Olu Saar Bari Olu

Olu Saar Bari Olu (????)
Featuring: Ramesh, Anu Prabhakar, Balraj, Jayanti, Mohan and others.
Directed by: Nagendra Magadi

Tipped off with Upendra’s hit number “Olu bari olu” a host of movies brought the word “Olu” into limelight. Considering the literal meaning of the word “Olu”, all the movies with this word in them are invariably a run of the mill comic features. One of the reasons I sort of hesitated to watch this movie was due to the overused and overdosed and definitely overacted patterns this word has come to inherit over the years. Even the presence of “The Ramesh Factor” could not bring me to see it since I was in no mood to watch Ramesh make a fool of him self in a sorry little affair like this one. The expression “Don’t judge a book by the cover” definitely fits like a T for this movie since I was pleasantly (and sometimes shockingly) surprised at what it had to offer.

For starters “Olu Saar Bari Olu” (OSBO) is an absolute riot from the get go. The story begins with Ramesh who works as a make-up person in a film studio and his irate and miserly landlord Bank Janardhan. Ramesh’s life has a host of issues including being able to stay on the good side of this cheap little man who wont allow even a housefly to get away with free merchandise. With a scene like this Ramesh’s younger brother Pramod arrives in the city to study medicine. Before you know it his other two friends Mohan and Balraj join him with circumstances beyond their control. Now what we have is the stage set for these four bachelors to manage a life in the city without hassles.

Of course, being single men is never easy and that includes accommodation. When Ramesh and Co. manage to manhandle the landlord and his wife in a drunken state one night it is time to move on and find greener pastures. In their pursuit they manage to hook onto an unsuspecting lady Jayanti Deshpande (Jayanti) who is told that the brothers are married and will be bringing their ‘wives’ to the city soon.

Presto and we have a rather ‘well-built’ pair of women (Balraj and Mohan in disguise) entering the house posing as the wives. A typical ‘Golmaal’ affair with a string of events making this one rib-tickling ‘Comedy of Errors’ as it were. Despite the lack of any major turn of events what keep the viewers glued are the comic sequences that are amazingly well controlled and choreographed. The two men – Balraj and Mohan- deserve a grand round of applause for playing a woman with finesse. I can honestly say they fitted the role like a glove.

Performances wise everyone chips in equal share. In their limited screen time the leading ladies for these four guys do what they can although Anu Prabhakar gets more time than the others due to the ‘star value’. Ramesh is as always his best with the right timing for the right sequence. Seasoned Jayanti does her good-mother shtick with precision. Music is pleasing to the ears although the songs have nothing to do with the narration of the story which is a popular culture anyway.

Leave your brains outside for a change and have some wholesome family fun. Not many Kannada movies out there with this sort of comic quality.