Arjun Reddy: Through the Spectacles of Psychoanalysis

At one point in the film, Arjun’s childhood friend, Shiva frustratingly tells Arjun what it feels like to be his friend. He explains that its like pissing all over yourself, which will be disgusting for the people around, but only he can feel the warmth it brings. He laughs post explaining, what seems like a bizarre idea of friendship. Little does he realize that in months to come ahead, he will feel the bad odor that will emerge as a result of the drenched friendship he shares with Arjun. So, a person’s best friend has this theory of being in friendship with him, one could imagine the mammoth task which lies ahead of the person falling in love with Arjun.   

In the beginning of the film, we see a couple draped under white sheets near an ocean, where a voice from heavens tells us about the idea of love. It tells us about the magic of lying near the ocean, and the effect it has on our souls. “The divine purity of the ocean which touches the souls cannot be separated by any means, be it through distance, catastrophe, circumstances or time. Even though the souls may seem to be separable, life within them beats as one” We quickly cut to see a man cleaning Arjun’s Royal Enfield. After repeating viewing, I came to realize that the initial particular scenes are subtly hinting at the entire journey of Arjun through two different but similar metaphors. The initial point is the from perspective of the Royal Enfield covered in dust, which is actually Arjun Reddy, who is as covered in the dust of alcohol, drugs and heartbreak, the man cleans the bike, and starts it. Similarly, throughout the film, we see Arjun’s friends, and family trying their best to clean Arjun of his own form of dust, and make him functional yet again. The reason I draw these parallels between Arjun and his Royal Enfield is because of the association the bike covers in his metaphorical journey. Earlier we see Arjun riding solo on his bike, but as soon as Preethi arrives in his life, he attaches a back seat for her. When Arjun moves out from his house, we see him drawing pictures of his Royal Enfield on the walls. That itself symbolizes the deep attachment he has with those moments spent with Preethi. People change with time, and so do their perceptions about a lot of things, in this case, Arjun who once called the feeling of nostalgia a nonsense act, wants to transfer himself back in that same nonsense act of nostalgia, carefree days, and recollect those moments with Preethi riding in the Enfield in a two-seater. The tale that Arjun’s grandmother narrates about an incident in his childhood is also a condensed version of the film’s story. Arjun has lost his precious doll (Preethi), and is crying continuously. He has started to live his life in grief. When people around him tells him to move on, he rejects their theories and tells them to help him find his lost doll, the underlying hope that he had from childhood for his doll is still visible for his search for Preethi.

The IMDB synopsis of the film reads as “Arjun Reddy, a short-tempered house surgeon gets used to drugs and drink when his girlfriend is forced to marry a different person” its certainly not as straightforward as it sounds, the film is more than a love story of this short-tempered house surgeon. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga creates this documentary like drama around this fascinating figure, and gives us several indications to understand him more as a person. He uses the medium of love story, the catharsis of emotions driven through suffering that Arjun undergoes.

Throughout the film, we superficially hear things related to Arjun’s actions from a vast variety of people associated with him, their judgments of his lifestyle, his decisions. It is because of these judgments that Arjun come across as a person in self destructive mode, we are made to believe that what Arjun is doing is totally out of hysteria post an incident that is constantly disturbing him. We cannot understand Arjun’s actions through someone else’s perspective, because as I said before, they are superficially layered and I think intentionally not explored by the director himself, a major reason for me to consider this film as a documentary drama. Even throughout his love story, we never see Preethi’s side of the story, the kind of protectiveness he found with Arjun remains unexplored. So how do we delve deeper into Arjun’s perspective to understand more comprehensively why he does he do certain things that are completely unexpected, bizarre and post all these activities he remains stubborn in his decision and always ends up giving a logical explanation of his actions which becomes a difficult point to argue on.

A simple means to understand Dr. Arjun Reddy Deshmukh is to interlink his actions with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.  Freud’s theory maintains that human behavior is the outcome of the exchanges among three module parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. The theory places great importance on the role of unconscious psychological battles in defining behavior and character. Any Struggle between these three phenomena and our resistance to change in accordance with the conflict determines our actions and behavior. Id, the most basic of the three dimensions is all about seeking pleasure in any form. Be it through sex, food, aggression. It works utterly through the unconscious part of our mind. Superego follows the social and the moral protocols. The part which enforces a belief in us that we got to do things in accordance with what is acceptable in society. It is that moral compass that make us stay in our limits under the use of fear and guilt. The ego lies in the thin line that separates id and superego. It acts as a mediator between these two sides, and brings the balance between the conflicts of id and superego.

It is quite evident from the above-mentioned short summary of Freud’s theory that Arjun is driven solely by his id part. Arjun’s aggressive nature is the result of the stimulating id part of his personality. The first time we see him under enigmatic circumstances, he is sleeping on the terrace of a building covered under a nightie (regarding which he is also scolded by a lady, but he remains unaffected). He saves the number of his patient's fiancée as Fracture Case Fiancée, het gets up and have a drink. As he arrives to her door, In the background we hear the song "Cherry Cherry Lady" by Modern Talking which has few lines like "Who is right? Who is wrong? I don't know, I've got pain in my heart" as Arjun comes dramatically smoking to meet fracture case fiancée. He is totally driven by pleasure seeking energy. 

A paradox shift in Arjun's actions and his urge to fulfill his stimulating hormones happens when the fracture case fiancée at one point does not feel like engaging sexually with him, she tells him to stop and go away, at this point Arjun is in such a mad craving of pleasure that he forgets the concept of consent, and points a knife at the girl. He realizes his mistakes as soon as the electricity comes back in the room, Arjun’s actions were dangerous in darkness, the light comes back both physically and metaphorically in his life for that moment, and he leaves the place with a slight hint of embarrassment in his eyes. The id part of his brain made him unaware of the extent to which he might go to fulfill his pleasures, but the synergistic association between his superego and ego made him realize that this is not the way he should go.

There is precise amount of alcohol that Dr. Arjun needs before a major surgery, unethical but again, he doesn't give a damn, so his assistants measures the precision of alcohol. Again, desire to be under the influence of alcohol can be attributed to the characteristic of id. He explains his patient the case through simple words and make sure he remains comfortable with the procedure. This nature is a mix of superego and ego. There is no conflict here, it simply the passion he has for his work. Dr. Arjun Reddy grows from a maverick college guy to a different sort of rebel who has overcome his flawed mentality. This growth is also marked on his personality structures, at one point he tells Preethi to befriend a fat girl, since he thinks they are warm like teddy bears and loyal, so the probability of friendship lasting longer is on the higher side. When Arjun meets Shiva’s to be brother in law and hears how he objectifies women, he suggests Shiva that he is not the right person for his sister, at this point one feels Arjun has matured towards his outlook for women, the ego part of his behavior that once proudly objectified fat women has evolved into a much more civilized form that tells him to not objectify women.

    

A scene which makes Arjun’s behavior more complex to understand is where he explains why he has kept his neighbor, Peter’s fishes in different tanks.  Two different aspects, it's hilarious when you superficially look at it, but it's one of the saddest points subtly mentioned. Arjun is on the verge of a mental breakdown, and he cannot stand anyone living happily, so he makes those happy group of fishes go through separation. Minutes earlier before this conversation, Shiva looks into the thesis which Arjun was working on, and was quite surprised to see the kind of work he had put up, Arjun thesis was tentatively titled as “Comparing the efficacy of metal implants based on gender and age group in orthopedic traumatic conditions” to which he tells that at this point where brain is at its sharpest. Now this line holds a great importance in the context of the overall scene, first we are told that how efficiently Arjun is working on his thesis, also evident from the fact that the chalk board in his flat is totally dedicated to his thesis work, an action triggered by his ego, which is constantly reminding him to let go of the grief and be active in the reality of life, the moment he tells that he separated those group of fishes because he felt their happiness and wanted them to feel the pain of separation that he himself is undergoing is a dark reminder of the impact that his id form has taken over, he is jealous of those fishes or anyone around him who is happily in love. The fluctuation of Arjun’s emotions is so fast paced through out the film that it gets very difficult for a viewer to form a strong final opinion for him.  

Arjun doesn't understand the dynamics of marriage, it was only after his grandmother explains to him the difference of being in love and the process involved in shaping that love into marriage. I felt that it was only his grandmother that understood him completely, she knew about the undying hope that Arjun has in his nature, she lets him suffer in his own personal space so that he can come out of it as a better person, it was her untimed death that brings another side of Arjun.

I started to sense a pattern of situations where Arjun comes out as a sensible person or the director wanted us to believe in his sensibilities and validate his actions. "A heartbroken man is like a girl going through PMS, don't tell him this is his fate, rather be attentive and understand his pain" the iconic analogy that Arjun gives to clear his constant mood swings and sad outlooks towards life. His constant eccentric actions do indicate a regular shift between id, superego and ego. The rise of morality when he admits that has alcohol problems and does not deserve to be doctor, because he broke the trust between a patient and a doctor, his constant search for satisfaction in sexual forms without the involvement of emotions. There is a beautiful shot which juxtaposes Arjun’s intoxication with drugs parallel to him making love to Preethi, its as if he himself wanted to feel those moments of ecstasy again, and to forget those moments, he gets addicted to alcohol and drugs. He can be easily confused as someone suffering from depression due to several actions that he displays; uneven hunger, sleeping at odd locations.

In one of the most brilliant sequences in the film, we see Shiva having a conversation with his father about Arjun. Before this conversation, Shiva’s father is told that Arjun on several occasions is having a bad stomach, retrospectively speaking, Arjun does indeed suffer from Diarrhea, a mental form of it. When Shiva narrates Arjun’s attempt to move on his life, we hear another dimension to the personality of Arjun. How come a man so brilliant in his profession and once so focused in his life be made vulnerable so easily that he goes to a love failure support group to help him solve his issue.

   

Arjun’s dad gives him tag of being a nihilistic, and he has his reason, because Arjun has gone so deep in the despair of failing to be with Preethi, that he finds life meaningless, without any intrinsic value linked with it. He gets resentful of his friend marrying someone he loves, because according to him he is not the worthy candidate of love marriage, he tells them the relationship he shared with Preethi was far more intimate and was an ideal relationship in every sense. A moment of change comes, when Arjun is told about the untimed death of his grandmother, he goes back to his home and meets his dad. Arjun is more worried about the fact that how will his father accept this sudden loss. He tells his dad that being born, being in love and then dying only constitutes 10% of the important moments in life, the rest are just reactions to those moments. He goes back to the room and plays Louis Armstrong’s “What a wonderful World” which was his grandmother’s favorite song. Coincidentally we also see a poster of Louis Armstrong in Arjun’s flat, signifying how much he missed his grandmother. These are the few of the many details that Sandeep Reddy Vanga wants us to notice and get even more invested in his protagonist.     

Freud’s theories are criticized for its narrow, and misogynistic approach in determining a person’s behavior. Identically, Arjun Reddy also can be discussed in details about the representation of the masculine narcissism of its lead character. The way he interrelates love as a form of ownership, his anger management issues, the way he slaps Preethi and gives him a deadline of six hours, that particular slap to Preethi was a hint of toxicity that Arjun will spread more rapidly if things does not go in accordance to his desires, or it can simply be assumed that he vents out his anger in the form of that slap to Preethi to what her father tells him.

      

So, what conclusions do we get from implying the basics of psychoanalytic theory on Arjun’s actions, the instable mood is simply because of the interlinking of pleasure, morality and reality. He watches Goodfellas, plays football with utmost aggression, is specific about the kind of treatment his patients need, draws anatomy topics on Preethi’s hands, runs after his maid Dhaneshwari like a lunatic for breaking his favorite glasses, names his pup after his girlfriend and talks to him with affection and utmost love. He yells at his patients for being too irritating but then goes and tells them the issue they are going through with sincerity. He has strong visual skills, He disregards his friend unabashedly for merely sitting in his clinic and prescribing paracetamol and Calpol. He is full of contradictions, even the pleasure he wants to seek at any moment cannot be guessed because one might not be sure, what form of pleasure he needs at that time, a physical one or an emotional one where someone listens to his sad story. Was he a tool for Sandeep Reddy Vanga to convey the pain and suffering that love offers, because at the end of the film there is a voice which gives sympathy to the people who have been separated in love, and hopes for a better future for them. There cannot be an full fledged overall post-analysis assessment of Arjun Reddy, which can confirm the behavior of Arjun, just the moments that can be expanded from all the directions to know more about his psyche. The rationalization behind this post was to discuss why Arjun appeared such an engaging character despite the roller-coaster journey that he embarks upon, that we seen many times in movies. The logic and some of the reasons may be downright flawed, but the intention was to draw reasons behind his actions.     

Earlier post on The Journey of Suffering with Arjun Reddy