RECONFIGURING CINEMATIC FORM: A NEOFORMALIST STUDY OF NARRATIVE ARCHITECTURE IN OTHTHA SERUPPU SIZE 7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/d87ffg81Keywords:
Neoformalism, Narrative Architecture, Minimalist Cinema, Tamil films, Performance-Centred NarrativeAbstract
This study takes up a neoformalist analysis of Oththa Seruppu Size 7, written, directed, and performed by R. Parthiban, to address a significant lacuna in Tamil cinema scholarship. While existing studies of Tamil film have mainly focused on star systems, populist narrative structures, and socio-political representation, there is a critical lack of sustained formal analysis of minimalist cinematic experiments within the film industry. Oththa Seruppu Size 7, as a single-visible-character film unfolding almost entirely within a confined interrogation space, presents a radical reconfiguration of traditional Tamil narrative grammar. With the neoformalist framework proposed by David Bordwell’s theory of narrative construction and stylistic systems, this study analyses how the film generates and carries narrative tension through restricted narration, spatial unity, acousmatic sound design, and performance. Particular attention is paid to the formal function of off-screen space, the structural use of voice without visible source, and the transformation of performance into the main narrative engine. Rather than approaching the film through sociological or ideological interpretation, this analysis foregrounds how meaning is generated out of the organisation of cinematic form itself. By placing Oththa Seruppu Size 7 within both Tamil cinematic traditions and global minimalist single-character cinema, the study asserts that the film represents a significant formal experimentation that questions dominant commercial conventions. Ultimately, this research contributes to Tamil film studies, as it analyses the neo formalistic aspects of the film in examining contemporary regional cinema and also by establishing a framework for studying minimalist narrative architecture film practice in India.
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