There are not many films in the Indian film scene that have explored futuristic post-apocalyptic stories. Kalki 2898 AD counts among the original stories in the genre, but again, this Nag Ashwin film is fantasy fiction. The short film by Dibakar Banerjee in Ghost Stories on Netflix explored the zombie apocalypse briefly. It is the first time a Malayalam filmmaker has explored the futuristic theme based in India. Gaganachari, loosely translated to ‘celestial traveler,’ is about a group of men who live in the India of the 2040s and accidentally play host to an alien and find a way to make her feel comfortable.
Spoilers Ahead
Why was Victor being interviewed?
Gaganachari begins in a fictional world where India has its own space station called “Bharat Space Station.” The Indian astronauts were busy with some repair work when they heard of a massive storm hitting the state of Kerala. Back in Kerala in 2040, a journalist who claims to be from Lelo Broadcasting Corporation (LBC, a word play on BBC) is headed to interview with an ex-army man, Major Victor Vasudevan, who lived in a bunker. The interviewers want to do a documentary on Victor and his experience living in the bunker. They also want to know the kind of people he met over the years since he moved into the small space. Victor’s assistant, Allen, who claimed to be his relative, helped him with day-to-day activities. Victor used to sleep in a pod, which he claimed was the reason he still looked youthful. He was also keen on going to the moon. Since this was a story set in the future, going to the moon was a possible venture. Victor and Allen had mentioned to the documentary filmmakers about alien spacecraft showing up in different parts of the world. The scenario was like the one discussed in the Hollywood film Arrival.
In Gaganachari, the spaceships never returned as they were stationed in the Earth’s atmosphere for people to watch from around the world. There was, however, news of aliens escaping from the spaceships and residing discreetly. There were attacks happening, as mentioned by Victor, but thanks to Ajaya Sena, a local political outfit in Kerala, people could stay out at night and stay safe from alien attacks. Victor’s cook, Vaibhav, was also a nuisance, as he spent most of the time badmouthing his boss. Victor was interested in art and artists and considered himself a painter. He claims to have painted nude models and saved their pictures of them as a memory, which is creepy to be honest. Victor was widowed, and ever since his wife’s death, he never had the strength to marry. As the documentary was satirical, Allen and Vaibhav had a lot to say about their boss.
How did Allen meet Vaibhav?
Allen did not have a proper job. While working as Victor’s assistant in the bunker they had an AI-generated voice command box named Raghavan, which was an in-universe alternative to Amazon’s Alexa. In this world, there was no currency in India. People used points to make purchases. Allen had come across Vaibhav at a party drunk and unconscious, and he chose to give him a job at Victor’s. Vaibhav, however, after he joined as a cook, used the bunker as his pleasure pad and began to invite women. These women were a muse to Victor for his paintings. Allen felt left out as he was never able to talk to any women.
Why were the police after Victor?
The police in 2040s India had access to every home in the country. It could be an allegory for the present lack of privacy. There was a moral police angle to indicate that the police force had the right to stop anyone from leading their lives on their own terms if it was against the laws of the nation. The police officers, Rage Kurup and Potti Ambu Madathil, barged into their home as the men were preparing geef, an alternative to beef because it had been banned. The two police officers were also known for taking bribes from Victor for letting two men stay with him illegally. This was the reason Victor could never say no to any requests made by the police officers, and they took full advantage of the situation.
How did Vaibhav meet the alien?
Vaibhav came across a woman at a party. After meeting her, he had no memories of how he got back home. Victor, his boss, found the strange-looking woman with blue hair sitting in the corner of a room in the bunker. Victor and Allen concluded she was an alien, and the police would come looking for her. Since there were strict rules against harboring aliens, Victor and the other bachelors feared they would be thrown in jail. Victor had a pet cat named Bhavani, and the alien ate her alive, which was evident from the way she had all of the cat’s fur around her face. It was Allen who named her Eliyamma, an extension to the name alien who could not speak. The police, as expected, came looking for the alien, but Victor saved her, claiming she was related to Allen, who would be leaving soon.
Was Eliyamma getting adjusted to life with men?
Eliyamma was getting adjusted to life with the bachelors. The men in the bunker offered her cat food, which was her favorite item to eat. She was slowly getting along with them, especially Allen, who made her watch many classic Malayalam films. Allen soon started developing feelings for her and started hoping to move to another planet with her. He began to imagine a life with an alien since he could never find a human being from Earth to fall in love with him. Eliyamma finally gave him a peck on his cheek, which surprised Allen.
Eliyamma also gave him a device required for her to speak that she wore around her neck. Since she could trust Allen, she asked him to repair it so that she could converse with him. Allen asked Vaibhav to repair the device, and he added the voice of an actor. To everyone’s horror, the voice of Elliyamma turned out to be of an older woman who had such deep philosophical metaphysical thoughts about love, life and the world. Allen and Eliyamma did fall in love eventually, and she kissed him, which was again a shock to Allen and his other housemates.
Who kidnapped Eliyamma?
Eliyamma was trapped by Rage Kurup and Potti Ambu Madathil, who were hell-bent on finding out what the alien was up to. They lured Eliyamma by tying her up, while Potti Ambu Madathil began to perform a Hindu ritual to invite people who wanted to get rid of aliens like Eliyamma. This was a take on how the police were not just caretakers of law and order but also worked for the current government, which set the rule against people like Eliyamma, who did not belong to Earth. The whole idea was to let the audience know that even though technology had developed in the 2040s, people around the world socially and mentally grew regressive by becoming completely unwelcoming to those like Eliyamma, an alien from another planet.
Did Allen, Vaibhav, and Victor survive the attack?
The same police officers had made sure the three men were unconscious when they kidnapped Eliyamma, but to their shock, Allen showed up to see his girlfriend in distress and the police officers carrying out the rituals. Allen was not sure what was going on at this point. He knocked out Rage Kurup with a log of wood. This was Allen’s way of expressing his love for Eliyamma. He had hoped she would process the strength it took for him to gather some courage and confront the police officers.
The Ajaya Sena mentioned in the beginning of the film turned out to be moral police who dressed up as aliens to create havoc in the country. They were the ones creating the rift by being catalysts and then pretending to be saviors as well. This was again a take on the political outfits that were the reason behind many chaotic situations by blaming it on a different group of people, which they were demonizing from the start. As Ajaya Sena was deployed to attack Eliyamma, she beat them up black and blue and saved Allen, Victor, and Vaibhav. She disappeared after saving the three men who had offered her shelter during a time when people were discouraged to do so. She was swept away by the love showered on her by Allen and chose to help him and his housemates in return.
Did Eliyamma come back to Earth?
Gaganachari ended with Eliyamma coming back briefly and requesting the men to drop her off near the alien aircraft, which was visible all around the state. She assumed the men would not harm her and that they would go to any extent to help her out. Since she saved Allen, Victor, and Vaibhav, they chose to help her as well. There was indeed a lot of confusion as the climax approached because of the flat execution. The story, however, circled back to Eliyamma’s need to head back to the alien spaceship where she would be safe and secure. The men fulfilled their promise and went back to their normal lives in the bunker afterwards. Allen began to send messages to Eliyamma in the hope they would reach her and she would respond. He never lost hope because she was the only one who responded to his love. He never felt weird that an alien fell in love with him. This ending was like “Super Deluxe’s” climax, where an alien shows interest in one of the leads. Allen sends around 557 messages to the other planet via ‘Raghavan,’ the AI device, who was also skeptical if she would receive the message.
Victor, who had aspired to go to the moon, finally got a chance to do so by the end of the film. Eliyamma, on the other hand, took a Walkman with her to her home planet, which was filled with cats. This could be the reason why she enjoyed cat food and behaved like a cat throughout her stay with men on Earth. Eliyamma did receive Allen’s message through radio signals, and she was happy to hear him say he missed her. Eliyamma fell in love with Allen during her time with him on Earth. She may have been an alien, but she had qualities that were like the humans from Earth, namely, the ability to feel things and to get emotionally attached. She and Allen had a bond, and the memory of it would stay with her in the form of songs from the movies he made her watch.