me down the path of self-discovery.
I am thankful to all the people I have met throughout my career. They all have a special place regarding bringing to light several facets of my inner personality before me.
While the everyday rhythm of work unfolds, it all seems so commonplace, so innocuous and routine. But Anugraheethan Antony helped me realize that nothing can be farther from the truth. It is just that the beauty and grandeur of the whole thing cannot be appreciated in full that easily while it is in the process of unfolding.
Antony blessed me.
Watch the movie on Amazon Prime Video to enjoy the delicately crafted feel-good human story that, despite its overtones of damp grief, leaves the viewer with the hope that maybe not all is lost. In loss, too, there can be insight and reward.
And all while the eyes feast on the exquisite beauty of Kerala’s hill regions that serve as a quintessential backdrop.
REFERENCE(S)
[i] https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Anugraheethan-Antony/0OZ3XOOL1MCQN0LIFXI5TCA2X5