SPOILER ALERT:
It's been almost a week since Karthik Subbaraj's Dorothy hit the theatres. Since then, it has sparked a lot of debate and discussion. The film, which follows the journey of two childhood friends, Karthi (Rishikanth) and Subbu (Sananth), turned attention towards ideas like misogyny, toxic masculinity, love, acceptance, patriarchy, and more. For a film that wants to call out some ideas and stand for others, visual emphasis is crucial. Editor Ganesh Siva says his work on Dorothy has a lot to do with stepping into the characters' shoes as he unpacks the film's choices, technical and otherwise. "There is a Karthi in all of us in varying degrees. At some point we realised the toxic masculinity around us. Karthik Subbaraj sir and I have unlearned a lot of such ideas," he begins.
Dividing his work into the two halves of the film as abrupt-external and meditative-internal cuts, Ganesh says he had to change techniques in accordance with the shift the screenplay takes. "In the first half, both Karthi and Subbu are subjected to a lot of things. Many external factors determine what happens to them. Also, the montage scenes of the two growing up have parallel cuts along with music to energise the sequence," he says, as he further remarks that his change in approach is parallel with how the visual changes from dry barrenness to greenery. "Whereas in the second half, the one that solely deals with the internal journeys of Karthi and Subbu, the cuts focus on the vastness of the natural surroundings and cut close to their faces to record Karthi's internal transition from cruelty to kindness. The second half moves in a meditative state."
Some of the most impactful moments in the film are the major death in the first half and Subbu's transition in the second half. "See, I have read the story already, and I have been a part of the film since its pre-production. I knew the story and its people from the word go. As Subbu is startled by the sight, he runs to his brother and father for answers. Knowing that the household is uninhabitable for women and there is actually no explanation for Subbu's mother and sister's deaths too, I knew how to heighten tension in the scene without giving obvious details or getting to know the details myself," quips Ganesh, who says that he intentionally wanted to treat the scene where Subbu discovers the Dorothy in him as a horror scene. "I have treated the cuts that focus on Subbu bleeding while shaving, draping a saree, wearing bangles, and pottu like a scene from a horror film. As Subbu is exactly doing what his misogynistic family fears and despises."
A film usually divides audiences into those who like it and those who don't. Dorothy, however, has divided even those who loved the film. Ganesh shares that he discussed the last 15 minutes extensively with Karthik Subbaraj, and both sincerely believed the film would get a rounded finish only with the existing climax. "Some may say the film's defining moment arrived right when Karthi addresses Subbu with 'Di,' dropping her off along with other trans persons. But that would have again pushed the trans person to the category of the "respectable other". That defeats the purpose of the film. Sympathising or merely tolerating is also a form of violence against them. People respect trans people but will not partake in social activities with them, befriend them, or employ them. Had we ended the film with the dropping off scene, the pre-existing sympathy would have prevailed. We needed to convey that they need love and not sympathy, and since romantic love is the epitome of love, we wanted the lip lock as our final shot and scene," he signs off.
