ShakReviews

Mukhaputa - A movie review

2010-12-06T07:36:00.001-08:00

As is usually the case, most watchable Kannada movies go unrecognized unless they get some non-local award. As sad and tragic as it is, it continues to be one of the banes of a once flourishing and creatively vibrant film industry that now reeks in the ruins ruled by mediocre-heavy jingoism. Fortunately, 'Mukhaputa' avoided that inevitable fate into oblivion as it bagged an award at the Ireland Film Festival and the Silver Sierra Best feature film award at the California Film festival.

The story revolves around 7 year old Bhavati (quite an unusual and striking name) who is adopted by a social activist/PhD student/Bharatanatyam dancer Gauri (Roopa Iyer in her first debut venture as film maker) after the kid's parents commit suicide. Gauri is an orphan too, so the relevance of her understanding the kid's emotional distress at a deeper level than most comes as no surprise. The two bond quite naturally and soon she signs papers to become her official caretaker. Also in the loop are Gauri's foster father (Shashidhar Kote) and also her teacher/guide/philosopher. She turns to him for all sorts of guidance on both her career and life. With his untimely death Gauri's world is shattered more than that of his wife and unemployed son Shankar (a neat cinematic liberty naming his character that to ensure we are told that the he and Gauri would end up together at some point). The bereaved family takes care of little Bhavati as one of their own and time moves on.

One day Bhavati falls ill. On further investigation it is revealed that the child is HIV-positive which could possibly explain her parents' sudden deaths. Gauri is caught in a pool of dilemma on this discovery. On the one hand she definitely wants to ensure that Bhavati has as normal a childhood as she can get, but she also isn't sure how to go about it. On a chance encounter with an aged guru at a spiritual center, she gets some sane advise. An advise that is possibly the only deciding factor in how things are made and broken in today's world. That, of knowledge. She seeks out to know everything there is to know about the disease so that she may plan the best route to the future possible for Bhavati. Shankar, in the meawhile, is shown to be an out of work IT guy who isn't really keen on doing anything special in life. Since he harbors romantic feeling towards Gauri (no points for seeing that coming) he decides to join forces with her in bringing warmth, love, affection and most importantly a sense of normalcy in little Bhavati's young life.

What struck me most about the movie was its optimistic take on something as dire as AIDS and its associated taboos in India. It is obvious that Roopa Iyer is personally vested in both the awareness and education of the disease given her commitment in making this feature come alive. Though her prowess as an actress could have been sharper, it doesn't really interfere much with the bigger picture/message the movie tries to send across. The supporting cast lend apt support including the little girl playing Bhavati. A few scenes are placed just to get a popular face into the mix but I guess it is only such marketing strategies that helped her get the movie across to these festivals. A slightly stronger screenplay was needed specially in the scenes where Gauri confronts Bhavati's teachers for isolating the child due to her illness. A grand opportunity to highlight the irony of an educator practicing blatant discrimination purely based on ignorance is woefully lost by Iyer. She chooses, instead, to smear the scene with a background score whilst making the goings on inaudible. The gist is clear of course, but a concrete vocalized version would have made the audience root more firmly for Gauri. It is in these inadequacies that Iyer's lack of experience in film making becomes apparent and makes her character more impersonal.

All said and done, 'Mukhaputa' is eventually about the bigger picture which is killing the social stigma associated with AIDS and the millions of innocent kids who are targeted each day around the world for absolutely no fault of their own. If even a few hearts are forced to reflect on their beliefs after watching this movie, then I'd think Iyer's efforts have found success.

Sugreeva (2010)

2010-10-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since its marketing campaign began, the team behind 'Sugreeva' had blown several trumpets to herald the making of a movie as being a historic one in the entire time line of Kannada cinema. With 10 directors,10 cinematographers and a super tight schedule of 18 hours, if not anything else it certainly created the apt amount of curiosity. Such an ensemble, needless to say, requires immense coordination and dedicated team work which I must admit is a rarity in all of Indian cinema, let alone the Kannada film industry. For this, I certainly tip my hat to the crew of 'Sugreeva' with special mention to the producer Anaji Nagaraj.

Now to the meaty parts of this multi-layered dish. It is the story of a middle class income father Sugreeva (Shivraj Kumar) who takes a bunch of people in the emergency ward of a hospital hostage since he doesn't have the money to finance his only son's heart transplant operation. While the concept by itself may seem new to some, one has to realize that this just happens to be, sadly, a remake of another mediocre movie called 'John Q' starring Denzel Washington which was released in 2002. Whats worse is that movie was then remade into Hindi starring Sanjay Dutt in 2006 as 'Thataastu' which sank into oblivion without so much as a whimper. Why this Kannada team would hence choose to remake a mediocre original and a flop Hindi counterpart is beyond me. But nevertheless, they did and the outcome unfortunately isn't anything spectacularly different either.

What does help the cause is Shivraj Kumar. Given his age and the fact that the schedule was a jam packed 18 hours, it wouldn't have been easy to make the swift transition from set to set, place to place and the roller coaster of emotional quotients. It is his energetic presence which actually makes this otherwise mediocre fare seem somewhat bearable. Had it not been for his consistent conviction, this movie would have been an absolute disaster to view. For that, one needs to congratulate the veteran for still being in high spirits when it comes to physical and mental contribution to such a project. Right from being the doting father to the ambitious dancer to the desperate hijacker, Shivraj Kumar brings a lot of commitment to the stage which just about manages to keep this movie engaging enough to watch till the end credits roll. Yagna Shetty sort of repeats her role from 'Eddelu Manjunatha' as the helpless middle class wife stuck in desperate situations. I look forward to seeing more of her given her immense potential to be onscreen level of comfort but I also hope she doesn't get typecast in the same role each time! The supporting cast chips in as appropriate with the slight exception of the ill tempered cop who, for some unknown reason, takes the whole event rather personally and wants to shoot the hijacker dead without proper introspection of the causes and consequences of the event. Cinematic liberty, perhaps.

Given its limited time frame, 'Sugreeva' doesn't feel entirely like a haphazard attempt. It certainly is inconsistent at times with some portions being action heavy and other being extremely melodramatic but still feels like a regular movie. How the presence of 10 directors and the 10 cinematographers really aided in enhancing the quality of the story is something that alluded me. What's sad is had this been an original thriller, it would have probably gone on to be an iconic milestone in all of Indian cinema in fact. But it seems the focus was more on making that 18 hour shooting record rather than spending a few more hours thinking of an original script. This semantic ends up harming the film profusely with some needlessly forced comedy scenes and an extended version of a reality dance show with a mandatory dance by Shivraj Kumar which doesn't gel well with the narrative.

Many years ago 'Idu Sadhya' had suffered the same problem. The plot was so cliché and predictable despite being a murder mystery that the entire marketing gimmick of it being shot in 24 or 48 hours (I think!) was absolutely meaningless. Producers tend to forget that the time taken to shoot a movie has nothing to do with its eventual quality. If that had been the case then the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy should have been a gigantic disaster at the box office. Nevertheless, 'Sugreeva' is certainly a one-time watch.

Manasaare (2009)

2010-10-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Dear reader,

This seems to be a month to get after the esteemed Kannada film maker Mr. Yograj Bhat. I had already posted a blog taking a shot at the man for dishing out a plate like 'Pancharangi' but this time, after watching what I was told was a very popular 2009 movie - 'Manasaare' - last night, I just had to use a different way to explain myself. Its an experiment, I know, but I still hope it is entertaining. :)

Please feel free to click on the strip below (might take a little time to load!) to view the entire enlarged version of the comic strip. It is in English for purposes of a wider audience. If for some reason it does not load according to your liking then you can always go to the direct link here.

Also, if you've seen the movie and have a different take on it than I do, you know there is a comments box right below. ;)

Enjoy!

Krishna'n Love Story (2010) - a review

2010-10-16T01:57:00.001-07:00

Ever since the golden age where movies like 'Nagarahavu' were made in the Kannada film industry, the theme of young love has been explored to a great extent. Now almost every week we have a movie that invariably claims to have found a new way to depict that same funny emotion – love. In that aspect, the publicity material I saw of 'Krishnana Love Story'(KLS) in Bangalore earlier this year weren't any different. What did catch my attention though was the director Shashank's statement that the movie was based on a real story. Now being a huge aficionado of stories that reflect some degree of reality, I actually was quite eager to watch KLS after hearing over the grapevine that Shashank's previous venture 'Moggina Manasu' was also a successful venture. From the posters of the flick I had seen around the city, I was expecting it to be a clever, amusing, sarcastic even witty take on modern love among young adults and how friendship plays a critical role in enhancing the same. In short, a very mature love story seemed at hand.

The movie started off on a promising note. We have a college dropout Krishna (Ajay) who is involved in the clothing business along with four of his close friends. He also, on occasion, helps out in his father's kiosk selling biscuits and cigarettes. He comes from a middle class family that depends largely on numbers and statistics to make their month find some coherence. He rides his father's gift to him, an aging motorbike christened 'Hombegowdru' after his late grandfather. A bike that is shown in the publicity material as being an integral part to the plot. So far, the backdrop is refreshingly interesting and pretty relatable.

Then we move on to Geeta (Radhika). Yet another middle class girl who is finishing her graduation and is quite conscientious about her studies and is shown to have neither the time nor the patience to find a boyfriend and roam the city streets aimlessly. Her older brother, uncharacteristically somehow, is a local rowdy who makes his moolah by slashing off people's cheeks. There is also the mandatory inclusion of their husband-less mother(Umashree) who works as a tailor and of course has a weak lung. Slightly cliché for my taste but well, I waited on hoping the main plot wouldn't be so.

Then the obvious happens. Krishna sees Geeta and falls in love immediately. But Geeta makes it clear to him that she isn't the kind who has the mental faculty for such silliness and that she has other priorities that need taking care of. She also conveys that it's not even his middle-class status that is stopping her from reciprocating his initiatives by clearly declining similar motives by a more wealthier and much well established rival of Krishna. This characterization of hers made sense and certainly set up the platform on which the movie could've been potentially narrated in a meaningful and consistent fashion.

But near the intermission portion is where things start going on a familiar, almost bizarre, curve. Suddenly one day, after having confessed her love to Krishna since he helped out during a family crisis once, Geeta decides to elope with the rich fella. Reason? Mysterious. On her way to their secret wedding in Dharmasthala, Geeta and her beau are involved in what appears to be a pretty intense car accident and miraculously, but not surprisingly, Geeta escapes with minor injuries while the rich fellow dies. Geeta returns home but refuses to show any emotion to anyone around her, including Krishna who in the meanwhile is shown to have forgotten all about her and started moving on with his life. Now that she is back, with great effort Krishna re-enters her life trying every trick in the book to get her to share her hidden feelings with him. In fact, both the families also agree that Krishna should take her away from the hubbub of the city to try and get her to open up about two things – a) why she took off with that rich guy so randomly and b) why her personality has changed so much since she returned.

This is where I was most hopeful about the story. At this juncture, I thought, was where the plot would give us that much needed surprising twist that would justify the entire premise of Geeta's insane behavior after returning from her escapade.

Reader, sadly, that moment never comes. The only justification, if we can call it that, we get is that she had realized that Krishna's love came with budget limits. That her life had been spent so much already in woeful financial misery that she wanted to get rid of her middle-class status and finally live life the way she truly wanted to. This is where the whole story turns on its head and becomes an absolute farce. One of the biggest loopholes in the plot is right here given that she had been so averse to the concept of wealth and living big that she had declined every motive from the rich chap initially. If we argue that it was indeed the desperate need for funds that drove her over the cliff eventually then why couldn't she share this with Krishna whom she trusted so much? Did she not genuinely see a future with him?After all, when things got bad with her mother, was he not the one who was taking care of both of them? So why on earth would a rational seeming girl like her reject his love and choose to go with someone with a lot of money? Whats worse is that she then goes on to blame him for accepting her back! She goes on to accuse his unconditional love for her as being the reason she cannot put her guilt behind her! I am sorry, in the real world, where meaningful things tend to take place, a girl in her situation would have thanked the guy who is so large hearted and genuinely good, that he is willing to give her a second chance. Heck, even if we assume she eloped under stressful conditions, all she had to do was tell him this was the reason she did what she did instead of sticking her head into a pot full of self pity and extreme insecurity about her own decisions. Very, very bizarre turn of events, I thought. A serious, obvious and painful hole in the plot. The story ends on a needlessly tragic note where you don't really feel any compassion for either of the lead characters since their actions post intermission have been so contradictory to their initial shades.

Speaking of technical stuff, sure, the camera work is pretty good and the songs are well choreographed. A couple of hummable tunes are also included with 'Santeyalli Nintaroonu' being the pick of the lot. But as is the case mostly, the songs do not help the story move forward and act merely as place holders for people to get a breather from the intensifying plot. For that, I thank Shashank. Performances are stable but all limelight is on Radhika Pandit in the post intermission parts where she seems inspired by Kalpana's Kaveri in 'Sharapanjara'. Her mood swings are overacted in some places and she ends up falling seriously short of justifying what could have been a milestone role in her still budding career. Ajay is alright but he doesn't seem to have a wide range of emotions to display like Radhika does. The only time he does display some variation in his performance is during the final scene, but its too late for anyone to care.

The bottom line though, remains this. In a time when Kannada movies are so desperately seeking some decent plots, some challenging characters for the female leads, some coherence in the narrative, KLS comes across as a contrived effort in its eventual execution. It becomes blatantly obvious that the director could not think of a creative way to justify Geeta's whimsical decisions and so decided to smear her wonderfully crafted character with juvenile reasons of self-doubt and self-apathy. KLS eventually turns out to be a colossal waste of good talent, great opportunities and most importantly, our precious time.

Aramane (2008)

2008-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

I READ ON SOME WEBSITE that Kannada’s ‘Golden Star’ Ganesh had declared that his movie ‘Aramane’ was a super hit! Now as much as the hero of any movie would want to say the same thing, I somehow had a nagging feel that our 3xnamaskara TV lad had gone a tad astray with that expression. Ideally it is something the cine-going audience should mouth so he’d probably choose something more apt like ‘why don’t you ask the audience’ or something to that effect. Regardless, to make things clear for myself I decided to watch this movie the other day.

First things first – it is not an unwatchable movie. But then, it isn’t great either. There are several reasons for this and the main culprit here, as always, is a script that begins pretty unrealistically and catches more bizarre heat in a matter of a few frames.

So we have a liquor happy millionaire (Anant Nag in another decent and stable performance) sitting all alone in his million dollar palace sulking at the loss of his family. Oh no, no one is dead! Well, except his wife maybe. No – they just deserted him since he wanted to get married again after his wife had just passed on. What nerve, you ask? Oh you can’t blame the poor old fellow since he is just keeping a promise made to his dying wife who, for some reason is convinced of two things – one, that she will definitely die and two, that the man will definitely be alone some day. Let us pardon the woman though. She is dying so chances are she is a tad delirious. Fine – but does the old man break this little secret to his younger ones when they confront him? Oh no. That would be just too simple now wouldn’t it? No – he actually chooses not to share the reason of his sudden craving for another partner because, and I quote ‘he doesn’t like the way his children reacted to his move’. I wonder, what kid would thump the father on the back and say ‘Way to go dad!’ just a few days after the mother has passed on. What’s worse is thanks to this little tiff they move on with their lives and garland their still-alive father’s photograph without a care in the world! As I mentioned – a pretty weak backdrop to start off with if one is going to be showcasing something this big.

Well let’s forgive that and move on. So now we have drunken Ol’ McDonald with his farm of a mansion with just one loyal servant. Enter Mr. Photographer (Ganesh) who is assigned the task of taking a photograph of the old man. Needless to say the drunk tells the young click-happy lad to get lost and Mr.Photo-walah (Psst…there is an absolutely ridiculous back story to how the young fellow got that camera in the first place but I will leave it out of this review since, well, it is better to watch it yourself.) decides to do just that. As you might have guessed the old man magically feels a natural ‘tug’ at the lad and welcomes him back with a clean shave and a Kodak smile. A little too soon? Sigh – lets forgive this as well and move on.

As the two men – one drunk and the other nearly wasted – sit shooting the booze after a ‘one click’ session, we realize the main plot of the movie. The old man wants his family back and he eagerly assigns the task to the young stranger. What do you know – a few more minutes and the eager-beaver photographer is playing Mr. Bond under cover for a man he met only for a few brief minutes under the influence of liquor. The story chugs along as we are introduced to all of the old man’s kids – giant talents like Tara and Avinash wasted in ridiculously small and meaningless roles – and Photo-Walah bhai sa’ab is busy clicking photos of these people and gifting it to the old man. All the while falling for the old man’s grand daughter, of course. (I wonder why Indian heroes are so fascinated with ‘falling in love’? We’ve all been there. Could he not fall in love for a change and just go ahead with what is assigned? Oh well… )

After a few ‘fantasy’ songs and beach side shots - the ‘big’ twist! The girl loves someone else! Nooooo….!

Mr. Photo plays the ‘good guy’ after a quick weep in the men’s room and sets himself up for another piece of sacrifice for the old man and his family’s sake. What happens next is anyone’s guess and you can go ahead and do the same – if you care, that is.

There is something fundamentally inaccurate about the execution of ‘Aramane’. Editing is clunky in some important sequences and camera work is pretty amateurishly done for vital scenes that require facial emotions to be on display. A few songs stick out – ‘Nanagu ninagu…’, ‘Kolle nannanne…’, ‘Nagu nagu…’ among others – but aren’t enough to save this debacle from plummeting to the ground. Face first.

Oh! I forgot to mention the leading lady. Or wait, was she? Considering she walks around proclaiming Mr. Photo to be her ‘best and only friend’ while having matrimonial thoughts about someone else doesn’t make her character believable either. I felt sad for the doctor guy (the one she really loves) since he’d probably shrug his shoulders and say ‘Wait…so I am not your best friend? Meaning you don’t think I am good enough to share your secrets with? So wait, why are we getting married then? You go around telling everyone you don’t have a close friend…then what the heck am I???!!!!’

Sigh. Loads of such glaring and unexplained voids make ‘Aramane’ fall short of its potential. I wonder if the script – as weak as it was – would have received better treatment under more experienced hands. It is a shame Ganesh – who has dozens of more genuine hits to give before he can call himself a ‘Golden Star’ – is becoming part of such mundane fares with increasing frequency. At this rate it won’t take long before the ‘G’ disappears and all that will remain is ‘Olden Star’.

But then, I am sure he knows best. Right?

..ShaKri..

Minchina Ota

2006-10-25T05:51:00.001-07:00

‘Minchina Ota’ illustrates the life of a criminal. The age old saying that crime does not pay is portrayed in this feature. Katte (Shankar) and Thatha (Loknath) are petty thieves who can’t seem to get a break in life. Their criminal past does not leave them wherever they go. Being the lazy and hopeless souls that they are, they decide to hit it big. They start jumping unsuspecting passers by on National Highways and relieving them of their automobiles.

Soon their jig is up when one of their stolen vehicles breaks down and Tony (Anant) is brought for help. Seeing that money is a free flowing concept in this criminal life, Tony joins hands with this crime duo. Soon the trio is hitting various spots and making away with vehicles. During this process they even manage to rope in another helpless soul Manju (Priya Tendulkar) into their criminal enterprise.

The cops are hot on their trail for a good part of the movie before finally clamping the trio down much to the delight of the pipe-smoking Inspector (Ramesh Bhat). As jailbirds Katte and Thatha seem to have found their peace but not Tony. His desperate self is trying to get away from the chains that bind him. A prison break is planned and executed to almost perfection by the three. But as it has happened in the past, as you sow so shall you reap. The same holds good for these guys’ fates.

‘Minchina Ota’ is considered one of Shankar Nag’s best works. Being an ardent Shankar fan myself, somehow, I missed the spark in this feature. The story has a very predictable process to it with no major surprises as such. The needless inclusion of songs makes this a rather casual affair. I had expected a tight edge-of-the-seat thriller but was disappointed to see another pot boiler termed as a ‘based on a true story’.

Performances wise everyone does a good job. It was refreshing to see the energetic Shankar Nag and Anant Nag brother duo. It is indeed an unfortunate blow that our industry lost a great artiste in Shankar.

Music is fair and editing is good. Supporting cast lend apt support as applicable.

Shankar does a good job at narrating a story that keeps its consistency despite the predictability factor. But for me, as I said, the ‘minchu’ was not that bright.

2.5 out of 5

Cyanide (2006)

2006-08-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Cyanide (2006)
Featuring: Tara, Ravi Kale, Rangayana Raghu, Avinash, Malavika and others.
Directed by: A.M.R Ramesh

For the past few years Kannada cinema has had to suffer mediocrity. In fact I had written about it on this blog site as well. But this summer in

India

was refreshingly different. If ‘Rama Shama Bhama’ was the rib tickling delight for Xmas last year then ‘Cyanide’ was the pick of the year for me this summer.

For those who are not aware ‘Cyanide’ revolves around the shocking assassination of India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by hardcore LTTE militants. This was the first time that a human bomb was used to execute the task.

Contrary to popular belief (that is belief of people who have not seen the feature) the movie is not about the causes and effects of the assassination. It neither takes sides on the cold blooded murder that shocked the nation nor does it justify in any way what was done was right or wrong. All it does is showcase the days that followed the killing of Rajiv in Siriperambudur and the day the LTTE militants responsible for the attacks killed themselves in a house in Konanakunte outside Bangalore by consuming cyanide. The leader of the gang Shivarasan backed by Shuba and others were found dead one cold morning when commandos barged into the house. Inspector Kempaiah headed the entire operation along with aid from the CBI officials in Delhi to avoid these hardcore killers from fleeing. As the common news watchers we never knew what exactly happened after the bombing and the day the militants were found dead. ‘Cyanide’ showcases those days with brilliance.

The one thing that hits you immediately while watching ‘Cyanide’ is the brilliant cinematography. Ratnavelu is an upcoming genius of a cinematographer who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films before this has captured the on goings onscreen with such precision that it leaves the viewer dumbfounded. The next best thing which hits our senses is the sleek and polished editing. The manner in which the scenes are stitched together with the appropriate amount of screen time given to each is absolutely amazing. I have not seen many Kannada movies with such laudable editing work. The third and most important aspect which sticks out majestically in ‘Cyanide’ is the glorious background score. For those expecting some hip shaking gyrations here will have to resort to some of Vishnuvardhan’s latest since all one gets here is a treat of mind blowing scores by Sandeep Chowta.

The cherry on top of this beautifully adorned cake is the director – A.M.R. Ramesh. A grand debut by a fine movie maker. His genius is apparent in the way he handles the scenes involving the LTTE militants and the innocent housewife Mrudula and her husband Ranganath. The former Prime Minister is never mentioned by name yet is present in wide audience throughout the movie. Ramesh truly deserves an applause for enriching our cinematic experience with ‘Cyanide’. All the performers shine with special mention to Ranagayana Raghu who underplays the role of Ranganath with enviable precision and Shivarasan’s character Ravi Kale who breathes fire into his role. Tara and Malavika excel in their respective roles and have their moments too.

Some of the scenes that caught my attention and appreciation:

Militants barge into Ranganath’s house unannounced much to the shock of the innocent wife Mrudula.
Shuba finds her lost self in Chitradurga’s valiant woman warrior Obavva while watching a song on television. The tears in Shuba's eyes narrate a million stories.
The dated presentation of the events throughout the movie.
Glimpses of the regular and fun filled militants’ lives back in Sri Lanka just before they crack open the cyanide in their mouths.
Mrudula requests the police officials to kindly ensure her gas cylinder and stove is returned as they prepare for the final showdown with the militants.
‘Yes. It was a mistake. Killing your Prime Minister in your country was a mistake.’ is Shivarasan’s frank response to Ranganath when asked if killing the former PM was a mistake.

All said and done I can only pray and hope that Ramesh continues to enthrall us quality deprived Kannada movie-goers with such rare treats in the future as well so that we too can get over our ‘Remake Fever’ once and for all.

Thank you – everyone connected with the making of ‘Cyanide’ - for making my summer so special.

I request readers to kindly check out 'Cyanide' movie's official website at CyanideTheFilm.com

Olu Saar Bari Olu

2006-05-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Sriram

2006-05-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

Sriram (????)
Featuring: Shivraj Kumar, Ankita, Abirami, Sreenivasa Murthy, Jai Jagadish, Avinash and others.
Directed by: M.S.Ramesh

Shivu (Shivraj) is a handyman working for a power-player/bigwig somewhere in Hubli. He has been there for a few years now and is shown to be a part of the family despite the fact that he is a stranger to them. Kshetrapal (Avinash) is a Lokayukta officer who is going around mouthing powerful lines into the trembling faces of law-breakers. Unfortunately for Avinash this is as far as his role’s range really goes. His daughter Aishwarya (Ankita) is another ditsy PYT who falls for Shivu before even meeting the man. The haste in which they ‘fall in love’ is a clear indication as to how ‘vital’ that aspect of the story was to the overall plot.

A couple of snow-capped songs, a lethal gun fire that Avinash actually comes out of and a few single-handed fights later, Shivu decides to tie the knot with Aishwarya. On their wedding day arrives one more slim and pretty tall thing – Vasundhara (Abirami). She reveals to the awe-struck crowd that Shivu is not what he says he is and is in fact – Sriram. Everyone looks at Shivu demanding an explanation for this cover-up as Sriram/Shivu locks himself into the past.

Intermission. Pop corn. Soft drink.

Post intermission revels in Shivu’s past. The script slavishly follows Valmiki’s epic Ramayana in this phase which ends up making the narration rather lackluster. A father (S.Murthy) with two wives who are shown to be uncharacteristically well-adjusted. A couple of step-brothers and this family’s power-grip on the city’s population. A Manthara-like character in the form of the second wife’s brother (whose daughter is Vasundara) et al. Her demanding Sriram leave the house to ensure more limelight to her own kids (who for some reason do not say anything at all!). There is also a local villain for the town in the form of Jai Jagadish who goes around spitting fire at Shivraj and his group of do-gooders. Everything that makes the goings on predictable and mediocre. The inevitable good wins over evil message with Sriram doing a Sri Krishna-act eventually by wedding both the girls who aspire to be his bride. How convenient, eh?

Performances-wise Shivraj delivers a very controlled performance in bits and pieces. His depiction of Sriram in the second half is loud, melodramatic and repetitive. Sometimes it is hard to identify with such larger-than-life and larger-than-law characters since they seem unrealistic. Despite this he manages to pull off a decent one as always ensuring justice is done to the role. The leading ladies are strictly ok although Abirami has more emotionally challenging scenes (for what its worth) than Ankita who gets nothing much to do except bat an eye-lid here and there and gyrate to a couple of songs. Supporting actors lend apt support mouthing super-heavy and surreal lines which make this affair a completely fictional and commercially designed one.

Music is pleasing to the ears with Udit Narayan belting a few choice ones in ‘his Kannada’. Technically the movie is very well shot which also includes a well choreographed chase sequence involving a moving train. I thought despite all the over-the-top (literally!) stunts in that one it was definitely a treat to watch.

Overall Sriram manages to keep the viewer’s focus till the end despite it’s almost- predictable climax. I wish the director had experimented more with such a time-tested formula with some innovative scenes with Shivraj. But he chooses to stick to the usual commercial demand.

Accident (1985)

2006-05-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Accident (1985)
Featuring: Shankar Nag, Anant Nag, Ashok Mandanna, TS Nagabharana, Arundati Nag, Srinivas Prabhu and Ramesh Bhat.
Directed by: Shankar Nag

Lost in the world of drugs, sex and alcohol Deepak (Ashok Mandanna) lives with his head stuck in the clouds. What only adds to his jingoistic reverence to such a lifestyle is being the son of a powerful political player Dharmadhikari (Anant Nag). Without a soul to care about Deepak and his friend roam the empty streets of Bangalore under the influence of ganja and race strangers on the road.

This so-called classy pair one night manages to do the unthinkable. Their imported car manages to get off the road and into the stomachs and necks of innocent villagers who sleep on the footpaths of the city at night. People with no shelter, no prospect and no one to ask for. People who have traveled hundreds of miles in search for a better life. But unfortunately find a ghastly death instead.

In what is quite possibly one of the best shot action sequences in Kannada cinema, Deepak manages to drive on dozens of these poor and helpless folk that night. As his car bumps off a panicky and screaming Ramanna (TS Nagabharana) off to one side and bangs into a pole, Deepak realizes the trail of horror he has just become responsible for. In the pursuit of “getting high” he has managed to kill.

Ravi (Shankar Nag) and Inspector Rao (Ramesh Bhat) get onto the hot chase of finding out the whereabouts of this ‘mystery vehicle’ which spelt doom for the desperate. As Ramanna heals in the hospital with the accident still fresh in his mind, Ravi is leaving no stone unturned to seek the truth and bring justice. Dharmadhikari returns to the city to realize this shocking incident and is immediately on task to start moving the pawns of his political game to try and fish out his son from this mess. Caught between his ethics and the stink pool we call ‘the government’ innocence stands to be punished while crime is poised to make a quick exit.

Will justice go unnoticed? Will Karma find a way? ‘Accident’ raises more questions than provide answers. We need such movies that are mirrors to the corrupt and dog-eat-dog power tussle that our country has become notoriously famous for. Shankar Nag brings to life talking puppets that showcase images of real life events on the celluloid. All the characters in the movie deliver a hundred percent with no exception. A brisk narrative and expertly dealt editing work makes the feature all the more engrossing.

An excellent movie with a very strong social statement. Features like ‘Accident’ are proof of the quality and class Kannada cinema is capable of.

Ba Baro Rasika (2004)

2006-05-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Ba Baro Rasika (2004)
Featuring: Ramya Krishna, Sunil, Ashita, Ramesh Bhat and others.
Directed by: Dayal

‘Ba Baro Rasika’ is a movie with varying mood patterns. One of the main reasons I watched it was for Ramya Krishna who was impressive in ‘Rakta Kaneeru’ and Sunil who has time and again promised he has potential. That said, let us look further now.

Vishwa (Sunil) is a graduating student who is known to be the ‘life of the campus’ and a good friend to his peers. He is a guy who has, despite being some sort of ‘girl magnet’, always kept them at a safe distance because he has not yet fallen in love. Ironically it seems that he throws away his heart to the first girl – Sona (Ashita)- who walks into his arms (as an accident mind you!) and declares ‘I love you!’ making his whole ‘integrity shtick’ seem like a farce. Just when you are feeling good about the male lead being a man who is a little realistic he goes ahead and becomes cliché. Sigh. Once we get past this puppy love we are introduced to his and her family members. Ramesh Bhat is thrown into this mix as Sona’s enthusiastic and ‘love-affairs-are-ok-as-long-as-they-are-headed-for-marriage’ kind of father for a good measure and completely wasted. Regardless the two are convinced they are in love (if only it was so simple) and decide that they will “love maaDu with duet songs”.

Let us now look at the woman who gives even girls the inferiority complex. Ramya (Ramya Krishna) is the chief auditor for a firm and is shown to be an ‘anti-men’ individual. With a troubled past which involved a murder or two, she has grown up hating men (all kinds). She ends up interviewing Vishwa who impresses her with his statistical knowledge of the firm. Her aloofness and cold attitude is actually impressive during her initial scenes.

On a trip to Mumbai the two unearth a scam worth 22 crore rupees. Conveniently a goon threatens Ramya one rainy night and soon she is seen begging Vishwa to stay with her in the room for the night since she is ‘scared’. During one of her scary moments Vishwa and she end up in bed together. Sparks fly and before you know it Vishwa is weeping like a baby. This IS the crucial moment in the movie but is not shot with the sensitivity and maturity that it deserved. Vishwa is confused and guilt-ridden so he confesses in the church the next day about the folly. He puts it behind him and gets engaged to Sona.

All is fine and dandy until we realize Ramya ‘Men Are Evil’ Krishna is not quite over her ‘experience’ with Vishwa. The woman in her has suddenly risen and so she starts harassing our man with weird phone calls and bizarre scenarios. Her attempts at making him ‘realize’ her beauty could have used more creative ideas. Vishwa, who was smart enough to figure out statistical data and ward off goons, is shown to be so naïve that he plays right into her hands. How these situations get untangled and who does he eventually end up with forms the rest of the story.

This was a great script but is completely mismanaged by a director who does not seem to know how to handle such situations. At the end of it all it becomes another ‘run of the mill’ story like the rest of them. I was, for once, impressed with the opening shades of the lead characters but they become hollow and without definition towards the end.

Sunil holds the fort completely with his histrionics in this feature. He definitely has the components of a good actor in him and I seriously hope the man continues to get challenging roles. Ramya is adequate in her role although her post intermission ‘obsessive lover’ was nowhere near realistic. She was not persuasive. She was not even demanding which would have made sense considering her overnight ‘change of gear’. The girl cast opposite Sunil is ok although her character could have used some confrontational scenes with Ramya. Being a woman, that perspective is left unexplored. Others are just ok with their pre-defined roles and limited screen time.

Technically the movie is well shot. Song sequences are refreshing and as always are dream sequences with nothing to do with the story. Cinematography is good and crisp editing only adds to the gloss factor.

‘Ba Baro Rasika’ starts off with a lot of promise but loses its way due to the lack of a strong screenplay and direction. The director had a gritty lead cast but does not use them to their maximum potential. I look forward to more such themes being explored with a touch of reality to them.

Sangliyana

2006-05-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sangliyana

Featuring: Shankar Nag, Bhavya, Vajramuni, Devraj, Sudhir and Ambarish.
Directed by: P Nanjundappa

SP Sangliyana is a character inspired from the real life super cop with the same name. A man with high principles and honor for the law enforcement department of the country. The movie is a fictional depiction of the man, his encounters with law and the people who break them.

Sangliyana (Shankar Nag) initially poses as Rowdy Raju and enters the city. No one suspects a thing about this seemingly small time crook including the police department there and the big time power lords Nagappa (Vajramuni) and his errant son Devraj. While they make merry with the strings on their fingers which includes everything from corruption to prostitution, players of the same fiber join this bandwagon in all sizes and shapes. The only people who seem to be concerned at all about this mess of an infrastructure is newspaper editor Mahesh (Lohitashwa) and his daughter Kanchana (Bhavya). Minister Nagappa and his son indulge in all kinds of criminal activities making a mockery of the law which includes even bludgeoning a forest officer to death in broad daylight. With the middle men in the Police department, the father-son duo make merry with the very familiar air of arrogance and foolhardiness associated with such fictional features. The forest officer’s wife and son (Tara and Manjunath respectively) end up living with Rowdy Raju through an array of convenient coincidences.

One fine day the much acclaimed Sangliyana makes his appearance in the form of ‘Rebel Star’ Ambarish. He starts his first day with a nice ‘dishum-dishum’ of overpricing auto rickshaw drivers and is soon seen getting this mess in order. Constant confrontations between the ‘bad guys’ and the ‘good guys’ keep taking place with a few blood streaks and hollow threats.

Near to the intermission part the cover is blown and we finally see the real SP Sangliyana as Shankar Nag who would have, true to his unorthodox ways of handling crime, made a rather premature visit to the city’s crime scene. As we are relieved that Shankar Nag is finally out of the rather amusing looking hairdo and sunglasess as Rowdy Raju, we also have to contend with a couple of random songs which have nothing to do with the story’s progress. Of course, this is where you can stretch your legs and maybe take a coffee break.

One thing leads to another and Sangliyana successfully starts fixing all the loopholes created by Nagappa and Co. A traditional commercial potboiler style showdown ensues bringing criminals to justice and upholding the goodness of the law.

Sangliyana was one of Shankar Nag’s laudable features as the upright police officer. The movie brought back fond memories of lazy Saturday afternoons spent on the couch with the family watching these entertainers back in Bangalore. Shankar does complete justice to his role and is flawless as a performer. No amount of regret will ever be able to fill the void this brilliant man left in our land. Bhavya does her stereotypical actress bit efficiently too although she is loud and tends to get on the nerves at times. The performers from the ‘Bad Guys Camp’ – the late Vajramuni, the late Sudhir and Devraj are tailor made for their roles. It was a pleasant experience watching the legend Vajramuni perform with the ease of an experienced artiste. ‘Rebel Star’ Ambarish puts on a valiant performance as well in his guest appearance. One can tell that the emotion is heartfelt when he embraces Shankar which is a representation of the off screen friendships these people shared.

Music is definitely one of the high points of the movie. Made as a slick and crisp cop adventure the movie boasts of some good songs including the popular ‘Bandalo Bandalo Kanchana…”. Editing is well done and keeps the narration interesting and entertaining.

Overall, Sangliyana is a complete family entertainer with all the elements in the right doses. If you look past a couple of needless songs Sangliyana is a pleasant piece from memory we all can proudly acknowledge.

Stumble (2003)

2006-05-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

Stumble(2003)

Featuring: Anant Nag, Suhasini, MD Pallavi, Mukhyamantrui Chandru, Ashok Mandanna and others.
Directed by: Prakash Belawadi.

Finally a movie that talks about the technology our land seems to be so proud of. The land of Karnataka and especially Bangalore have been put on the international map thanks to this newfound miracle drug our economy has been administered with. I had always found it ironic that despite being home to so many global corporations et al, our film makers had never ventured into one socially relevant feature that showed us the in and outs of the industry. That irony is laid to rest for a little while at least with Prakash Belavadi’s feature - Stumble.

Anand Rao(Anant) – a retired bank official and Nandini (Suhasini) are leading a simple yet self-sufficient upper middle class life in the suburbs of Bangalore. Their son Uday lives and works in the United States while daughter Madhu (MD Pallavi) is a software engineer working for a supposedly well-to-do firm. This firm is run by a hen-pecked yet scheming white collar Dinesh Khosla. Things start going haywire when Madhu is fired randomly without proper reasoning. While Madhu seems to surrender to the event without a fight, she also has to put up with the blameful eyes her father has for her. Caught between a swindling finance corporation where he is destined to lose all his savings and his daughter’s failing prospects with a career, Anand Rao has nowhere to turn. He pines his hopes on his son Uday who returns one day with a pink slip in his pocket. Of course the family realizes this fact much later thanks to the one thing education has successfully taught all of us – destructive egoism.

Sitting close to this set of events is MLA Divakar (Chandru) and his political ambitions. In collaboration with Khosla and an American he manages to convince hard working and earnest bank employees to join hands into a new merger. Khosla’s technology oriented firm that once seemed to have great value in the global economy is now a sitting duck to collapse. The post-IT and dotcom booms are teased out of their hiding with Khosla deciding to convert his otherwise tech-based center into a call center. Armed with outsourced projects, Indians with fake accents and Americans with ideas of their own, Khosla and co. decide to hit it big. While a desperate Madhu is helped out by some of her loyal peers from work, others choose to join the bandwagon without caring where it is headed next.

These two scenarios collide giving us a rare glimpse of the dubious natures with which these organizations work. Everything from overnight Technology training centers to the cliché of the dog-eat-dog genre this field has created is well captured on celluloid. Prakash Belavadi does a good job at showing a very Indian perspective of the economic shadows that have been around for over a decade in Karnataka. A closer look at this seemingly rosy picture is taken through the eyes of the helpless middle class who only wanted a secure lifestyle and a good landscape for their future generations. The abuse young professionals have to go through at the hands of greedy and one-dimensional bosses are well portrayed.

Performances category is dominated by Anant, Suhasini and Chandru without a close second. These seasoned players perform brilliantly in this English-heavy feature. One of the beautiful touches the director gives is the appropriate injection of Kannada in certain important scenes which sparkles like a hidden water stream in a rocky and dense rainforest. Pallavi, Ashok and the rest of the cast chip in as appropriate in their tailor-made roles. The new faces onscreen adapt well to the goings on and deliver a pretty convincing performance.

Technically the movie is crisp and well shot. Editing is well done although camera work could have been more personal at times. A slight lack of this falls short of adding the genuine touch and life to some vital characters. Music is used sparingly considering the focus of the feature. Jobs are lost but a family is found hence increasing the realism in the movie.

Overall, ‘Stumble’ is another socially-relevant feature made at the right time. The call center business is shown as an infant in the movie but we all know the Herculean young man it is today. ‘Stumble’ is definitely worth a dekko.

Anand (Shivraj Kumar's Debut)

2006-04-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Anand (Year of Release?)
Featuring: Shivraj Kumar, Sudharani, Bharati, Rajesh, Tara and others.
Directed by: Singeetam Sreenivasa Rao

Renowned Telugu director Mr.Rao brings to us the fresh face of Shivraj Kumar in ‘Anand’. The movie that is said to have begun the roots of his ‘Hat Trick Hero’ tag name. It is not hard to notice the shaky camera conscious performances of these first timers in the feature but regardless this debut vehicle of Shivraj is worth a dekko.

Anand (Shivraj) is a poor young college going lad who lives with his mother Kamala (Bharati) who is a nurse. He is revered by some in the college as a valiant and just individual. Nothing unusual so far considering this is how most ‘My-Daddy-Is-A-Big-Star’ off springs tend to debut. His nemesis is Shreekanth (I do not know his name) who is the son of a rich business tycoon Raja Chandrashekar (Rajesh) and is green with jealousy as he is unable to gather the affections of Mala (Sudharani). He plots various cliché confrontations with Anand to get ahead of him but sadly is left aching in both emotional and sometimes physical anguish.

While things are simmering with these scenarios we see a breakthrough when Raja Chandrashekhar arrives one day at Anand’s house fuming with rage. He warns Anand of dire consequences if he does not leave Shreekanth alone. As he is about to leave he meets Kamala and is sweating on his brow. Little wonder then, that we soon are enlightened that Anand dear is a not-so-dear illegitimate off spring of Mr. Big Shot’s days of ‘experimentation’ with Kamala. Anand vows to avenge this by claiming that he would make his father call him his own one day.

Sub plots emerge with Chandrashekar running for the local elections and is abducted by opponents (in a rather subtle way really) to ensure he does not register himself for the contest. This news spreads like wildfire and Anand is convicted for this crime. Does Anand put aside the indifference shown by the old man and save him? Will Chandrashekar accept this new-found son of his? Or is Anand truly a part of this kidnap drama? This is the part you will have to see the feature to find out.

Performances belong to Shivraj all the way. If you look past the lack of emotional options in his ‘Bank of Acting’ he actually pulls off a decent one. I look at his performances in features like ‘Om’ and use that as a case study for his career. But it was ‘Anand’ that started it all. We also notice how he was super agile physically and could manage the most realistic of stunts back then. He excels in a chase sequence where he hops from one terrace to another with a lot of ease. Sudharani is adequate as the other new-found-face of the lot. She acts with a charismatic innocence that provides her character with a lot of unintentional authenticity. Other seasoned veterans are used to ensure a decent run of this not-so-unusual plot with Bharati, Rajesh and the ever-cheerful-for-no-apparent-reason Chi. Udayshanker doing their bits with perfection. A young Tara also chips in a very confident performance in her stereotypical role. Others manage the cast of this feature pretty confidently.

Humor is used well in parts of the movie and gels in well with the storyline. Editing is crisp and keeps the goings on consistent. Music is pleasing to the ears although I have never been a fan of S.P.Bala’s English-Usage-In-Songs. A few popular numbers like “Tuvvi Tuvvi…” stand out of the lot.

Overall, ‘Anand’ is a well made movie with a consistent pattern in performances and the script. It was refreshing to see the not-so-polished first timers in Shivraj and Sudharani in their young romantics’ roles. If we applaud them for their roles today then we need to acknowledge their beginnings as well.

O Mallige (1997)

2006-03-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

O Mallige (1997)
Featuring: Ramesh, Charulata, Amar Mayur, Chaitali and others.
Directed by: V.Manohar

Kannada movie industry’s well known music director V.Manohar chooses an interesting story to launch himself as a director. “O Mallige” has shades of a lot of features that have dealt with similar themes in various languages – the well known and my personal favorite being Kamal Hasan and Sridevi’s dynamite feature ‘Sadma’ – but gives it a different treatment.

Mallige (Charulata) lives in a small village with her uncle played by V.Manohar himself. A heart patient, Manohar has an ambitious wannabe model in his son Nacchi (Amar Mayur) who is lost in the bliss of the big city. When he suffers another nearly fatal stroke, Nacchi reluctantly returns to be by his dying father’s side. Seizing the opportunity, the dying man manages to knot the innocent village belle Mallige to our dear city chap. As much as Nacchi hates the decision, he goes along considering his father’s health. He even manages to consummate the wedlock under the influence of alcohol. A few days later the old man dies leaving the helpless girl to his son. The very next day Nacchi takes off without a care in the world for the newly wed and naïve girl who has nowhere to turn for support.

Days roll by and soon Mallige realizes she is expecting. To take things under her own control she decides to join her absconding husband in the city. As one would predict our opportunist young man has shifted base and is shown wooing the rich daughter of a millionaire to fuel his aspirations of becoming a successful model. Soon the young couple is shown exchanging sweet nothings in parks and restaurants while the pregnant girl is roaming the streets of the city looking for her ignorant husband.

Towards intermission we are introduced to the real powerhouse of the feature in the form of Krishna Murthy alias Kitti (Ramesh) who is also an aspiring model in between odd jobs. An accident brings Kitti and Mallige together as she is seriously injured in the mishap and loses all memory of her immediate past. For his convenience to shoo off the prying landlords, Kitti brings Mallige to his house and christens her Lakshmi since she has no memory of her name. A special bond of affection starts forming between the two. Nacchi continues his Casanova ways with the rich girl unaware of any of these happenings.

Time continues to roll by and before we know it Lakshmi aptly bears Ganesha. Meanwhile Kitti manages to get a plum offer from the same firm that works with Mallige’s husband. Soon the jig is up for Mr.Big-Dreams Nacchi as his girlfriend realizes that he is married and so starts encouraging Kitti instead to get back at him. Nacchi confronts her and ends up apologizing for his “mistake” but she is firm in her decision and decides not to have anything to do with him.

Things start falling into place when she sees Mallige at Kitti’s place and informs him about the truth. Kitti is heartbroken at the thought of losing Mallige to a stranger. She has been his life for the past few years and this sudden change of events scares him. As the movie turns more predictable Nacchi meets his long lost wife in Kitti’s house and confronts him to return her to him. Now Mallige alias Laxmi is shown to have to choose between the two men although I never saw the relevance considering the “real husband” had no role in Laxmi’s life expect the marriage and its consummation. The final showdown sees Laxmi undergoing medical treatment in the process of gaining her memory back. Who she chooses to be with and under what circumstances forms the final few minutes of the movie.

Performances wise Ramesh is the only trained professional in the feature who keeps the story alive. His natural flair for expressions brings a much needed realistic look to the script. The only downside seemed to be his casting as the male fashion model since I thought it did not really fit him. Charulata does a good job with her character with a lot of screen presence. Amar Mayur, debuting with this feature apparently, is a complete let down. The man is camera conscious, wooden-faced and out of sync with the lines in many places. The story could have used a seasoned actor for his role and thus ends up losing some luster. Sadhu Kokila is supposedly the comic component but ends up overacting his way around like always. Others chip in as appropriate in their stereotypical roles.

The real weight in the feature in terms of execution is the post intermission section. Manohar does a decent job at stitching together a cohesive script although random patches of needless comedy throws the narration off balance. Being a music director an overdose of songs seems irrelevant since they add less mileage to the story telling process. They are definitely melodious nonetheless and are pleasing to the ears. Editing seems rushed and abrupt so could have used some work.

A good movie with a fine theme.

Parameshi Prema Prasanga (1985)

2006-03-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Parameshi Prema Prasanga (1985)

Featuring: Ramesh Bhat, Arundati Nag, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Manjunath, C R Simha and others.
Directed by: Ramesh Bhat

For this debut venture Ramesh Bhat chooses a tried and tested family entertainer formula. Stories about married couples and the challenges they face specially with regards to trust is something that is as real as life itself. Many movies have successfully tried to showcase this and Parameshi Prema Prasanga (PPP) attempts to do the same.

Parameshi (Ramesh Bhat) is happily married to a village belle Ramamani (Arundati) and they both parent a little boy Paapu. He works for a small time firm run by a vicious lady boss and gossip monger of a colleague team. Simha is the office peon who gets his kicks placing childish bets with the employees. Parameshi is something of a simpleton who is not necessarily aware of the conning mindsets of insensitive people. He falls prey to one of Simha’s little bets and ends up going out with another female colleague in the office a couple of times. This does not gel well with the naïve wife at home and she confronts Parameshi about the same. He scoffs it off saying in the changing social framework one has to be accepting with such socializing. He also goes on to add that it would never bother him if she (Ramamani) would do the same.

True to her strong willed self, Ramamani enacts a little drama herself to convince Parameshi that she is having an affair with a faceless name. Cigarette butts, movie tickets, her unusual staying away from the house – it has all the cliché suspicion-arousing elements that couples are known to succumb to. This makes our hypocritical little man Parameshi very upset and he takes to extensive drinking (of course!) to overcome this unbearable pain. Ramamani is successful in her attempt and is on the verge of breaking the news to him. However, things spiral out of control when Simha, being his mischievous self, adds the final nail in the coffin by sending Parameshi an anonymous letter confirming Ramamani’s affair. This pretty much ends the couple’s happy journey. Parameshi takes off without any news to an unknown destination leaving the helpless and innocent wife and child behind.

Without an option she braces herself to face reality. She gets all kinds of odd jobs to support herself and the growing child. One song later the child is a four year old Manjunath who is shown attending school. A chance encounter brings Manjunath and his father Parameshi together. It is not long before Parameshi realizes this fact and files a case in court for custody of his son. A showdown eventually takes place bringing a tired and weather-beaten Ramamani face to face with Parameshi.

Anant Nag plays Paapanna in all this as a parallel character who is an alcoholic lawyer. Nothing much happens with his character till the last few minutes of the movie. A surprise package of the movie is Shankar Nag who I saw after so many years. It had been a very long time since I had seen Shankar and it was a refreshing few minutes anyway.

Performances wise Arundati Nag proves she is a natural on screen. She emotes well and plays the role of the gullible yet alert village girl with finesse. In a way she is the only major entity in the post intermission parts. Ramesh Bhat is adequate as the suspicious Parameshi. Manju does a good job reminding me of his classic performance in Swami and Friends. Others chip into their finitely scoped character roles although Anant and Shankar were definitely wasted.

Ramesh Bhat does a decent job at putting a cohesive script into execution. Technically the film is well shot although editing could use some work. The climax which was expected to be a major court room drama also leaves a lot to be desired from. Music is nothing to write home about.

Initially my impression was that PPP would be a laugh riot of a movie with major comic sequences. However, I was proved wrong. A script like this could have been a light hearted and comedy based one like Rama Shama Bhama (which also dealt with a similar theme) but Ramesh Bhat chooses to give it a serious and realistic angle. This in a way kills the potential such a time tested script could have had. Bhat’s hesitation with experimenting with a good story is what makes this feature pretty ordinary. With the Nag brothers in the cast, I thought he could have done a lot more than use them as crowd pullers by casting them in minor and lack luster roles.

H2O (2002)

2006-03-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

H2O (2002)
Featuring: Upendra, Prabhudeva, Priyanka and others.
Directed by: Loknath and Rajaram

India has always been one of the lands cursed by geography and history. If on the one hand there are unresolved issues with our neighbors then there are internal conflicts as well that alienate us from each other. I was watching Anupam Kher’s “Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara” the other day and somehow I could draw parallels of that feature with H2O given the fact that indeed our Gandhian values and principles are lost in the post-independence era. Our priorities are no longer about unity in diversity but finding ways of dissecting whatever is left of our united front. We seem more interested in finding ways to isolate ourselves rather than move forward as one nation. The danger of such loss of values is what H2O attempts to showcase. It brings to light problems of colossal proportions that have been plaguing the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the past three decades.

Honnuru (a Kannada speaking village) and Chennooru (a Tamil speaking village) live on the banks of the river Cauvery. The river is the lifeline of both these villages where people live in harmony, love and brotherhood. A love-struck couple representing each of the villages actually manages to bear a child as a symbol of the unity they share. Enter Kireek (a hunchback with an evil eye) who manages to convert the love that the couple shares into arrows of gossip thus successfully igniting a full blown communal riot. The once friendly and harmonious villagers now turn thirsty for each other’s blood killing the loving couple in the process. The woman bears the child in the middle of the river Cauvery. The cautious boatman takes the girl child, now christened Cauvery, to a medication center run by some saints nearby. Cauvery (Priyanka) grows up in the nature’s bosom and is also shown to be a caring and nurturing girl who only believes in selfless giving.

Enter Udayashankar (yes our very own long haired Upendra) who is pretty much the landlord of the entire village. He has his own way of dealing with problems and internal conflicts. He believes in equality. And not just among people but even in their status in the society. This is probably why Kireek (who manages to lurk around the area by getting a handyman’s job in the medication center) is awestruck to find beggars on motorbikes and sweepers in double breasted suits in Honnuru. Under the baton of Uday’s leadership equality is a forced entity. One of the humorous situations shows how Uday managed to trade places of his rich parents with a poor worker’s family. This, in effect, is how Uday sees equality among all.

Enter Vairamuttu (a stylish and blonde-streaked Prabudeva) who is shown to be a Chennoorian returning from the United States. Not only does he bring back stuff for himself but for his entire village! Soon we have farmers using laptops while irrigating their fields and their wives prancing around with Nike T-shirts and sunglasses. While Muttu also believes in equality, his vision is about the future. He nurses political aspirations and has figured out that if he keeps his people happy then he is sure to achieve a lot of mileage on his political vehicle.

Uday and Muttu have only one thing that sparks friction between them – Cauvery, the doctor. When she is not busy curing patients, she is playing the mute doll between these two exceedingly eccentric characters. She has no feelings of love or romance with either of them yet is drawn towards each of them. Unfortunately not once does the poor girl get a chance to speak her mind to either of them. So much in the name of true love, eh? While Uday is busy creating “heaven on earth” and praying to her photograph at home, Muttu is Michael Jackson-ing himself in front of her till the cows come home.

Re-enter Kireek. Sparks fly once again between the two cities to bring an end to this bizarre tale of love. Uday and Muttu confront each other claiming stake for Cauvery’s hand. Each one thinks she belongs to him and the other would face death if thought otherwise. One thing leads to another and the heat of hatred starts spreading beyond the river and its banks. The people of each of these villages get involved and before you know it, Kireek has successfully managed to spin tales and communal riots resurface. People who once admired each other are now chopping each other off, burning each other’s houses, violating each other’s women. Kireek manipulates with their innocence and manages to bring complete destruction to their doorsteps. There are no winners and losers here. Cauvery is the only one who has lost more than just the prospect of love. She has lost trust and more importantly goodwill for everyone around her. No amount of nurturing can ever bring it back. In effect, everyone has already lost Cauvery.

“H2O” is a tongue-in-cheek satire of the river dispute. Each character in the movie represents much more than just a name. In some cases it is a state and in some cases it is the people. In some cases it is the government and in some cases it is Mother Nature herself. Scenes in the movie took me back more than a decade ago when I remember watching houses being burnt in front of my eyes in Bangalore. Scenes of policemen asking us onions to help get rid of the tear-gas sting still rolls by. Scenes of hundreds of homeless, helpless and eventually hopeless people still loom large. When will we stop being petty and start working towards the dream that the Mahatma had once seen? When will he stop thinking about ourselves and start building the true definition of the Swaraj? When will we look past insignificant differences and truly become united? These questions have no answers elsewhere but within ourselves. Features like “H2O” are gentle reminders of the price we will have to pay if we do not come together as one community. Only then shall India awake in the sunshine of true freedom.

This is an Upendra movie without a doubt. I do not know why someone else was credited as directors because not one frame goes by without the unique and creative essence of what I like to call “Uppi Logic”. If he took care of the story, screenplay and dialogues then I wonder what stopped him from directing it officially. Regardless, the feature has some well shot sequences which act as metaphors to real situations. Not bringing Kireek to justice was a master stroke.

Acting-wise Upendra is his usual self playing to the gallery. His loud and sometimes outrageous outburst tends to get tiring. Prabhudeva is strictly ok despite not getting ample time to bend himself out of shape. Priyanka looks dazed and surprised at the energy Upendra and Prabhu seem to diffuse into the feature since she is basically looking blankly into the camera most of the time. I think this was done intentionally since the river Cauvery herself is a mute spectator to the goings on. If this was not the case then I guess Priyanka has a long way to go to hone her acting skills. Supporting cast is adequate with the right amount of Kannada and Tamil used in the right places to maintain authenticity.

Music is a decent fare. Sadhu Kokila belts out a couple of hummable tunes but loses sync in the remaining ones. Background score is well done. Editing seems very hurried in some of the crucial portions and hence looks amateurish. In the process of making a point, the editing department loses the effect which is so vital for such fast paced features. Watch out for a brilliant climax sequence that shows the dispute in new light.

Overall, it is the message that “H2O” tries to convey which is the only thing that should matter.

Bhoomitaayiya Chochchala Maga (1998)

2006-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Bhoomitaayiya Chochchala Maga (1998)
Featuring: Shivraj Kumar, Ramesh, Shilpa, Vijayalaxmi and others.
Directed by: S.V Rajendra Singh Babu

“The only way to be a true democracy is by taking part in it” is a quote that Bhoomitaayiya Chochchala Maga (BTCM) attempts to examine.

Karna (Shivraj) and Bharat (Ramesh) are close friends. They are such despite their financial status in society (Karna is the rich one). Karna has an annoying namesake girlfriend (Vijayalaxmi in a completely wasted role) who does nothing more than appear in super skimpy outfits and has scenes without a single line of dialog. They are shown to be college going students who are happy winning small time elections and boozing their nights away.

While these three are making merry in the city, Karna’s father Chennabasappa(Sabyasachi) has a heart attack in his hometown Bharatipura. The man needs rest and comfort so Karna shoots across to be by his father’s side. A meaningless confrontation with Neela (Shilpa) who is a social activist and commands extreme goodwill with the local folk there finds Karna apologizing to her for his misbehavior. This act does not gel well with our man and he fumes his frustration on a tennis ball as he narrates this incident to his friend Bharat on his return. Bharat promises Karna that they would together avenge this outrageous act that was meted out against Karna.

Having decided thus, Bharat and Vijayalaxmi arrive in the village posing as some minister’s kids. The village school master is so naïve that he actually invites them into his school without so much as a proper enquiry. Of course, that Bharat is never shown teaching the kids anywhere is apparently irrelevant. All this, however, is an act to get under the skin of the locals there and try to humiliate Neela and claim revenge.

As incidents unfold one after the other, Bharat realizes that getting under Neela’s skin is not an easy task. He also realizes that she has done a lot of commendable works for the village that is dying without water. Farmers commit suicides by consuming insecticides every passing day. Local elections arrive and Bharat wins (he actually stabs himself convinced that it would get him ‘sympathy’ votes!) and soon he is seen taking initiatives in the village for the people’s welfare. Bharat starts looking at his new found responsibility and conveniently forgets all about Karna’s childish revenge-project. Instead, Bharat goes ahead and discovers that the only reason why a dam, which is a great solution to lend water to the dying farmers, was not built from three decades is because of Chennabasappa – Karna’s father. Caught between the greater good to the people and Karna, his close friend, Bharat struggles to keep his ground.

Karna, on the other hand, is busy cutting himself and weeping his eyes out to his girlfriend (who for some reason is still with this man despite his lack of attention towards her.) swearing that he would get back at Bharat for betraying his friendship and trust. They both part ways because of this new friction.

The second half showcases Bharat in the Assembly at the Vidhana Souda presenting his case with Bharatipura’s problems. This is quite possibly the highlight of the movie in terms of dialogs and presentation. I was impressed by the entire scene which included the typical glimpses from the Parliament where people throws chairs, slippers and words at each other with no one to control the situation. Ramesh delivers his lines with a lot of conviction in this scene and by far this is the only sequence that stood out in the entire movie for me. Truly well shot and deserves applause in all departments.

Unfortunately there is not much applause for this initiative from Bharat from home front. Chennabasappa, as one would imagine, is furious at the progressing harm towards his assets. He did not budge for three decades so one cannot imagine him being any different now. Hence, while Karna is finally basking in the new found light of realization towards his friend, Karna’s father manages to take that same light out of Bharat’s life. Bharat’s murder finally ignites the ray of revolution in Karna as he braces for a showdown with the government, the Chief Minister, his people and his own father.

The one thing that struck me immediately during the first half of the movie is the uncanny resemblance it has to the Hindi feature “Namak Haraam” featuring Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna in similar roles. How a poor friend gets into the rich friend’s environment to try and kill the opposition but ends up becoming their deliverer. The first half is pretty cliché but it is the second half that engrosses you into the goings on. The movie taps on real problems and real situations. But somehow the loud and melodramatic presentation seeps into the reality it tries to showcase thus making its effect weak. Some sequences, like the one with Ramesh mentioned above, are definitely a class apart but once his character dies the remainder of the story loses heat with Shivraj choosing violence to take care of business. It is unfortunate that people have to go to such extreme measures (one good soul actually chops off his own ear without so much as a whisper!) to make a point with the administration.

Rajendra Singh Babu experiments with scene handling in some cases effectively but otherwise it turns out to be a painful exercise. Like most larger than life stories, BTCM leaves many unfinished traces along the way.

Performances wise Ramesh definitely comes out in flying colors, literally, considering his final scenes. He plays the part with a lot of commitment. Shivraj Kumar is alright as the confused and misunderstood rich boy Karan who eventually rebels against the odds. Nothing out of the ordinary from him in this feature. Shilpa is adequate as the tough and goal oriented Neela who has dedicated herself completely for social welfare. Vijayalaxmi is wasted as a little girl trapped inside a grown woman’s body. Others in the story, mostly unknown faces, lend apt support to the goings on which also includes a philosophical “I-am-going-to-build-a-dam-myself” Lokesh who goes around trying to inspire people in vain.

Background score is well composed and gels well with scenes. Songs are nothing to write home about and act as fillers during the story. Editing is well done and camera work of wide angle shots of the rural scene is commendable.

Overall BTCM delivers a strong message. I wish it was not as predictable as it turned out to be towards the end since it was showcasing a real issue that haunts our villages even today. But a valuable bottom line nonetheless.

It is true then that the only way to be a true democracy is by taking part in it.

Udbhava (1985)

2006-03-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Udbhava (1985)
Featuring: Anant Nag, Sunder Raj, Mamta Rao, Dinesh, Ashwath, Balakrishna and others.
Directed by: Kodlur Ramakrishna

Faith is what keeps us optimistic. Faith is what helps us get past impossible seeming situations that we find ourselves in. Faith is what eventually matters. But how appropriate does it seem when it is taken advantage of by a corrupt minded social framework? How much faith should one possess to avoid being taken for a ride? Faith is always just. Blind faith, however, is a questionable entity.

“Udbhava” explores these questions in a social fabric woven around it. Centered on one of the infinite narrow streets of Bangalore City, the story zooms in on the life of Raganna (Anant) who is jobless, penniless but definitely not hopeless. With a house of his own, a nagging wife (Mamta Rao in a minuscule role) and two sons, Raganna goes about his day with the only asset he has – his talking skills. He is a man of many shades when it comes to talking. One of those sly double talking chaps who will kill the snake without breaking the stick, as it were. To make the family’s ends meet, he capitalizes on peoples’ shortcomings which includes everything from threatening to expose secret lovers to killing his non existent relatives to ward off money lenders. He has a couple of devoted followers (Sunder Raj and someone else) who go around showcasing our dear man as a social worker.

Things take an interesting turn when a random road accident takes place on one of the streets in that area. Rumors start getting generated by Raganna and Co. that the government is making arrangements to widen the narrow street to enable better movement of vehicles. This, needless to say, starts poking other members in that area since they have vested interests in that street. Widening the road would mean bringing down their buildings and this does not gel well with any of them. Rich and poor alike turn to Raganna to “aid them” out of this pickle. Little do they know that it was his very rbain that manufactured this little scheme. One thing leads to another and soon this news is all over the city More characters get involved in the form of Radhakrishna, who nurses political aspirations, to lead the way in this road-widening project. A freedom-fighter threatens to starve to death if the road is not widened. . The government, not able to deal with this crisis, decides to go ahead and widen the road after all. Of course, the stick is safe and sound at this point but the snake is still not dead. Raganna is scratching his multi-processing brain to rake up an idea and hence begins a scam of gigantic proportions.

During one his early morning visits to the temple, the priest (Ashwath) spots an idol of Lord Ganesha coming out of the land. India is known for many religious places that are believed to have been emanated deities. Raganna capitalizes on this belief and before you know it, hundreds are visiting the supposedly “holy spot” to get a glimpse of this miracle. One of those visitors is Balakrishna, a sculpturer by profession, who is shocked to see that one his sculptures is now the supposedly emanated idol! He realizes there has been foul play and cries murder but in vain. The government officials who had been working on the road widening project too are roped into this vicious cycle of faith as they do not want to be responsible for invoking the Almighty’s wrath by getting rid of this holy spot He has Himself decided to grace. The road now shifts from 20 feet on either side to 40 feet on one. This puts a spanner in Dinesh’s (his last movie) vested interests and hence seeks refuge in Raganna once again.

The Math and Physics of this now boiling pot starts to heat up with each passing moment. Raganna starts to play with a lot more than just the plight of couples in love. He starts “creating God” as and when there is a problem. What started out as minor money making scheme by Rajanna now escalates out of control. Despite an opposing minority who firmly believes that this is a major scam, Raganna and his supporters (both quiet and outspoken) continue to thrive on people’s unending faith in the Almighty. All said and done everything except the road itself miraculously widening does occur.

“Udbhava” is one of those movies that show us a tongue-in-cheek view of the society we live in. The way our upbringing, especially in diverse countries like India, is so tightly knit around religious entities. The way this very entity is exploited by people like Raganna for their personal benefits. It also showcases the despair we all live in that makes us want to believe in something…anything. Even if it means celebrating a scam.

Anant controls the entire show as always. He performs his role as the scheming and deceitful Raganna with class. Somehow he seems to be tailor-made for such roles that seem to be written specifically for him. This role of a godfather-of-sorts that he essays is definitely one of his finest performances along with so many others. His comic timing is perfect as always too. Character actors like Ashwath, Balakrishna and Sunder Raj are flawless in their roles. The few minutes that Balakrishna does appear on screen reminds us what a legend our industry lost and in such a shameful way. Mamta Rao, as mentioned earlier, is alright as the abiding wife to Raganna. Other characters lend apt support to the goings on.

Technically the movie is well shot although not necessarily high budget in its production value. Music is pleasant and gels well with the storyline. The director narrates the tale of the scum that haunts our society and administration with a lot of depth. He leaves us with a profound “It is no surprise that Gods appear in our land. What is surprising is that so do many Ragannas …”

For those who have not yet seen this socially relevant comic feature I would recommend they have a look. Maybe the next time your faith is questioned, you will be able to respond to it more accurately.

Amritavarshini (1998)

2006-02-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Amritavarshini (1998)
Featuring: Suhasini, Ramesh, Sarat Babu, Ramakrishna, Tara and others.
Directed by: Dinesh Babu

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” is one of the 10 commandments in the Holy Bible. “Amritavarshini” personifies this in more than one way. I have always been a big fan of movies made for the mature audiences. It is a mistake most commonly made by directors in the Kannada movie industry (and others as well) where they do not give enough credit to the intelligence and maturity of their viewers. This assumption ends up in a potentially good script stretched at the edges to fit the atomic viewpoint directors seem to have sometimes. With ‘Amritavarshini’, Dinesh Babu does not fall into that landmine which is why this movie is now officially one of my favorites.

Veena (Suhasini) is a housewife married to Hemanth (Sarat Babu) who runs his own business and is the breadwinner of the family. A cheerful and talkative woman by nature, Veena and Hemanth are a match made up above. Whoever said love starts to decline after marriage ought to take a look at this couple. Even after 9 years of togetherness (2 years of courtship included) Hemanth and Veena are soul mates. It is one of those enviable relationships everyone wishes they had. This envy, though most of the times just a passing thought, sometimes threatens to grow out of control. An envy so mighty that it matures and starts reproducing itself until it has completely consumed the individual.

Such an individual enters this haven of love one day. Abhishek Bharadwaj (Ramesh) is an old time friend of Hemanth. He has the eyes of a dreamer and a heart of a poet. Little wonder then that he speaks only in, as Veena puts it eloquently, “Hmm…Aah…Oh”s. A shy man who is initially hesitant and overwhelmed with Veena’s outrageous display of confidence and uninhibited love for her husband, Abhishek soon starts drawing obvious comparisons between Veena and Shruti (the late Nivedita Jain) whom he had loved more than his life. After Abhishek loses Shruti to blood cancer, a part of him dies along with her. He is no longer the man he used to be and becomes holed up in his own world of frustrations. These demons within Abhishek start coloring him green every day. A color that soon starts becoming darker and deeper. A color that blinds him to the feeling of friendship and goodwill he shares with Hemanth. A color that clouds him completely as he finds himself attracted towards Veena.

On a pleasure trip to Kodaikanal, Hemanth realizes the hidden feelings Abhishek has been nursing for his wife. Being the reasonable man he is, he talks to Abhishek about it in what is quite possibly one of the best shot sequences of the movie. How do you ask a close friend if he has developed the wrong kind of feelings for your wife? The metaphor Hemanth uses from the Mahabharata is a master stroke. It not only hits Abhishek but even the viewer when such a grave issue is simplified with sound reason by Hemanth. Overcome by a fit of rage and unable to control the dance of evil within him, Abhishek chooses to do the unthinkable.

Abhishek returns home alone that night to realize Veena is going to be a mother. On hearing the terrible news, Veena faints losing the unborn in the process. As Veena spends her living moments looking into the void with a question mark on her face, Abhishek is busy signing police statements about Hemanth’s accident.

Hemanth is an ardent photographer. He captures life and considers the camera his best friend. A friend, who as it turns out, helps Hemanth out even in the direst of situations. A friend who brings to light the reality behind the ugliness that Abhishek tries to hide. A friend, who ends up playing a vital role in this gripping tale of friendship, trust and timeless love.

Dinesh Babu handles such a delicate subject matter with the hand of a true genius. I do not think all established directors have the skill to do the same. This kind of genre has not been explored much in the Kannada cinema history, so it was an absolutely refreshing delight.

One superlative performance succeeds the other. Suhasini is in complete form with her controlled performance as Veena. Her character goes through so many shades between the first and the last frames. She handles her role with aplomb and showcases the true professional that she is. Her talent has always been about the things she never says and Veena could not have found a better performer. Ramesh reached pinnacles of success with this performance and there are no surprises there. He plays his role of a subdued, injured and eventually frustrated Abhishek who is desperately looking for something to help him move on from the tragedy in his love life. Unfortunately bad reasoning paves way to tragic consequences. Do not miss the climax where he does not utter a single word and yet the whole message is conveyed. Another master stroke indeed. This was a very difficult role to essay and Ramesh does complete justice to it. Sarat Babu, sans his highly Telugu-accented Kannada, is another wonderful performer in this unique intersection. His quiet handling of some of the easily “could have been loud and cliché” scenes is just plain brilliant. Others chip in appropriately in the forms of Ramakrishna and Tara, although I felt being one of the prominent members, they could have lent more meat into the goings on. I also wonder why Ramakrishna did not persue the information he got from the driver further. All the focus is always on Veena and hence it sometimes leaves incomplete traces here and there.

Technically the movie is brilliant as well. The shots of scenic Kodaikanal are a treat to watch. The songs are absolute chartbusters. Music is always an essential ingredient of a good movie and Deva does a wonderful job with the same. Editing could have been tighter in some of the sequences but nothing that one would mind. The no-nonsense treatment of the subject makes it a treat to watch. If you are tired of the unending stream of stereotypical movies then I would highly recommend “Amritavarshini” to you.

Such movies in Kannada make a rare appearance and hence deserve complete audience as well as honest applause.

Swastik (1998)

2006-02-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Swastik (1998)
Featuring: Raghavendra Rajkumar, Srinath, Vijayalaxmi and others.
Directed by: Upendra

If there is one thing I have always admired about Upendra, it is his ability to push the envelope with what is considered “conventional cinema” by employing new methods of capturing onscreen happenings. “Ssshh…” and “Om” are quite possibly the two major off beat themes that pretty much created a genre of sorts after they were released. He continued his winning ways with “A” and “Upendra” where he managed to challenge the limits of the audiences’ perception of Kannada movies. His unusually comfortable way of connecting with the masses and the classes (who I know grudgingly would admit he is definitely apart from the regular clan) made him big news overnight.

Every day is not a Sunday (or should I say Friday since that is day most fortunes are manufactured in India with regards to cinema) is true with all successful directors. But with “Swastik” Upendra chooses a day that does not even appear on the weekly calendar! Did that not make sense? Read on.

Things catch pace right away in this feature with Raghavendra Rajkumar being shown as a “wanted” terrorist who is busy planting flags of Pakistan in Kashmir. A curious press reporter manages to click a few good ones of this anti-India chap and soon he is a nation-wide threat. The police department, headed by Srinath, is on their toes at this point trying to get a grip of this man.

Cut to a scene at the airport where he is shown being received by his parents (symbolically wearing a cap and speaking Urdu/Hindi to denote they follow Islam) but imagine our surprise when the father pulls out a dagger and stabs his own son! The son is quickly transported to a hospital and the towering Director of CBI (Srinath) walks in with people who seem straight out of a “Men in Black” sequel and figures out that the parents know of their son's criminal activities. What do you know! Mr. Terrorist manages to flee the hospital and is now a wanted fugitive.

Cut to a scene at a slum somewhere where we find the same Raghavendra Rajkumar snoring away lazily on a bed. While Raghu (the slum Raghavendra Rajkumar) is busy doing nothing, the terrorist is shown to be busy using Raghu as an excuse to be in the right place at the right time.

Cut to a scene where the cops arrest Mr.Nice guy (aka Hero) mistaking him to be the gangster from Pakistan. Now we are supposed to be following Mr.Nice Guy and Mr.Nasty without losing track. Great! The last thing the audience wants to do for three hours is to get a pad and note down who is who. Nice going Uppi! Throw in a couple of beauties in this mix to “make sense” and the circle seems complete.

One thing leads to another and Upendra starts showcasing too much in the time slot given to him. One plot has a dozen sub plots not allowing us to completely connect the dots. As the movie progresses more dots appear in all shapes and sizes leaving us helplessly waiting for an equally bizarre and meaningless ending with some underlining of “patriotism” done. All that gets covered with the other heap of chaos Upendra puts on us.

This will definitely be one of the shortest reviews I have written so far since this movie after the first half an hour is pure nonsense. While on the one hand Upendra tries to pull a rabbit out of the hat with some sequences, on the other he keeps getting mangled in his own “logic” as it were. Except for a few fairly done comic sequences, “Swastik” is one roller coaster ride to insanity and back.

The one thing I did wonder however, considering it was Parvatamma Rajkumar’s production, that maybe Upendra was threatened to whip out a non-existent career booster for Raghavendra just like he had done “Om” for Shivraj. Since there is no other logical explanation why an intelligent man like Upendra would make a movie like “Swastik”! Oh! There is more good news. The title of the movie ends up being some random wooden box with some Diwali crackers inside. That’s all. So don’t expect any firecrackers there.

Raghavendra Rajkumar goes along for the ride with a decent performance. One cannot blame the man for trying. Srinath overacts, as usual, as the clueless Director of CBI. Vijayalakshmi and the other girl are completely wasted in meaningless roles. Others are …there as well. Some songs are decently recorded under V. Manohar’s baton and shot without anything outstanding. Editing is, as always, quick and confusing like most Upendra’s features.

If the symbol became legend with the long gone Hitler I hope Upendra does not bring more such “Swastik”s back to us. “Much ado about nothing” is an expression that pretty much sums up this feature.

Preeti Prema Pranaya (2003)

2006-02-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Preeti Prema Pranaya (2003)
Featuring: Anant Nag, Bhaarati, Prakash Rai, Sudharani, Sunil Raoh, Anu Prabhakar, Bhavana and others.
Directed by: Kavita Lankesh

“At twenty we worry about what others think of us; at forty we don't care about what others think of us; at sixty we discover they haven't been thinking about us at all.” is an old-age quote I had read somewhere. At that point although it seemed like a smart thing to say, I never realized how much that would re-appear as I watched “Preeti Prema Pranaya” (PPP).

Hoisted under the flagship of Kavita Lankesh, PPP unfolds a story as old as cinema itself. One would be rather naïve to presume this is one of those “old people falling in love” stories since that assumption would do no justice to the rainbow of emotions Kavita manages to capture on film.

Dr.Chandrashekhar (Anant) and Sharada Devi (Bhaarati) play a couple of aging individuals who have lost their respective spouses. While the doctor is busy being told what is good for him by his two rather obsessive and “control-crazy” sons Prakash Rai and Arun Sagar (both doctors as well), Sharada Devi is occupied with a lonely house and classical music for company.

A chance encounter in a park (watch out for Upendra, or at least someone who could be his twin, appear in a “blink and miss” role!) brings these two together. The doctor’s kindness and helping nature only acts as a catalyst in creating a strong foundation for this new friendship. The doctor finds a solution to his lonesomeness in the form of Sharada who is equally lonely and reciprocates the doctor’s friendly nature. While the doctor’s sons and daughter-in-laws (Sudharani and Bhavana – both in a rather wasted role) wonder what has been keeping the old man pretty busy lately, Sharada’s grand-daughter (Anu Prabhakar) arrives from the United States to visit her granny.

Sunil Raoh (Prakash Rai’s and Sudharani’s son) discovers his newfound love in Anu and soon they are singing duets in a foreign city with cars whizzing by. This brings us to two parallel stories of affection between two extremely different generations. While on the one hand the old couple is always relying on the new ones to find ways to meet, the so called “middle generation” is seeing everything with eyes of suspicion.

There comes a point when the doctor and Sharada both realize that their aging days look bleak as they watch their peers end up in old-age homes or His blessed feet courtesy their respective off springs. This wondering makes them take a stance that they are not going to let their kids run what is left of their lives. They cannot imagine having to while away their glorious days waiting for an overseas call or taking instructions from their foolhardy sons. This comes as a shock to everyone else and there is a lot of resistance to this decision. But nothing is going to stop these two from getting the companionship that promises to fill the void they live with.

PPP refreshes an important theme for our times. Living in a generation where we no longer care for anyone else but ourselves, movies like PPP are a gentle reminder of what our parents go through today and what we will have to face in the days to come. While it may look scary, PPP reassures us that all it takes is a little understanding and a companion to complete this long journey called life with a smile on our hearts.

The show belongs to the veterans Anant and Bharati throughout. They manage their unique roles with aplomb without going overboard with their emotional quotients. It was really refreshing to watch Bharati in a very realistic role that many women can identify with in today’s India. I hope she continues to essay such defining roles in the future as well. Anant is as always a treat to watch. The more I watch him in such varied performances the more I am convinced of his genius. He executes the role of a tired old man looking for someone to hold on to with a lot of conviction.

As I have said earlier, it is very hard to get noticed in such a high-profile star ensemble. This is probably why Sudharani and Bhavana seem wasted in their stereotypical “we want to be known as good daughter-in-laws” role. I wonder if Kavita could have done a little more with their characters. Their respective husbands Prakash Rai and Arun do their jobs tidily as well with nothing out of the ordinary. It was nice to see Prakash in a Kannada feature after a very long time.

The younger cast of Sunil and Anu also do a confident job despite being cast opposite legends like Anant and Bharati. Their romance adds as a perfect fuel to gel the two main protagonists and that has been showcased well.

Editing is the one area that Kavita needs to get some lessons in. Post intermission portions are well handled but the first half seems very rushed. I wonder if it had any production-components involved. Kavita’s “song inclusion timing” is also definitely cliché. Songs appear out of nowhere and have absolutely no role in the story’s progress. It was almost like the cast said “We need a song!” and hence the presentation. It would have made more sense had the songs been arranged and presented in a logical way (although I admit it is hard to do in Indian movies all the time.) Other technical features are fair and add the needed gloss to the over all PPP package.

A good script with a noble theme and fine performances. PPP is worth a watch.

Marma (2002)

2006-02-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Marma (2002)
Featuring: Prema, Anand, Kishori Ballal and others.
Directed by: Sunil Kumar Desai

Sunil Kumar Desai (SKD) is known for movies that are out of the ordinary. Be it ‘Nishkarsha’ – a well shot hostage drama or ‘Beladingala Baale’ – a secret lover saga with Anant at his best, SKD has always created cinema with a mysterious touch to it. This has pretty much become his trademark now. Although I have not been following his recent outings, ‘Marma’ seemed to enticing to be missed.

As the title suggests, it is a suspense thriller. Anyone who knows the meaning of the word ‘Marma’ will immediately identify it to be some kind of mystery-based drama. So the viewer gets no prizes for guessing that one. When I had reviewed ‘Anveshane’ and ‘Aparichita’, I had mentioned how smart people have become nowadays which is why making intelligent suspense thrillers is harder now. This parameter needed good

Sudha (Prema) is engaged to Anand (some Bangalore based model by the same name) and things seem to be pink and white with the couple looking forward to a life of bliss. The following day Sudha is invited to Anand’s farmhouse somewhere in the middle of the woods. On her way to the farmhouse a storm appears out of nowhere (so far pretty much stereotypical of a suspense movie) and ends up breaking down Sudha’s car. She notices a wooden cottage and knocks on the door for help. Noticing that no one is responding she manages to enter via an open window and finds a man inside. Despite her best attempts he ignores her presence until she discovers a girl’s dead body upstairs. In a fit of panic the man realizes she has seen too much and jumps on her. Sudha strikes the man and jumps off the balcony and drops unconscious on the wet ground outside.

This opening sequence heats up the goings on right away in this SKD feature. Sudha finds herself in a hospital the following day and returns home. Once home, things start getting seriously creepy. She starts getting random visits by our wood-house man threatening to kill her since she had seen the dead woman. Sudha spends a good one hour trying to convince everyone around her that she is not crazy and that the button she has (she managed to get hold of it when she was in the fight with that man earlier) is proof of what she saw. Anand, the bewildered fiancé, tries his best to convince her that she is hallucinating but Sudha is firm in her stance. She even alleges that the man entered one night and violated her chastity.

The concerned parents bring in a psychiatrist (another newcomer) who spends a good amount of onscreen time lecturing us about such cases. Before you think you are going to doze of to this man’s monotonous baritone, Sudha one day sees the man who is haunting her on the television! Things catch speed once again as SKD takes us on a journey of unraveling this rather bizarre mystery. The doctor starts becoming an integral part in figuring what the truth is. Is the real killer caught? Was there a murder at all or was it Sudha hallucinating? What about the button then? How did the alleged murderer gain entry into her bedroom every night despite so much security? All these questions are answered as the movie approaches a stereotypical end.

Credit is due for the treatment of some scenes. Sudha recognizing the man she is looking for on the television was a smartly shot sequence. Sudha’s friend Maya and her daughter keep appearing out of nowhere to visit and comfort her is also well shot. The sequence where the parents and everyone else realize who exactly is visiting Sudha in her bedroom is also a brilliant master stroke. Another well shot scene is when she brings her family to the wooden-house where she claims to have seen the murderer and actually finds him still there! Many such good sequences make up for the otherwise Prema-dominant movie.

One cannot blame SKD for choosing one known name in this malady based thriller. The story does revolve around her and so no one else gets any major say in the fare. Although I thought the choice of two very important characters – Anand and the doctor – could have been some professional actors rather than newcomers with no experience. That would have added more mileage to this interesting plot. The movie desperately needed one major entity apart from Prema to add spice into the goings on. Had there been that element, I think ‘Marma’s effect would have increased extraordinarily. It does exist after you have seen the movie, but with only one woman pretty much controlling every frame, there is nothing much the viewer can choose from. One wonders if this was SKD’s ambitious project then why he banked on so many new faces.

Without repeating it, performances wise Prema occupies the whole stage. She essays the role of the scared and confused Sudha very effectively. Although at times I thought she went overboard with some of her loud and unreasonable expressions. Anand’s role was such an important one but he manages to mess it up with his non-existent expressions. I sometimes wonder if these people get such pivotal roles due to obligations or friendly favors. As I said, the casting for this role was a bad choice from the word go. His ‘always suspicious’ look becomes a pain to watch as the movie progresses. The psychiatrist character stops preaching and puts some life into his role towards the end, but somehow the face of Anant Nag kept flashing in my mind’s eye for that doctor’s role (and not because I am a fan!). Others including the alleged murderer chip in well with their type-cast performances.

Editing is good although the background music sometimes takes away the effect of the visuals. The rain sequences could have been handled better. Camera work is fine but still-camera positions could have made the in-house sequences more chilling. There are no songs in this feature which is such an important part of a good and gripping thriller movie and SKD uses the background score well for the most part.

‘Marma’ has an excellent storyline and impresses as far as this genre of Kannada cinema is concerned. With a tighter set of performances and smarter dialogues, the movie would have definitely been one of my top five favorites in Kannada.

Bara (1980)

2006-02-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

Bara (1980)
Featuring: Anant Nag, CR Simha and others.
Directed by: MS Satyu

‘Garam Hawa’ was Satyu’s best known work in Hindi. ‘Bara’ comes from the baton of the same accomplished director. During one of my conversations with a friend recently I was mentioning the various genres of movies I have been watching lately and when I mentioned ‘Bara’, he said it was an art film. While I am one of those who hate any kind of categorization of art and principles, it still got me thinking. The one thing I realized is that there is no such thing called ‘Art’ film. There is only good and bad art. No amount of ‘commercialization’ can save a bad feature and no amount of garb can hide a good one.

Set against the backdrop of a drought hit area ‘Bara’ picks up momentum from the very beginning. Wide angle shots of a blistering sun over a parched landscape and dying animals greet us in the opening sequence. Satish Chandra (Anant) is the main protagonist whose eyes we use to watch the story unfold. A just, disciplined and caring man by nature, this administrative officer is yet to take a journey through the gross realities of modern day politics.

Caught between a political enthusiast Bimoji (Simha) who happens to be close associate through their fathers and a cigar smoking useless piece of a politician (unknown), Satish is struggling to keep his sanity and professional sanctity intact. Satish’s life includes a mopping wife, a friend from the armed forces (Pankaj Dheer in a totally absurd role) who never seems to have anything to do except give Satish’s wife some company (as a friend of course), a religiously inclined father and a son.

Local political rowdies instigate a chaos of dynamic proportions. Everything from hiding rice and wheat from the starving public to violating women and igniting a communal war takes place. All this is done just to keep their bellies full at the cost of someone else’s life. The famine is used as an excuse for all of them to pursue their own personal goals. Does it mean taking lives of the innocent? So be it. Does it mean capitalizing on the corrupt administrative force that drives our nation? So it shall be.

Fighting a losing battle between all this is a tired and enraged Satish. With nowhere to turn for help he starts playing his own game by letting those who want to fight go ahead but at the same time manages to start helping out the poor by drilling bore wells. While the Chief Minister is using his own method to stay in power and extract all that is left of this already dead piece of bone, many people are made scapegoats.

‘Bara’ showcases the shameful tale of corrupt politics and how it strangles the desperate. It is indeed a more shameful woe that we have not yet learnt from this and continue to lose one government after another with nothing happening for the common man. ‘Bara’ is a grim reminder of the sinful times we live in.

Technically the movie is beautifully shot with no nonsense camera work. The crowd manufacturing unit has been handled well with everyone chipping in their bit. The director does a good job in getting good performances from everyone in the feature. Music is not an integral part of this movie which is a good thing. Most ‘reality-based’ movies tend to get caught in the vicious “should we should we not” tangle of background scores. In ‘Bara’ however, music and background score are skillfully used as and when required.

Anant Nag takes the cake in the performances category once again. This actor leaves me wanting for more every time I watch his features. He effortlessly becomes the struggling government official who is resisting the role of a dummy doll at the government’s hands. The actress who plays his wife - Lovelean Madhu - seems alright in her debut feature as the frustrated wife of this ever-busy husband. CR Simha plays a confidenly executed foxy role of the political leader/advocate Bimoji who is out to get himself a name at the people’s cost. The remaining group of performers lends apt support in their stereotypical roles in this political satire.

‘Bara’ is a wonderful metaphor for the famine-struck politics in our country which is displayed in its complete naked shame.

Khushi (2004)

2006-02-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

Khushi (2004)
Featuring: Anant Nag, Avinash, Vijay Ragavendra, Sindhu Menon and others.
Directed by: Prakash

Quite honestly I have never been crazy about movies that revolve around teenage life. That probably is because every teen is so eager to become an adult that once we all have passed that stage, anything remotely to do with that rather bizarre phases of our lives looks least appealing. Especially after the bizarre and meaningless ‘Excuse Me!’ my resistance against such “its all about love as we see it” themes by college going dudes and dames has only increased.

I watched “Khushi” despite this because I nurse a quiet admiration for Vijay Raghavendra. Right from his “Chinnaari Mutta” days this child artiste seemed like a confident performer. The other obvious reason why I wanted to see the feature was for Anant Nag. Good or bad, Anant always delivers and if you throw in Avinash as well, it makes for one interesting mix of things.

“Khushi” is an entertaining fare. It is a movie that connects two very vital generations of our times and I encourage movie makers to make more such movies in the future. Movies and India, as I have so often said, are like the Siamese twins. One cannot live without the other. This makes teenage theme-based movies very delicate since they affect the present and future of our land. Directors and script writers need to make smart choices in how they deliver the message. Prakash, in this case, does exactly that. Without falling for the very easy trap of showcasing teens sucking each others faces and pretty much demanding love with the all too familiar “nanna love maaDu!”, Prakash showcases a complete family entertainer.

Ajay, Vijay (brothers) and Shashi (cousin) live with their respective fathers (Avinash and Anant who are brothers as well) and Avinash’s wife. From childhood these three are known for their “back-door” ways of dealing with problems which includes everything from forging report cards and lying to parents without a blink. Fed up of their non stop antics, the brothers send their kids to stay and study in a boys’ hostel. The boys grow up with unfulfilled wishes of freedom and dreams of living a complete teenage life. To make sure at least their college life is full of fun, they manage to dupe their parents once again into believing that they are ‘too childish’ in nature and need some real world experience if they are to take over the family run business. To accomplish this seemingly difficult task the brother duo then shunts these three fellows to live in one of their bungalows under the watchful eye of Mandeep (Mandeep Rai). One thing leads to another and the boys manage to master all vices in no time. During the three years of their stay there they also manage to fish out some belles for themselves to dance around and date when required.

They return home victors but as it turns out, a drunken Mandeep spills the beans on these guys’ real picture. The parents are shell shocked to realize that their erroneous ways have not yet bettered. In a heated exchange of words the boys leave home with a challenge to make a certain amount of money in one month. This whole scenario reminds of several movies we have seen in the past and so has nothing much to it.

Once out in the real world the boys (now men) still find it hard to land on their feet from this freefall. One event after another they start realizing the true meaning of the word responsibility, affection, family and what it takes to have a social identity. The rest of the story revolves around how the girls in their lives, especially Vijay Raghavendra’s girlfriend Chaaya (Sindhu Menon), help these guys realize their true worth and find true “Khushi”.

As I said, movies like this one do not need too much dissection. The theme of the teen mind going through various ups and downs to discover reality is what “Khushi” is all about. One wonders if the director could have experimented with this time tested theme a little more and designed more creative scenarios instead of following the traditional approach.

Performance wise Vijay Raghavendra occupies a good amount of screen presence with his experienced portfolio. I hope he gets more challenging roles to improve and grow as a professional. The other two performers are ok with nothing exceptional to write home about. The same goes about the girls playing their respective girlfriends. Only Sindhu Menon gets apt screen time and she essays her role with a lot of confidence. It is easy to lose character in such a large casting but she keeps her focus well. Supporting cast which includes a bumbling Dwarakish and a wasted Ramesh Bhat enter and exit without much to do.

Technically the movie is fresh and editing is crisp. Music and background score are very well scored by Guru Kiran and are shot well in the movie too. Watch out for one disco number which seems to have drawn a lot of inspiration from “Dil Chaahta Hai”’s disco track in its presentation.

On the whole “Khushi” entertains, amuses and delivers.

Nanna Preetiya Hudugi (2001)

2006-02-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

Nanna Preetiya Hudugi (2001)
Featuring: Dhyan, Dipali, Bhavya, Lokesh and others.
Directed by: Nagatihalli Chandrashekhar

Like most people I know, I first heard of Nagatihalli after “America! America!” which I think was a pretty good movie. The concept of people losing their way to distant dreams was pretty well portrayed in the movie. Hence N.Chandrashekhar became a big name in the business almost instantaneously. He was probably one of the first movie makers who showed regular everyday life in the United States without falling for the clichés some previous directors had succumbed to. The treatment was unique and of course, it had the “Ramesh factor” which always helps.

However, with “Nanna Preetiya Hudugi” the same man has missed the boat completely. This movie has nothing new to offer whatsoever. Stories of people from two superlatively different backgrounds – both financially and socially – falling in love and their respective families opposing it is as old as cinema itself. I am not sure what exactly it is Nagatihalli was trying to convey by repeating such an ancient concept. Okay. We get it Mr. Chandrashekhar. You have lot of contacts in the United States of America and your obsession with that country is more than people like us who actually live in that continent. But how many more times should we be subjected to the same scenarios? The same never ending shots of freeways? The same “my first day in the USA” routine? Can we move on please considering half of India is now in the Silicon Valley? Would the movie be any different had the girl been a rich lass in Bangalore? Would the movie be unique had the boy been a poor lad with a finger up his nose from Timbaktoo?

Putta (Dhyan. I don’t know why people call him this since his name is Sameer Dattani.) is a school going lad in a remote boat-connected little island-like village. He is shown to have a passion for playing the flute. A camera-conscious Nagatihalli (yes the man himself) shows up out of nowhere to teach the rather falling apart school that Putta goes to. If he is not busy mouthing some inspirational words to his “students” he is also magically managing some miracles. One of them is to get an American woman to sponsor Putta in a student foreign-exchange program due to Putta’s talent. The fact that Putta does not touch his flute the moment he touches the United States is a different story. Bhavya plays Putta’s concerned mother who is shown to be very affectionate to the boy and reluctantly sends him to the US.

Once in the Unites States he starts living with Susan (don’t even get me started on this lady’s knowledge of Kannada. For some reason Mr. Chandrashekhar feels we would appreciate an American woman mouthing bad kannada. As if we don’t get enough of that from Kannadigas itself) who helps Putta settle down and get started on his education. Now what exactly he is studying in Detroit is of no relevance since the first day of school he is said to be in Class 11. Interestingly all this is happening in Michigan State University campus with a classroom of about 10 students. I have no idea what the arrangement there was and I don’t want to find out.

Somehow he manages to meet another Kannada speaking girl in the same class (conveniently because God forbid he should realistically fall for any other kind of Indian) and before you know it they are exchanging everything from bicycles to jackets to kisses.

A couple of songs later the girl’s parents figure out what Mr. Flute master is up to and unrealistically move their entire family and lifelong business from Detroit to Miami. A change of this sort needs a catastrophe in America but a few innocent confrontations is enough for these scare-easy parents. Suresh Heblikar is the cliché American dad who is against this “love affair”. Before you have tried to stay awake from this goings on, the couple elopes…ends up in a bizarre white water rafting accident and end up back in their respective homes. I wonder what poor Susan must be thinking of our little boy who was expected to gain laurels in the United States with his “musical talents” and somehow manages to do everything but.

Back home more chaos waits. Bhavya is shown to have lost her mind since her husband (Lokesh in a completely wasted role) and relatives have convinced her that Putta is not coming back. This scares the already scared Putta who hops on the next flight (Susan must be really rich!) and arrives back home. His mother jumps onto the bewildered boy out of nowhere to let us know she is mentally sick. A few “You are not my son! I am being cheated! He is not coming back!” scenes later she somehow recovers and realizes that he indeed is her son.

For the first time I am actually wondering why I am writing a review for such a storyline. Everything after this becomes as predictable as a Ramsay horror movie. None of the girl’s parents are shown towards the end (duh!) and she manages to fly back home and join her lover much to Bhavya’s glee.

“Nanna Preetiya Hudugi” is easily the next bad movie I have seen after Kashinathji’s “Hendati Endare Heegerabeku”. At least in the latter there were tacky but laughable moments. In this movie nothing convinces nor amuses.

First things first. Dhyan (or whatever his name is) cannot act. Period. Nothing more to add. Why Chandrashekhar keeps choosing this fellow over and over again is beyond sanity. The boy can’t finish one sentence without making an artificial “I know I am on camera” hand gesture. Come on! Join an acting class man! The new girl Dipali is the only one with any emotional presence in the rather mundane script. I hope to see her in better scripted and more powerful roles since she can definitely emote given the right director. Others are passé with nothing noticeable. Chandrashekhar’s appearance as the know-it-all teacher is a drag as well since he is as emotionless as a stick in his small role. What could have been a major dynamic character turns out to be pretty lukewarm.

Technically the movie is alright. Editing is one department this man always has a problem with. No synchronization whatsoever. People suddenly change positions during a scene…face expressions change….boy oh boy he needs a crash course in Editing 101. Music is alright with a couple of pleasant tunes. “Car car” song made it big although I don’t see anything special in it except they compare two completely distinct modes of transport in two ends of the world.

All said and done Chandrashekhar for some reason is still not over his “America!America!” shot at limelight since he keeps taking us back to it in various forms and shapes. Dubbing for the American actors is just plain bad. For the first time I saw an American teacher in an American university without an American accent.

I always thought Nagatihalli was over-rated and this movie just asserts this point. It is one thing to have a noble goal to showcase good entertainment but it is a completely different thing to execute it properly. This is the area where Nagati keeps misses the bus…or should I say "Car car".

Aparichita (1978)

2006-02-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

Aparichita (1978)
Featuring: Suresh Heblikar, Vasudeva Rao, Shobha and others.
Directed by: Kashinath

Circa 2000 and we see a steep decline in movies that revolve around mystery and edge-of-the-seat plots in the Kannada movie industry. The only two movies of this genre that come to mind almost immediately are “Ssshh…” and “Baa Nalle Madhuchandrake”. Now one might wonder if this is because of the growing demand in sleaze and never-ending hunger for remakes. In fact I think it is also this and more importantly, we viewers have been fed on such a high-calorie diet of suspense and intrigue from other languages (including the beloved Hollywood) that it has become practically impossible for writers to come up with plots that can outsmart the viewer. If memory serves me right these above two mentioned movies in my experience, which is by far nowhere near the average Kannada cine-goers, are the ones that had me pleasantly surprised and extremely pleased with the outcome. If “Sssh…” was jaw-aching comedy spiced with slick editing then “Baa Nalle..” kept us wondering till the end about the real killer.

“Aparichita” comes from the then steady hands of Kashinath. I had not even heard of such a move until recently. Once I heard that it was Kashinath’s directorial debut, I just had to see it. One needs to give the man credit where it is due and hence I take the opportunity to explore his very first feature.

Set in the background of a controversial little town, “Aparichita” takes us directly into the midst of action with the opening scene showcasing a gunshot and fleeing birds in the sky. A drunk claims that he has just witnessed the corpse of a well known man in the woods. Relatives (that include a promiscuous step-mother), her lover and a few other villagers rush to the spot to find a dead pig instead of Shaam (Kokila Mohan) whose body was allegedly found. Police and everyone else around mock the drunk calling it one more of his many fantasy-land stories. However, he insists he saw Shaam’s dead body there and hence to prove his point keeps visiting the spot so that “the murderer” might show up.

Enter Prakash (Suresh Heblikar) who claims to be Shaam’s business partner and a writer of some sort who comes looking for the latter and some ‘countryside inspiration’. Shaam’s step-mother (Sri Lalita) tells Prakash that Shaam is pretty random when it comes to being at home. Prakash decides to wait for Shaam at her place but is soon transferred to a nearby bungalow to make sure Mrs.-was-too-young-when-my-husband-died continues to meet her glass-eyed lover. Prakash realizes there is a rumor that Shaam was apparently found dead in the woods and befriends everyone from the drunk to the little boy who keeps running across the village a thousand times a day running errands. While Mr. Writer is shown to be doing more than enquiring about a friend’s mysterious disappearance, he also manages to find time to socialize with Kusuma (Shobha…no idea who this woman is. Seeing her for the first time onscreen.) who lives with her mother in the same village. A poker-faced Rangaiah (Vasudeva Rao) keeps following Prakash and all his new-found diversions. Prakash suspects foul play and starts digging deep into the relationships that bonded Shaam (still presumed dead) with every other major and minor player in the village.

One good twist deserves another and hence the plot continues to thicken until it is found out that Shaam was indeed murdered and buried in a deserted mansion nearby. To keep people away from the late-night action in that place another fear of “Kolli Devva” (the firebrand ghost) is prevalent. Despite all these hurdles, Prakash manages to bribe his way around the town finding out everything he needs to know to figure out how and why Shaam was killed.

I hate revealing too much for such movies since every scene reveals something different to us and there is no smart way to do justice to such plots. The only recommendation I can make is “Aparachita” is a well made mystery movie. The sketches that are drawn by Kashinath are very well combined together in a neat little fabric as we approach the climax. The pieces of the puzzle start falling together as we start figuring out the real murderer but the revelation of the criminal could have used a little more tact. Once the name and face of the murderer has been revealed a good part of the movie takes a dip with some past stories being investigated. The second half which explores Kusuma’s past was the only dragged out sequence in the entire affair. This movie did not need any songs at all since its focus is on the scene of crime. But, I guess to keep the movie’s value viable a couple of random songs were thrown into the mix.

Performances are crisp and concise. Suresh Heblikar plays his role well as the competent and inquisitive Prakash who will go to all extents to find out what Shaam’s story was. Shobha is adequate as the dove-faced beauty who is supposedly putting up with a turbulent past. Vasudeva Rao is at his usual best with histrionics display in the right amounts. Kokila Mohan makes a pleasant appearance as the wayward Shaam. All the other supporting characters are not big names, but definitely play vital roles in stitching this piece together.

Kashinath delivers a wonderful and enjoyable fare for once that can be seen by the entire family. It is truly a shame that an artiste of his caliber has not yet found his true worth. I have always admired his performances when they were good but also despised him for mocking the art form of acting. This time, however, I recognize the competence he shows in producing “Aparichita”.

Technical aspects are pretty mediocre considering most of Kashinath’s productions are on a tight leash financially. Camera work is good but could have used more lighting in certain crucial places. Editing seems hurried in many places but as the story unfolds it does not worsen. For a movie set in 1978, “Aparachita” looks and feels like it should. A movie worth watching at least once considering you will not watch such thrillers once the secret is out.

Chigurida Kanasu (2003)

2006-02-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Chigurida Kanasu (2003)
Featuring : Shivaraj Kumar, Anant Nag, Avinash, Radha Tripathi, Vidya Venkatesh and others
Directed by: T S Nagabharana

First things first. Before reading this review the reader needs to have some insight into the background of my psyche about this movie. I watched ‘Swades’ almost 6 months before I saw ‘Chigurida Kanasu’. Now the only reason I saw the latter was because almost everyone I met after watching the former invariably said “Ah! Big deal! It is a remake of ‘‘Chigurida Kanasu’!” While I understand and agree with the need to draw parallels with a successful Kannada movie with yet another successful feature and give credit where it is due, it is also vital that we see these two movies in completely separate lights. At the risk of people throwing bulky near-by objects at me, I am going to say it. These movies find inspiration from a generic moral but take off one completely different route in execution.

True. Both these movies start off similarly but while ‘Swades’ took a deeper look at the grassroot level necessities of rural India, ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ takes a look at a wider more varied issue of a man overcoming several hurdles to achieve a goal. If the only ‘enemy’ in ‘Swades’ was the mindset of individuals, ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ deals with more visible and real foes in the form of characters in the plot. If ‘Swades’ was about eventually doing something for our nation, ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ tries to capture everything. While this is not necessarily a dissection of one story as two separate treatments, we should not watch either of these movies with any comparison to the other in mind. As I said, ‘Swades’ is not ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ and vice versa.

Shankar (Shivaraja Kumar) is a Delhi-born and bred just-graduated engineer. He lives a life anyone would envy with a doting father (Anant Nag) and a loud and annoying mother (do you really care what her name is?) who cant even say ‘I love you, my dear son’ without making it sound like a threat. He also has a younger brother (again, a nameless entity) who is shown to be a pilot. While Shankar is happy with where he is in life and where he will be, somewhere deep in his heart something tugs at him all the time telling him this is not where he belongs. Shankar’s Delhi-based girlfriend is a Kannadati (Vidya Venkatesh) and does a pretty neat job teaching our Hindi-speaking friend some Kannada. While this jolly little couple has their head stuck in the clouds, Shankar’s mom is making arrangements to have him married. Reluctantly Shankar agrees to see the bride-to-be. During this little scheme-based event, he realizes the letter B in his name stands for ‘Bangaadi’ which is either a person or a town of some sort. Shankar finally finds a ray of hope in this name. To add more oxygen to his yearning heart he discovers he is a Kannadiga too! That moment his father tells him “Speak in Kannada, my son. It has been so long since I have heard that language.”, a shiver runs through a true-blue Kannadiga as we see ourselves mirrored in Shankar’s tears. One of the most brilliantly shot scenes in the movie. Anant confesses he walked away from his roots since it, according to him, betrayed his father (a Shivaraja Kumar look-alike, duh!) and no longer wishes to be a part of it. Shankar, on the other hand, has found new light. He will not let anything stop him from going back to his roots.

With much retaliation from the Hindi-camp, Shankar takes off on his unknown journey. He visits his college mate from Karnataka and is shocked to realize that ‘Bangaadi’ actually is a small village not far from where his friend stays. He visits his roots for the first time in his entire life. Another scene that appealed to me was when he places his hand on the cold stone-floor in his friend’s house. It is then you realize he has found his home. His real home.

Shankar meets his grand-father’s sister, an old and frail lady who is shocked and relieved to see her brother’s re-incarnation appear in front of her eyes. She narrates the story of her life and the incidents that led to Shankar’s grand-father to flee his own roots. She shows him the piece of land that belonged to their family and requests him to re-build the now in ruins house of theirs. Enter Shaanbog sir (Avinash) as the dubious villain of the plot. Having run the old lady’s life all these years, the idea of some random foreigner entering their lives does not please our man. He has a young and cheerful daughter in the shape of Rekha Tripathi (I forget what her name in the movie was) who teaches in a self-run school in that village. As is customary in our movies since they began, the village belle plucks out her heart and hands it over to Mr.Delhi-returned Shankarji. [Sometimes I wonder if I too should find a village and go there since the city girls don’t seem to be caring that I too am a ‘videsi babu’! I mean, so many hundreds of directors cannot be wrong……or can they? Of course, that is a quest for another time.]

Meanwhile Shankar returns home with this great news for his father. He cannot wait to tell them all about it and take the entire family (girlfriend included) with him to Bangaadi. As we would know it, none of them agree to return except a disappointed Shankar. Another neat scene is when he waits for his girlfriend at the railway station hoping she would come to see him off. There comes a moment of uncertainty where he almost alights from the train and walks away from his quest, but his heart and his grandmother’s words stop him from doing so. As a weeping ‘I-don’t-love-you-enough-to-support-your-cause’ girlfriend watches the train disappear, Shankar has embarked on a whole new journey.

Once back in Bangaadi things accelerate. And not just between Shankar and Shaanbog but also between Shankar and his land, his ‘cant-you-tell-my-heart-is-yours?’ eye-batting teacher friend and between Shankar and his aging grandmother. With great will comes great grace (not referring to the show ‘Will and Grace’) and hence Shankar manages to gracefully build a strong bridge across the river in that village. A bridge that the Shanbhog swears never to step on but does so in a rather amusing fashion. More development projects catch speed in the form of ‘not-too-lethal’ electricity supply that our engineer-babu manages to generate (This sequence has ‘‘Swades’ copied it’ written all over it. Fair enough.) He turns to the back bone of our nation – agriculture and starts working on his land much to Shanbog’s envy and rage. The teacher girl manages to blend herself into Shankar’s life and starts dreaming of a life together with this noble man.

Enter Shankar’s long-lost Delhite Kannadati girlfriend! The teacher’s dreams are crushed by this and in a rather captivating scene the teacher and Shankar’s girlfriend end up making it clear to each other that both of them cannot have a place in Shankar’s life. The rest is cliché with the girlfriend doing the sacrifice and traveling back to Delhi with a broken heart.

The remaining part of the story is up for grabs. It involves all the necessary elements in a typical commercial fare with fights, misunderstandings, realizations, a couple of timely deaths et al.

Shivraja Kumar is in his element as the ‘desperate-for-roots’ Shankar who gives up a bright prospect in life to find himself. This performance is touted as Shivraja’s best performances and I agree with slight reluctance since I still believe ‘Om’ is what saw Shivraja in his complete form. Of course, this is just my opinion. His Hindi-accent needed serious polishing. One wishes had call-centers been more effective during the time this movie was shot, accent-training might have been easy. Despite his best efforts Shivraja does not come off as a convincing Hindi-chap due to this. This makes the character-sketch a little bleak although it does not hinder the progress of the movie in any way. Anant is at his usual best with a bang-one performance although he seemed under-used as the hopeless father. There could have been a wonderful side-character for him had he joined Shankar in the village and met his long-lost aunt. Vidya Venkatesh and Radha are stable as the girls vying for Shankar’s heart. Avinash is at his usual best (one more super performance by this accomplished actor) chipping in the right amounts of evil in the goings on. All the other characters including Krishne Gowda lend apt support to the central character.

Technically the movie is well shot. The natural surroundings of Bangaadi and the picturesque locales of Ganges on the banks of Varanasi are well portrayed. Background music is good with some catchy numbers although a couple of songs could have been chopped off. Nagabharana does a fine job in narrating the tale of a lost individual finding himself and standing up against all odds to get back what is rightfully his. Editing sometimes tends to slow things down but nothing that one would generally notice.

A fine script with a noble theme and a strong message. Shankar ends up finding his roots. We all can only hope we know where our roots lie and if we don’t, this movie beckons you to search for it.

As I said earlier, I for one, found both ‘Swades’ and ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ very different in their approaches and treatment. I will agree that ‘Swades’ drew the basic inspiration and a few scenes here and there from ‘Chigurida Kanasu’ but it is definitely not a remake by a far shot. At the end of day, what does matter is what you take away from it.

Dweepa (2002)

2006-02-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Dweepa (2002)
Featuring: Soundarya, Avinash, Vasudeva Rao, Harish Raju and others.
Directed by: Girish Kasaravalli

Movies based on novels seldom go wrong in their execution. The deep rooted messages they give us leave lasting impressions on our mind. Girish Kasarvalli tactfully brings such a story to the celluloid in the form of ‘Dweepa’ that uses a mythological metaphor to send home a message.

Based on the original version by Na D’Souza, ‘Dweepa’ takes us immediately into the lives of a small family living on the beautiful paradise-like island in the heart of Karnataka. Embedded like a crowning jewel at the foot of a picturesque mountain called ‘Sita parvata’ the island is part of history. The history that is older than any of us or our ten generations in the past. It is believed that Rama and Sita used that mountain and its surrounding areas during their exile. The local folk also believe that an enraged villager’s spirit who killed an evil king is their God Almighty. This belief is so deep rooted that it refuses to change the old man’s mind when it is discovered that due to rising water levels, the island is bound to submerge sooner or later.

The old man (Vasudeva Rao) and his son Ganapaiah (Avinash) are the official ‘village welfare’ ritual holders. They perform a ritual called ‘nema’ which is supposed to invoke the villager-God and help people prosper in life. Nagi (Soundarya) is the dutiful wife of Ganapaiah who goes about being the sole person who keeps this family afloat. Literally, as it later turns out. When the island is informed about this soon-to-be-catastrophe, the wise people pack their boats and row away into grocery stores and other businesses. The old man, his son and daughter-in-law on the other hand have a more complex problem at hand. The government does not care about these handfuls of crumbling huts and hence does no more than fling a compensational fee at them and tell them to move. The island is everything the old man has for an identity. His life has been spent in that island performing the family tradition of ‘nema’ and nothing can compensate his life’s earnings. Despite the officers trying to help out the troubled family, the old man refuses to leave his roots to which his son tunes in as well.

While this is the pickle this father-son duo is in, let us shift the scene now to Nagi. A confident woman with a heart of gold. She understands and appreciates the traditional connection they have with the village and its roots but she is the most practical person in that rather foolishly adamant family. She requests her father-in-law and husband several times to rethink their foolhardy decision but in vain.

One fine day, the policemen sent by the government drag the gritty old man out of his little hut and take him away from the village. But his roots are so deep that nothing helps keep him in one place and he returns back to the same village. Foreseeing more trouble ahead, Nagi’s mother recommends taking Krishna (Harish Raju) as a helping hand in case things were to take a turn to the worse. With a stupid husband and an exceedingly rigid father-in-law Nagi accepts this offer and so we see the cheerful and spirited Krishna enter their lives.

Krishna has had a rough streak. With a failed stint in Bombay he is looking for some place to hang on to so that he does not get labeled a loser. As he enters this small family the companionship between him and Nagi starts to pinch Ganapaiah in the eye. Nagi and Krishna are the only talking heads in this rather silent and hushed up family. According to Ganapaiah and his father, this cheer seems almost criminal in the face of the murder of their roots that is taking place. Nagi on the other hand is ready to move on. The old man finally gives up his life performing his last ‘nema’ at the temple shrine and this is the final nail in this drowning coffin.

With the old soul up in smoke, Ganapaiah slowly starts to lose his mind and what is left of his rather weak reasoning skills. Suspicion is the worst kind of demon there is between couples. Once this snake strikes one can be assured there will never really be complete healing. Unfortunately for Nagi, ironical to her name, it does. Ganapaiah tries his best to make sure that he conveys his malicious feelings towards Krishna. This even includes giving him dangerous assignments like herding a cow and her calf across an angry river. Nagi’s concern for Krishna is misinterpreted in all the possible ways that a gutless spouse can possibly do. When Nagi realizes that Ganapaiah has started withdrawing as a husband and a man, she lets Krishna go. Krishna, promptly, takes off with the only transportation mode they have – the boat.

Now…they are stranded on this drowning ship with a raging rain on one hand and a roaring tiger (yes there is one on ‘Sita parvata’) on the other. While Ganapaiah is busy giving up on life altogether, Nagi fights against all odds to make sure they are safe. Her mental and physical abilities are put to test in the face of this Herculean challenge for survival. When we watch Nagi fighting everything from a clogged sludge to invisible man-eaters, we realize what a strong woman she is. One of the most brilliantly shot sequences in the movie is the final half an hour that showcases the struggle of an innocent woman.

Every good book has a strong bottom-line. The final few pages. Those pages that you want to jump to but would not do it because it would break the rhythm of the narration. Hence, the final five minutes of the movie should not be written about or explained. I am going to let the viewer enjoy it and feel what I did. The battle of a woman’s inner and outer demons are beautifully underlined in the climax that leaves you with a dry and hollow feeling in your heart. Ah! What a fortune to be witness to such beautiful cinema.

Performances wise the show belongs to Soundarya without a close second. This was the first movie I saw after she passed away and it sends a dagger to my heart at how God can be so cruel as to take away such a gifted performer and a wonderful individual from us. She brings a raw and real effect to the Nagi whose heart ends up becoming the ‘dweepa’ itself that no one can reach. Her simplistic and bulls eye portrayal leaves us yelling in silences for Nagi’s justice. It was absolutely a treat to watch Soundarya in such a deglamorised and authentic role. Thank you, Soundarya ji, for bringing us such splendor. We all will miss you for eternity. May the Almighty keep you close to Him. Amen.

Avinash underplays his role wonderfully as the ‘I-don’t-know-how-else-to-live’ chicken of a husband who ends up praising the unseen God when she is right beside him. One can only hope that God produces less Ganapaiahs and definitely more Nagis in our generation. Vasudeva Rao is in full swing as the annoyed and distraught old man fighting to die in his roots if not live on it. Professionals like Mr.Rao will be sorely missed for the finesse they brought to the screen. Harish Raju does a very confident job as the confused and happy-go-lucky Krishna. Pitted against giants like Soundarya, Avinash and Vasudeva Rao he manages to maintain a steady performance. Given the right roles we might be looking at yet another horse for the long haul.

Technical aspects are brilliant. The cinematography by National Award winner H M Ramachandra is a visual celebration of Mother Nature and her many colors. The background score tugs at your heart with its deep rooted notes and timely pitches. Editing is sometimes a little blunt and tends to drag the movie at times. This slows the pace down a little bit but Girish Kasarvalli’s deft direction keeps it from falling apart.

On the whole ‘Dweepa’ is a wonderfully crafted masterpiece. Being Kasarvalli’s fifth National Award winning film, ‘Dweepa’ is a must-watch for people of all genres. Here is an exemplary model of what Kannada cinema is all about.

Anveshane (1983)

2006-01-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Anveshane (1983)
Featuring : Smita Patil, Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, Sunder Raj, Balakrishna, Ramesh Bhat and others.
Directed by: T S Nagabharana

“yenanna kandaru hedari hedari saayo bhaaratada madhyama varga…” is an expression that captures the mood and theme of this T S Nagabharana feature. Set in the mid 1980s where bell bottom trousers and intimidating sideburns entered India, “Anveshane” unfolds an interesting story which is definitely beyond your 'dime a dozen' eye-candy fare.

Shaam (Anant) and Revati (Smita) live in a ‘vothaara’ with a host of other families and two adorable little girls. For those who do not know, a ‘vothara’ is a set of houses that are usually owned by one person and inhabited by many families. He works for a travel agency while she is a school teacher. Both are working hard to make ends meet in a social structure that has been making it increasingly difficult for the middle class. There is a lot of affection and love in this family that lives under the prying nose of old, perverted and goofy men who are married to nosy, loud and annoying women. Day in and day out the couple follows a standard routine which involves everyday chores of getting the kids ready for school, making breakfast and heading off to work. The house is locked all day until they all return in the evening.

Ajja (Balakrishna) is the inquisitive old man who has nothing else to do all day except suspect every single event that occurs around him. The movie picks up pace very quickly after a rather dull initial few minutes (this also includes a song…the only one as I saw it in the entire movie) when ajja starts hearing radio sounds from the otherwise empty and locked house. This becomes a regular affair before the couple realizes something is amiss. They start noticing the fact that someone visits their home when they are not around.

When the couple returns one evening they are shocked out of their living minds when they find a corpse right in the middle of their living room. Shekhar (Sunder Raj playing the super-still dead body itself is worth the money!) is the victim who seems to have been killed by an unknown hand. Fear and tension strikes the innocent couple whose main problem up until now was to get their daughters to wear shoes for school! They spend an entire night wondering what to do with their unwelcome guest that includes hiding him under their own bed and getting rid of his wallet. Their attempts at getting rid of the corpse go futile thanks to drunks and policemen who strategically appear out of nowhere. Somehow they manage to put the corpse in one of the rooms (seemed like they had the biggest accommodation in that pool of houses since they had so many rooms!) and the quest (Anveshane) about why he died in their house begins.

Characters and stories start emerging in the shape of a limping Dharwad-chap Rotti (Girish Karnad) who visits them one day looking for Shekhar. Shaam starts tracing Rotti and manages to end up in a rather amusing face-off with him one final day. The story unfolds as we start picking up the chips of the story from Rotti’s eyes. His connection with Shekhar emerges and all the pieces of this puzzle seem to fall into place. We also get a brief look at a very young and a very slim Ramesh Bhat in the process!

The second portion of the movie catches momentum when Rotti arrives at Shaam’s place to offer help in disposing the body away. As the entire neighborhood watches these bizarre happenings around them, we start hoping that they get rid of the now stinking corpse already! Rotti takes off to an unknown destination with a box filled with Mr.Shekhar while Shaam and his family seem to find their way to safety. You will have to watch the movie yourself to see the final few minutes since me sharing more than this would be unfair to this well crafted tale. One of the mistakes people make while reviewing such thrillers is giving away too much. I hope I have not gone down the same path.

Smita Patil. Just the mention of that name sends us back to all the features this beautiful artiste was a part of. One of the most celebrated personalities in Bollywood is shown as a meek, terrified, vulnerable and naïve housewife who is trying to maintain her state of mind in the midst of all this chaos. What amazed me is how we forget that she is Smita Patil once we start getting involved in the story! She blends into the skin of the middle-class working woman showcasing the professional that she was. It gives me great pleasure in knowing that this was her first Kannada movie since she could not have made a more perfect choice. Today’s so called ‘Bollywood Bedagis’ who put on so many tantrums for one badly lip-synched appearance and who refuse to appear unless they are given apt ‘screen time’ can take a lesson or two from Smitaji. Shame on them for giving a bad name to the world of cinema when personalities like Smita had appeared in such deglamorised and authentic roles. If history repeats itself then I am fondly waiting for this trend to resurface.

Anant Nag (who seemed to have trouble maintaining his stubble during scene continuity) is at his usual best. Despite the fact that he is cast opposite an established name, he pulls off a very convincing role as the desperate-for-answers Shaam. Girish Karnad (also very young) is another treat to watch as the frustrated and hopeless father who is fighting for his daughter’s sake. It had been a very long time since I had seen a Karnad in such a wonderful role. Sunder Raj once again proves why he is still in the business! His confident performance against such professionals only goes to show what a find he has been for Kannada cinema. If we have not used him to his maximum potential then truly, we are the real losers. I have always enjoyed his performances and this was easily one of his best. Other seasoned players like Balakrishna lend apt support to the mysterious goings on.

Technically the movie can be called low-budget. But with a good script and powerful performances, it does not cross your mind as the pacy narrative keeps your attention. Nagabharana has done a good job at maintaining the realistic feel of the characters and their surroundings. The climax seemed a little rushed since there were still a few questions left unanswered from my point of view. Editing is fine although the music seems to be overpowering the impact of the scene some of the times. Even so, it keeps you engrossed and that is what counts in such movies. Even so, it keeps you engrossed and that is what counts in such movies. Background is fair and adds the necessary chills to scenes at times.

One more good cinema. One more interesting theme.

“yenanna kandaru hedari hedari saayo bhaaratada madhyama varga…” is aptly justified as Nagabharana succeeds in showcasing the constant fear and uncertainty the middle class lives in. How those fears extend to a level that makes them do unthinkable deeds is what the movie very effectively portrays. How those fears are successfully exploited by desperate minds is well captured. Common people in uncommon circumstances is what "Anveshane" is all about.

If you are a fan of creative and well crafted cinema, then “Anveshane” is definitely not to be missed.

Shaapa (2000)

2006-01-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

Featuring: Ramesh, Anu Prabhakar, B C Patil, Ashwath, Avinash and others.
Directed by: Ashok Patil

“Spare the rod and spoil the child” goes the popular saying about making sure children are dealt with an iron hand so that they become responsible and ethical individuals when they grow up. But parents seem to redefine the meaning of that saying on various conditions. When they start blaming the children and ill treating them physically and emotionally for everything that has gone wrong in their lives, then the saying no longer has any relevance. It has become abuse.

Shekhar (Ramesh) is a victim of such an abuse from his atrocious father (Jai Jagadish). Shekhar loses his birth-mother when he is born and as is the sickening tradition the child has to bear the brunt of it. His father destroys Shekhar’s morale by becoming a looming negative influence in his life. Unfortunately for Shekhar, the love he finds in his stepmother (for once portrayed as a loving and caring person unlike the usual cliché) soon leaves him as well. For everything that goes wrong with Shekhar’s father, Shekhar is blamed for the same.

Years roll by. Shekhar’s father dies. But does the abuse and mental torture that he subjected a helpless Shekhar to die with him? No it does not. In fact it starts haunting Shekhar everywhere he goes. He even tries getting help from a psychiatrist (Avinash in a small but interesting role) who reassures him that his belief of ‘everything-I-touch-will-be-mud’ sort of anti-Midas concept is wrong. Shekhar believes he has a curse on him and the story of how that ‘curse’ influences Shekhar is the core of the movie.

Shekhar is hungry for love. True and genuine motherly love. A love he was depraved of in his childhood. A love that he has never really known. His sister (yes he has one) makes a brief appearance as a widow wondering if she should get remarried but then she is never mentioned again. This is one thing I hate about movies. When vital family members of the protagonist are introduced then please take care of their ‘whatever-happened’ factor. Helps keep the realistic feel of the script and does not look forced.

Just when we feel that Mr.’Love-is-not-in-my-stars’ Shekhar is a total loser, he finds Kaveri (Anu Prabhakar). She is a doctor who also has a strong moral center. She helps out the needy and is involved in many social activities. It is love at first sight for Shekhar babu considering he needs someone he can depend on to get rid of the negative shadow his father has cast on his conscience. Kaveri and Shekhar hit it off almost immediately. The chemistry between them becomes friendship and translates into love. Of course, as is the age old tradition of commercial cinema, neither of them is able to proclaim the same. Another cliché I never understood. He is a coffee powder businessman and she is a trained doctor. Both professions require a lot of ‘mind-reading’ for any kind of success yet it does not extend to love!

One thing leads to another and they get separated from each other. While Shekhar leads a life wondering where she vanished (makes one wonder how neither of them had heard of telephones, letters, addresses, e-mails etc) she returns back after four years. He runs into her again, thanks to a familiar flute note that she had taught him, and old sparks rekindle. He realizes she is still unmarried and very creatively proposes his love to her. Ms.’Oh-you-are-late’ Kaveri confesses that she too had similar emotions for him but now….any guesses? Yes! Wow…you people are very good. Now..she is engaged to Ravi.

Enter Ravi (Mr.B C Patil) as a ‘need-to-use-Tamil-in-my-dialogs’ Madras returned super chap. Initially he seems nice and tidy but once he and Kaveri tie the knot (nope..no Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge ‘pleasing-the-bride’s-dad’ track here) we realize he is a super jerk. A money hungry engineer who is out to spin some big ones with his doctor wife, Ravi starts showing his black and dark black sides. Shekhar’s inner demons keep calling out to him in the form of his father. He is tempted many times to get Kaveri back at all cost but the good side inside him keeps stopping him from doing so.

This is the one aspect I liked about the movie. The Karnataka-Tamil Nadu Kaveri river dispute has been used as a metaphor in Shekhar’s life. He starts connecting what he is seeing in the news about that dispute to the war that is on in his mind. ‘naavu kaaveriyanna biDodilla” reads grafitti on the walls of the city while Shekhar is thinking the exact same thing. The evil within Shekhar continues to grow until he explodes.

What decisions he makes and how they become consequences is what the remaining part of the story revolves around. Maintaining my traditional not giving away all the scenes I have kept the good parts for you to watch.

Ramesh is brilliant as a man who is struggling with his inner evil. There are scenes where he murmurs during conversations with a lot of realistic effect. He emotes at the right times and holds the story well together. He never raises his voice once and keeps the character totally focused and in a sober tone. Anu has done a commendable job as the yearning doctor who regrets not taking more initiative with Shekhar. One of the best lines she had in the movie was her last one. She could not have meant it more and for the ones who know what it should sound like…it remains long after the movie is over. B C Patil is his usual arrogant self. I have always considered him an average actor with a lack of emotional quotient and he proves me right again. Ashwath, Avinash and other seasoned players lend apt support in their peaking scenes.

Music is good to the ears with the pick being ‘Manase Manase…’ Some songs could easily have been edited since they do not add any power or essence to the story. The first time director Ashok Patil has tried to potray this movie as a ‘musical’ but I am not so sure. Music is relevant to the story but only in a small amount. The real core is the look he takes into the human psyche and how it behaves. Technically the movie is well shot with a range of colors in the scenic Madikeri area. Sunset and sunrise seems to be a vital part of the story to set the mood.

On the whole ‘Shaapa’ succeeds in holding the audience’s attention till the very end. The suspense and underplayed melodrama is in right amounts to make it look more real. I would definitely recommend it to those interested in such entertainers.

Gowri Ganesha (1991)

2006-01-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

Gowri Ganesha Featuring : Anant Nag, Shruti, Vinaya Prasad, Chandru (both Sweet and Sour / Chief Minister!), Ramesh Bhatt and others.
Directed by: Phani Ramachandra (Hosahalli)

Phani Ramachandra became big in Karnataka with his socially relevant/set comic relief features in the 90s. Anant Nag has always been a prominent actor to feature in most of Phani Ramachandra’s outings with humor. ‘Gowri Ganesha’ is one such venture.

The initial plot is as old as the hills. An ‘age bar’ unemployed middle aged man named Lambodar (Anant Nag) cons people day in and day out to make a living. This includes everything from getting away with not paying monthly rents for the hole-in-the-wall he lives in, coning unsuspecting grocery store owners and leeching off merchandise, eavesdropping on people and making off with expensive equipment etc. The only asset (based on the events mentioned above) he really has is his ability to convincingly pull off these bluffs. One of his most popular ones apparently is checking into hospitals with a fake ailment and leeching off their food and roofing facilities (how he managed this even I could not comprehend!).

While you patiently watch a talented and gifted actor like Nag effortlessly go through this merry-go-around, you wait for the moment the magic of Phani Ramachandra’s direction and the ‘twist’ takes place. There comes a moment when you are convinced there is nothing much left to this already juiced out sugarcane...but boy are you in for a surprise!

Towards intermission the plot picks up pace. A pace so well weaved with the right ounces of humor and intelligent writing that it leaves you absolutely entertained. During one of his usual ‘medical facility’ outings, Lambodar chances upon the dead body of Gowri (Shruti) who fails to make past a by-pass. Hoping to continue his leeching techniques at the poor dead girl’s expense, Lambodar manages to bag her belongings. One of her prized articles happens to be a diary that narrates Gowri’s life in her own words.

A motherless child with an abusive stepmother, Gowri has had to lead a pretty torturous life. The death of her doting father adds to her woes as her shameless stepmother tries to prostitute Gowri. She flees home and finds comfort in a friend’s shelter.

The story then starts using Goddess Gowri and her son Lord Ganesha as a metaphor to the characters in the movie. This is the part where the very smartly written screenplay kicks in. When three men with emotional and physical illusions enter and exit Gowri’s life without so much as touching her, you realize you are watching a good Kannada movie. Each of them ends up becoming an integral part of the plot in the post intermission sections. Anand Rao(Sweet and Sour Chandru), Madhusudhan Rao (Ramesh Bhatt) and Chandramouli (I am not sure what the actor’s name was) and his parents become very important to Lambodar’s little scheme.

I always, if you have been following my reviews so far, try to leave much of the review to the audience’s guess. This is just an attempt to inspire (or in some cases warn!) them to make a wise choice about the movie being reviewed. Hence, I am going to do the same here as well. What you have read so far is what you need to know…what you did not is what you have to see for yourself.

Performances wise Anant Nag steals the show hands down. I never cease to be amazed by this mountain of an actor. Where does he find that vein which touches all of us is what his genius is made of. His sense of comedy, perfect timing, dialogue delivery and the whole package is enough reason to watch the movie. Master Anand is the real surprise packet in the post intermission section of the movie. Do not miss his dead on impersonation of Dr.Rajkumar, Vishuvardhan and Ambarish! He ends up managing the whole show at times on his own despite the presence of a giant like Anant. Shruti plays her role very confidently despite being rather young and ‘still-working-on-my-emotions’ actress during this movie. The supporting cast strikes a perfect balance to what Anant does. All this adds up into one super entertainer with a very different and amazingly well directed script.

A friend once told me that the reason why Kannada movies suffer sometimes is not because of the screenplay/script, but because of the treatment they get from the director. This movie is one case where Phani Ramachandra does an absolutely amazing job at letting Anant display his histrionics with nothing more than a blink and a smile.

Nothing to write home about the technical aspect. A hand held (for the most part) camera with a couple of burning hot lights do the job. Music is pleasing and falls into the ‘must-see-movie-to-understand-and-appreciate-better’ genre.

All said and one, ‘Gowri Ganesha’ is one of the few movies in Kannada that reassures our faith in good and clean cinema.

ShaKri rates this movie 4 out of 5

Jogi (2005)

2006-01-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

Jogi (2005)

Featuring: Arundati Nag, Shivraj Kumar, Jennifer Kotwal and others
Directed by: Prem

One of the most successfully running movies of 2005 in Karnataka – Jogi. Prem has had a pretty good commercial success so far with his previous outings. Invariably his themes revolve around parental love and the need to appreciate that emotion in today’s world. Personally, I was not at all impressed with ‘Excuse Me’ (a review I had posted earlier) due to various factors but let us look at Jogi now.

First things first. The unusual hairdo given to Shivraj is the first thing that catches your eye. He has gone ahead and experimented with at least this aspect which is something Kannada ‘superstars’ are not known to do. Then we have a solid soundtrack. All the songs have become chartbusters with Gurukiran scoring a big one with this movie. Technically well shot and decently presented package is what ‘Jogi’ comes across as.

Dissecting a movie like ‘Jogi’ is easy. It is definitely a commercially designed family entertainer (although parental guidance is strictly advised) with loads of well shot sequences, apt dosage of emotional bliss, soundtracks shot exclusively in bright locations to please the eye and loads of ‘Manmohan Desai-style’ clichés. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Not really when you have powerhouse performers in Arundati Nag and Shivraj Kumar.

Madesha (Shivraj Kumar) lives in his own little world somewhere in the foothills of Male Mahadeshwara mountains in a nondescript village called Singanalloor with a doting mother Bhagyamma (Arundati Nag) and a sick father (Ramesh Bhat in a wasted role). A family that is poor to the world’s eye but is wealthy in never ending love and mutual affection. They have no money but family is their wealth. Madesha and his mother share a very special bond. Being the only child there is a lot of pampering in place. Dance forms are one of the many ways the family members communicate and entertain each other. Simple people with a heart of gold.

First strike. The father passes away. A heartbroken Madesha has found grief for the first time and has a hard time getting a grip with it. He realizes he is the ‘man of the house’ now and needs more money to support the mother. In an attempt to follow his rather ‘colorful’ Bangalore-based friend, he decides to visit Big Bad Bangalore after all. As happens in most movies, a simpleton from the village that he is, Madesha is cheated and left on the roads. A kind gentleman offers him a simple tea-supplier’s job which he gets pretty good at.

Second strike. An unplanned brawl with a nameless ruffian (rowdy alias underworld goon) lands Madesha (now popular as Jogi due to his rather bizarre appearance) ends up in him chasing the foul mouthed goon down the narrow streets of Bangalore and chopping him up left ,right and center. The next thing you know the obvious has happened – the innocent village bumpkin Madesha has automatically entered the ‘field’ of rowdyism. What is very neat about this arrangement though, is that he never really does become a ‘rowdy’.

Third strike. A lost and panicky Bhagyamma reaches a rainy and chaotic Bangalore looking for her son! Thanks to Madesha she has had no clue where he is and what he does for a living. So while Jogi is busy keeping rowdys who get into jail just to watch him ‘perform’ entertained, Mother Jogi is wandering the streets with a rather young looking Jogi’s photograph (looked more like something shot at a police station). With much of ‘this and that’ she runs into Ms.’My-Kannada-is-out-of-sync-in-an-obvious-way’ Jennifer Kotwal. A journalist wannabe busy shooting rather bizarre ‘controversies’. She manages to convince Mother J to stay with her while she helps bag Madesha.

These are the basic strikes that turn and twist the movie around a bit. Goons, cheats, mafia, police, politicians, commoners, micro-mini clad ‘college goers’ et al…everyone seems to make a rather insignificant appearance in the movie. However, the movie really is about Madesha and Bhagyamma. The tagline of the movie ‘A feel that never ends…’ is the full stop if this movie was a sentence. Hence, as always, I leave the full stop for you to appreciate or flame.

Performances wise Arundati Nag once again proves that people connected with theater cannot go wrong. She is the nucleus in the script and manages to hold the sometimes out-of-place goings on in one rhythm. Her portrayal of the innocent and motherly Bhagyamma is sure to win her a few awards in the supporting actress category. Shivraj Kumar has reached a point in his career when one need not scrutinize his acting prowess which has been proved many times. He pulls off this rather unique rowdy’s role with finesse. Although I thought he underplayed many scenes unconvincingly. His facial expressions could have added more power into some of the crucial scenes. But then, maybe that was intentional…I cant say. Jennifer is.. well.. nothing more than a very confident dancer. Her emotions are usually with a wide open mouth and she has a terrible time syncing the background dialog with what she is saying. No relation in some places. One area that clearly needed a lot of work. With her experience on the small screen being pretty way back, she pulls off a decent one anyway. Her costume designer was probably sleeping so let us leave it at that.

Prem tries to do an Upendra-style by bringing different scenes together towards the end. You know…the ones where people go…”Ah! That makes sense now!” and he actually does a pretty good job at that. Although, personally I have always admired Upendra’s direction so I am not at all convinced Prem has that kind of a genius in him…yet.

Technically well shot with a good background score. Editing could have been more precise since it’s a commercially appealing movie. The distant wide angle shots of Singanalloor are beautifully co-ordinated and deserves a thumbs up.

Rama Shama Bhama (2005)

2006-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Featuring: Ramesh Aravind, Kamal Hassan, Shruti, Daisy Bopanna, Urvashi and Dattatreya. Directed by: Ramesh Aravind

Kannada movies have had to suffer major stereotypical movie casting in the past couple of decades as far as comedy and family entertainment is concerned. A popular genre has been the rowdy movies (popularly known as “machchu movies”) which are a dime a dozen and are invariably about love, crime, self realization, mindless bloodshed and loads of trash talk. Only certain members of such casting are “responsible” to provide comic relief in scenes that never gel well with the screenplay of the movie. While this appeals to a large section of the masses, there is a debate about such cinema among people who have grown up appreciating wholesome family entertainers. Movies that may not necessarily convey a life altering message but definitely give us much needed clean and genuine laughter.

While on a 2 week flash trip to Bengalooru I finally saw a Kannada movie in a theater after almost 15 years (a fact I am not proud of) and what a comeback I made! People kept mentioning movies like ‘Amritadhaare’ and ‘Jogi’ as popular titles but I somehow wanted to see the much adored Ramesh in his directorial debut. What could be more endearing than a Kannada speaking Kamal as the powerhouse backup of the movie? This sounded too tempting to miss. After all, it might be another 20 years before Kamal decides to feature in another Kannada movie.

Apart from learning that Kannada movies were tax free (though not convincingly rats free based on the condition of the theater I was in) I was pleasantly surprised to see a house full crowd to watch the movie which was already in the cinemas for a few weeks. I had heard so many people whine till they went blue in the face about Kannada movies not getting audience that I was truly proud that I was helping in the cause.

Rama Shama Bhama, as might have been obvious already, corresponds to three characters in the movie essayed by Ramesh, Kamal and Urvashi respectively. Rama is a cartoonist who is happily married with an innocent wife Bhama (Urvashi’s Malayalam accent seems a little annoying at first but then it grows on you) and two kids. Contrary to their names Rama, though initially seeming to be a frustrated husband, is actually much more than just that! A flirt by nature, Rama befriends Priya (Daisy Bopanna) by lying to her about his marital status and manages to convince her that they have a future together. To celebrate this they chart out a pleasure trip to Goa. While Mrs.My-Husband-Personifies-His-Name is unaware of her beloved’s extra curricular activities, Rama is unaware of the danger that awaits him at the airport.

Sham Sajjan (Kamal Hassan) is a humble and down to earth gynecologist and an old time friend of Rama. As luck would have it, Rama and Shama bump into each other at the airport (much to Rama’s agony) and end up in Goa together. While Shama takes his time to figure out what exactly the deal with Rama and Priya is, the sequences that add up to that moment are absolutely hilarious. Laugh-a-minute comedy follows as Sham’s wife Shanti (an innocent village belle portrayed with finesse by Shruti) and a camcorder-crazy son arrive in Goa. What follows next is not something one should write about (and I am not saying this to reduce the length of this review). The movie strikes a strong resemblance to a lot of comically designed tales of onscreen infidelity. Nothing new as far as the generic content is concerned. What does add all the magic is the treatment of the subject. This includes neat editing work; pleasant music and background score (courtesy Guru Kiran); tidy cinematography and special effects (yes!) and some brilliant onscreen performances.

Kamal Hassan steals the show with his Hubli/Dharwad accent and my personal favorite “Mundha?” liners. His depiction of the always-up-for-a-just-cause attitude works well as he tries to defend and help his poor friend. During the post-intermission portions he switches sides and ends up helping Bhama who has by now gone from a naïve wife to a determined woman set out to win her husband back. Ramesh is at his usual best with his perfectly timed histrionics playing the frustrated husband looking for some added spice in life. As I mentioned earlier, but for the strong and sometimes out of place Malayalam accent, Urvashi pulls off a quick one with her portrayal of the patient and timid housewife. Daisy Bopanna is the real center of all the action (literally at times!) with her killer looks and confident performance. I had never heard of her before this movie but now I will never forget her even if this was her last movie. Shruti and Dattatreya lend apt support with their professional expertise being in the field for so long.

All said and done – RSB (Rama Shama Bhama) works big time. Not just because it is one of the few genuinely funny movies I have seen in Kannada after a long time, but also because it brings together a good combination of talents from neighboring states. Finally here is a movie this festive season that can be watched with all members of the family irrespective of age.

Such a rare celestial intersection should definitely not be missed.

ShaKri rates this movie 4 out of 5.

Hendati Endare Heegerabeku (2001)

2006-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Featuring: Kashinath and others.
Directed by : Kashinath

When I first saw “Awale Nanna Hendati” I became an instant fan of Kashinath. His Amol Palekar-like portrayal of the common man and his problems was just very appealing. We needed one such character in our Kannada movie industry along with all the other giants who refuse to quit. While that movie dealt with an important and burning issue of dowry harassment (both ways) Kashinath instantly became a household name.

Unfortunately, that is quite possibly the only decent performance I can think of for Mr.Kashinath (apart from his hilarious rendition of the agitated director in Upendra’s Sssshh…). Somewhere between trying to portray “reality-as-he-sees-it” and pleasing the audience to enjoy crude and sexual comedy (again…as he sees it), Mr. Kashinath lost his place in my heart and quite possibly many others.

“Hendathi Endare Heegirabeku”(HEH) in fact is one of his decent performances. If you were to look past the amateurish editing, low budget setup (including everything from places, people, animal and things) and some bizarre acting from the “lead actress” in the movie…Kashinath actually manages to deliver partially. I downloaded and saw this movie just because I still have fond memories of the socially stuck brother he portrayed in “Awale Nanna Hendati” who has to put up with a non-stop talking machine of a mother and a non-stop ending up in trouble of a sister (Tara).

HEH is about Rama who has a textbook impression of what his future wife should be like. Yes, the same old cliché of Shakuntala jumping out of Belur and Halebeedu’s ruins and making breakfast for our poor chap. Although he has no education, no prospects, no job, no skills – he aspires to marry the ‘perfectly shaped woman’ keeping a courtroom dancer from the Hoysala dynasty as a prototype. His relatives and mother already have a girl ready for him aptly named Sita (when will this trend end?) who is not yet mature enough to marry our dreamer with “Erotica Illustrated” editions in hand all the time. He is not the least interested in Sita and rebels against her till the final 30 minutes of the movie! A good portion of the movie is spent in the girl asking him to marry her and him refusing to do so. This has several combinations which include the mother-the girl’s parents-the mother’s brother and his wife et al.

While this routine is going in an endless loop, Kashinath sir decides to go ‘fish’ in Bengalooru for the woman he yearns for. I kept thinking why he never visited M.G.Road or Jayanagar and kept wandering around remote locales of the city? As I have seen it, these areas are full of Hoysala creations (no offense meant to the fairer sex) and thus Rama would have no problem finding a replica of his prototype. Regardless, all he does is visually measures up the girl and nods his head in disapproval. This annoys many girls including his aunt (played by Girija Lokesh who was Kashinath’s mother in the former movie mentioned) who is seriously offended for being compared to some vegetables and drums.

A quick change in the pace occurs when the girl Sita finally and reluctantly agrees to marry a stranger her parents manage to dish out. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Or is it? I better leave it for you to undergo the ‘experience’ I had to so that you can appreciate the same.

Performances wise the seasoned characters like Girija Lokesh, Sunder Raj, T.Rama and Kaushik do their job. The leading actress is nothing more than a pair of eyes looking at the camera without as much as a genuine smile. I wonder if that was because she was not paid for the movie. Mr. Kashinath is at his boring best playing the uninspiring character of a guy who has no aim in life except bagging a Ms. Universe for a wife.

There is nothing technical about the movie. A few strategically placed camera angles showcasing some crude scenes and a few badly lit indoor sequences make the day. Comedy is ok but in parts – the kind of jokes that are *beeped* makes the goings on pretty tacky.

The message about looks are not everything is noble but Kashinath fails in delivering it with all the meaningless string of frames he has added. Let us have another intelligent and genuinely funny movie Mr.Kashinath…we are watching.

Yaaaawwwn….am I still writing? Wait…are you still reading? Let me wake us up then.

ShaKri rates this movie 1 out of 5.

Matadaana (2002)

2006-01-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

Featuring : Anant Nag, Devraj, Avinash, Tara, Mukhyamantri Chandru.
Director: T.N.Seetharam

Anyone who lived in Karnataka during the 90s was part of a spectacular genre of television that showcased an intelligent and tongue-in-cheek portrayal of modern day life. Despite the fact that it has been a couple of decades, shows like “Bharat Ek Khoj”, “Swami and Friends”, “Malgudi Days” and “Maya Mriga”, to name a few, will always be a part of that individual. The concept of “less is more” was never more successful.

One of the names that I have always grown to admire and respect in the Kannada cinema and television field is T.N.Seetharam. If there is one reason why I know there is a place called Gauribidanoor then it is because of this gentleman. I have always believed that making simple movies is a very difficult and challenging task since it requires a lot of self-exploration. This means that the story writer and the director (the whole crew in fact) primarily have to be in touch with their humane side. They have to be able to see what others take for granted. They have to be able to share the same on screen in such a subtle way that it catches you off guard!

“Mathadaana” comes from the design factory of such a movie maker. I did not know what toexpect when I started watching this movie last month. Movies like “Mathadaana” sometimes find it hard to achieve commercial success since they are more than just movies…they are mirrors. Mirrors to the corrupted society that we are a part of. Mirrors that show all of us as guilty in the eyes of the human race. Little wonder then, that people walk away from such mirrors since they don’t always like what they see.

Based on the novel by Dr.S.L.Byrappa, “Mathadaana” takes us into the lives of two political leaders in a non-descript village of Karnataka – Markande Gowda (Devraj) and Putte Gowda (Sethuram). The itch to be in power is so ruthless that Markande Gowda will do anything to get the support of Ramlinge Gowda (Anant Nag) who supports Mr. Putte Gowda (who has beaten the former thrice in the elections). The concept of social exploitation to get votes is nothing new in India. This theme has been explored very well in this movie. Despite his best attempts to woo Ramlinge Gowda to his side, the losing Markande Gowda does not have much luck in getting the support he wishes for. He even tries to get his “You-know-I-can-speak-good-English” son to marry Nag’s daughter Lakshmi (essayed brilliantly by Tara) but it does not succeed.

Let us now take a look at another vital character in this chess board of a script. Meet Mr.Shivappa (Hemant Hegde) who is well oiled, well mannered and well respected doctor in the village. Let us just call him God since that is pretty much what he does. Saves lives (despite the hard to believe shortage of medical supplies thanks to the red tapes in our beloved political framework) and has earned an enviable admiration in the general public. Romance blossoms between Lakshmi and Shivappa and soon they are singing “idu modalane haadu…” on sun soaked beaches and thorny farmlands. This song remains my favorite from the album.
Things pick up pace here. They get engaged and it seems that the story is turning to cliché. Of course, Markande Gowda is a jealous little mutt poisons our dear doctor’s mind with needless caste/social status based misleading information. Being the Good Samaritan that he is, Shivappa promptly says “Adieu” to Lakshmi and walks off into his cloudy little clinic with strong principles but a broken heart.

Lakshmis’s elder sister passes away trying to give birth to a child that her husband (a role essayed obnoxiously well by Avinash) and his mother so eagerly want. Our dear widowed man then starts looking at Lakshmi to be the next “can you please get me a child?” wife.

Money kicks into the script in the form of loan and once that happens, you know where the movie is headed. Ramlinge Gowda is trapped in a vicious little circle of plots that end up making him so vulnerable that his decision making power is paralyzed. On the other hand there is Dr.Shivappa, all fed and taken care of like a scapegoat to run against Markande Gowda in the elections. The ploy is perfect and our doctor friend walks right into it.

The drama that ensues during the rallies is dubious yet alarmingly funny. Our “angel-in-shoes” doctor does not realize the trap until the last few scenes in the movie and when he does, he is not only heart broken but also has a bruised principle to take care of.

Without giving much of the story’s end away, for those who still have not seen it, all I can say is “Mathadaana” is one shiny and crystal clear mirror into the scum that has populated the grassroots of our political system. I have always found political satire-based movies in India as loud and blood-shed prone. “Mathadaana” is the exact opposite. It showcases the process exactly as it happens; making you feel almost impotent considering all you can do is watch in awe and shame.

Performances are one gem after another. Anant underplays his role beautifully and re-affirms his status as one of my most beloved actors. Tara is fantastic as the distraught and manipulated young woman. Devraj, Sethuram, Avinash and Mukhyamantri Chandru need no review since these are the kind of performers who are always brilliant even in the worst of movies.

Music is soothing to the ears. V.Manohar and Ashwath have penned some melodious tunes for the background score and songs on the album. The usage of violins at appropriate places in the movie keeps the mood upbeat and consistent. Technical aspects are nothing to write home about.

We live in a day and age where movies like “Mathadaana” have to be manufactured day-in and day-out. That is the only way the social fabric can be changed and a better tomorrow can be dreamt of. Until then, let us look into these mirrors and request Mr.Seetharam to keep designing more in the future.

ShaKri rates this movie 4.5 out of 5

Excuse Me (2004)

2006-01-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Featuring: Sunil Raoh, Ajay , Ramya, Sumalata, Ramesh Bhatt.
Directed by : Prem

This review is surely coming in way later than the actual release of this movie. I downloaded it from KT a couple of days ago and so felt the need to share my 2 cents with the rest of KT.I have always been a great admirer of good cinema. Though my primary interest has not been post 1990 Kannada cinema, I have many favorites in Kannada. Something which is thought provoking and "in the face" theme-based that you cannot help but admire. Some names that stand out from the recent past are “Apthamitra” , "Matadana", "Rakthakaneeru" etc. When I saw many encouraging reviews of the movie “Excuse Me” I wanted to see it too since it sounded like a great movie to watch.I could not have been more wrong! Reviews in other places on the net suggest that this movie was a commercial success. I fail to see how that can be given that people from Karnataka are one of the finest people I have known. If they chose this movie as a good one, then I am missing something here.Regardless, here is the storyline as I understood it.

2 young lads (not more than 12-14), both from rural areas of Karnataka, and extremely loud and foul mouthed for someone their age and pretty violent as well. There is Sunil (Sunil Raoh) who is shown as a very competitive person who believes in the expression “The end justifies means.” And then there is Ajay (same name) who is shown as an understanding, caring and warm hearted person with a passion for music. Quite frankly, the first 25 minutes of the movie is the only portion that makes any logical sense in terms of execution.They get shipped off to the city (read Bangalore) to live with a relative where they grow up to be the exact same people they were in the village. While Sunil is chasing random girls in public singing “Roadige Iliye Radhika” Ajay is busy playing the violin in duo with a blind beggar’s flute. Enter Madhu (Ramya) who is introduced as someone who has the same passion for music as Ajay. Despite their best (?) attempts they keep missing out on meeting each other.

Of course, love blossoms before you have completed trying to figure out why they keep using the expression “love maadodhu” a billion times when the theme is pretty clear.Everything builds up into one major chaos with no effort into the performances at all except for poor Sunil Raoh who goes crazy with his “mad/obsessed man/lover” act towards the end. The woman whom he cheated into getting engaged with is dumb as a doorknob without so much as asking him "Why?".It is then that you suddenly realize you have wasted 3 good hours of your life.The son-mother bond of Ajay and Sumalata is never really explored considering that was all that got highlighted initially in the movie. They even had a song for it – “Brahma Vishnu Shiva”.

Overdose of choreography based songs every 20 minutes puts a spanner in the happenings. The editor was clearly dozing off since the work looks pretty amateurish. The camera work is decent enough although there are not many close up shots of the lead actors. Everyone is loud in this movie including the pigeons. Love loses its meaning once it is made to look like something young college kids have to do else they are thought of as losers.Kannada movies that are targetted towards the young generation somehow end up being "below the belt" affairs with nothing new or novel to offer. Loud performances and hard to believe attitudes of both men and women make it a joke. "Excuse Me" is no exception to that pattern.I have known of director Prem only after his latest movie “Jogi”. I sincerely hope he made a better attempt at that without making it another loud and meaningless affair.

ShaKri rates this movie 1.5 out of 5

Raktha Kanneeru (2003)

2006-01-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

Featuring : Upendra, Ramya Krishnan, Kumar Bangarappa, Abhirami.
Director : Sadhu Kokila

I had heard a lot of positive things about this movie from family and friends last summer. But somehow I never managed to find a VCD /DVD to watch it at home. Nor was it running in any of the cinemas in Bangalore that I knew of.

Let me say this before I share my thoughts on the movie. I saw this movie over a 2 day period. To elaborate, I saw about an hour’s worth on say a Friday night, and then the remaining part the following night. All I can say is that there was a drastic change in my viewpoint after I had seen the complete movie.

Raktha Kanneeru is the story of the life and times in the early post-independence era. It is a story of Mohan (Upendra) who returns to India after many years. The opening scenes very quickly take the viewer into his life and the kind of person he is. The only expression that I can think of for him at that stage is “a self righteous pinhead”. He has so much wealth that arrogance of the extreme kind takes over. He finds everything in India nasty, in a condition of disrepair and the people are no different. One does wonder if it bothers him so much then why did he come back. Of course, there is more money involved so I guess that takes care of such wonderings. Reeling under the almost devastating western influence this young man has undergone, he ends up in the “adult entertainment center” (read brothel) of Kaanta (Ramya Krishnan) and her greedy mother and pimp. Pretty cliché stuff this.

Events that follow are nothing new to the Indian cine-viewers either. He spends too much time (read nights) with this “lady” and hence the mother and a close friend (Kumar Bangarappa – who I have always considered a good performer) decide on getting our “Mr.I-don’t-belong-here” Indian married. Enter Chandra (Abhirami) – the rustic, vermillion cheeked, completely clothed and flowered (this sort of threw me off a bit too!) village belle. I must admit the fit she has on their wedding night has been amazingly captured. I was laughing every minute during that time. As sad as it was to see this innocent little girl be scandalized by an atrocious Mohan (Uppi re-defines the word “aroused”) I completely enjoyed Upendra’s flawless performance as the lust-seeking pervert.

A pattern emerges here. Mohan is not at all pleased with this shy and quiet bride of his though one wonders what he was thinking when he agreed to marry her! He gets back to his old ways of spending all his wealth on the voluptuous Kaanta and co. Things get worse when Mohan’s mother dies due to all the pain and suffering she has had to go through because of her worthless offspring. Everything else is the same (typical Bollywood script about suspected innocents et al) until the point when disease hits our anti-hero. If this movie was shot in an era of post 2000 A.D then I am sure they would have used AIDS as the disease in picture. However, for the sake of the era, leprosy seemed more fitting.

My true appreciation for this movie starts here. Once the scene that shows Upendra in a dilapidated state has passed by, you cannot stop thinking of how he was. The lavish, Non Resident Indian who had everything in life – a loving mother, a caring wife and an under-appreciated friend appears in front of you many times. The second half of the movie that portrays the Almighty’s silent sword cutting our leading man into bits is what makes this movie click for me. The justification of all his deeds has been captured well.

For those who have not seen this movie, I do not wish to share any more information on it. What happens next is something to be seen and experienced rather than narrated.

Music is a decent affair although the title song “Kanneeru…Raktha Kanneru..” stands out. It could have been a highlight of the movie since the script has a lot of potential for some excellent background score.

No major technical aspects to this movie. Just the plain old camera doing what it has done for so many decades. A few nip and tuck in the editing department would have been nice to keep the story more centered.

Performance wise this is an Upendra movie from start to end. I have always adored his movies – SShh, A, Om etc but as an actor, he wins hands down. If there is ever a role of a leper in any movie in the future, Upendra will fit into it like a T. His monotonous and rather interesting way of delivering dialogs starts off as annoying, but ends being his trademark as Mohan.

Abhirami and Ramya Krishnan are strictly ok considering they were assigned stereotypical roles. Kumar Bangarappa remains consistent as Mohan’s conscience reminder. Comic scenes do exist, but it is ironic that Upendra’s comic timing makes them look like infants. Other comic scenes are nothing to write home about. The nip and tuck could have happened here.

Nice movie with a very strong message about human behavior and how it affects the individuals around - including the human himself/herself.

ShaKri Rates this movie 4 out of 5.