Plot

Based on the novel with the same title by Norbert D'Souza, Dweepa deals with the raging issue of building dams and the displacement of natives. Located in the backwaters of a dam, Sita Parvata is an island slowly submerging due to the rains. The government succeeds in evacuating the inmates of the island by giving them compensation for the properties they own. The village temple priest Duggajja, his son Ganapa and his daughter in law Nagi find it impossible to leave their homeland and make a living with the meagre compensation given by the government. They have but a small hut, which earns them a compensation of 25,000. In Ganapa's own words, the compensation can give them food and shelter, but cannot compensate for the love and respect of their people. On the island, they are important people, but outside, they would be one among hundreds of families struggling to make a living. Centered around this complex theme, the film narrates the struggles of the family and how ultimately in the end they manage to continue life on the island.

The 'inner' theme

As in all of Girish Kasaravalli

Girish Kasaravalli

Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...

's films, Dweepa too deals with an 'inner' theme, that of human minds that isolate themselves due to former beliefs and convictions. Each character emerges as a representation of different viewpoints. The protagonist Nagi (Soundarya

Soundarya

Soundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...

) has been portrayed as an optimistic character whose support is hope and only that. One can notice how the character finally emerges as a symbol of positive thinking and optimism. Ganapa (Avinash), on the contrary resigns to fate, and finally when they narrowly escape submersion, he fails to see that his wife had achieved the impossible. Duggajja (M.V.VasudevaRao) withdraws from the catastrophe rather than face it. He is devastated to see his convictions and beliefs crumble before his very eyes and in the end, he clings to his beliefs in desperation. Krishna (Harish Raju) portrays a typical dreamer, who can mesmerize these village folk with fairy tales about the world beyond the isolated island. In short he encapsulates the 'fantasy' world we all tend to dream about.

Awards and Screenings

National Film Awards, India, 2002

• National Film Award for Best Film
  National Film Award for Best Film
  The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...
  
  
• National Film Award for Best Cinematography
  National Film Award for Best Cinematography
  The National Film Award for Best Cinematography are given annually. The only female who has won this award is Anjuli Shukla, who won the award for her debut film, Kutty Srank . The most time winners are Santosh Sivan & K.K. Mahajan - 4 awards each for best cinematography category....
  
   - H.M. Ramachandra Halkere

Karnataka State Film Awards, 2002

• Best Film.
• Best Direction for Girish Kasaravalli
  Girish Kasaravalli
  Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...
  
  .
• Best Actress in a lead role for Soundarya
  Soundarya
  Soundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...
  
  .
• Best Cinematography for Mr.Ramachandra.

Filmfare Awards for Kannada

• Best Film.
• Best Direction.
• Best Actress in a lead role for Soundarya
  Soundarya
  Soundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...
  
  .

Screenings

• Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, New York
• International Film Festival Of India
• Fukuoka Film Festival, Japan
• Durban International Film Festival
• International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
• Cinema Vintage Programme, IsolaCinema, KinoOtok

Soundtrack

Unlike earlier Kasaravalli films, Dweepa had music by Thomas Isaac Kottukapally used throughout the film.

Trivia

• In the original novel by Norbert D'Souza, Ganapa too meets with an untimely end and Nagi is left alone on the island to fight for her survival. But in the film, Ganapa lives but renders no support to Nagi during the crisis.
• M.V.Vasudeva Rao who played the role of Duggajja did not live long enough to see the release of the movie.
• Rain played a critical role in the film. Girish Kasaravalli, when commenting about the film said that along with the four main characters, rain was the fifth character in the film.

External links

• Dweepa at IMDB