As I have written in this blog before, I am a die-hard fan of Malayalam film actor Prithviraj Sukumaran. To recap, my fandom started when I actually interviewed the actor in my past job as a Freelance Journalist/Stringer for The Hindu. I was totally blown away by the man, his personality, his character, and his grit and determination. I could write entire pages about Prithvi, but that’s the topic for another blog post. Anyhow, along with Ranam, Ivide is one of my top Prithviraj movies of all time.

In Ivide, Prithviraj plays the role of Varun Blake, an Indian born U.S. citizen who works as a detective for Atlanta P.D. Varun is investigating a series of mysterious deaths of Indian Americans in the Atlanta area, and the plot revolves around how he explores his identity as an Indian-American – who does not “fit in”, and how the murders are connected to his own life and how they question his own identity. If you feel so inclined, I strongly recommend that you watch the film – it’s available online on Indian OTT platforms such as SunNXT, MXPlayer, and JioCinema.

What is the connection between Ivide and quotes, you ask. I’ll get to it in a moment.

In the movie, we see Varun Blake sifting through quotes on a daily flip calendar with inspirational quotes. Whenever he is in duress, the quote for the day in the calendar gives him strength and eggs him on to follow his instincts. Those scenes are one of my favorite moments in the movie – seeing how a distraught, confused Varun finds inspiration through the quotes he reads to follow his gut – which eventually leads him to the path of redemption.

Needless to say, these quotes are my favourites too!

The first one is a quote from Ernest Hemingway.

“Courage is grace under pressure”

Ernest Hemingway

And the second one is a quote from Buddha himself, which really speaks to me!

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

Gautama Buddha

The last quote proves pivotal to Varun in the movie – he is at crossroads, wondering whether he should hold on, or let go. And in the end, he lets go, and that makes all the difference in his life…

I’ll end by sharing my favorite song from the movie, crooned by Prithvi himself.