An unprecedented event occurred on the evening of 03-Jul-2016. Over a period of 3 months or so, my wife and I watched 3 Kannada movies consecutively. I am primarily a Hindi and English movie fan. It is a landmark that I have watched 3 Kannada movies continuously. It is usually my wife's responsibility to recommend Kannada movies worth watching.
The fact that I have seen 3 Kannada movies consecutively shows either: a.) There is a lack of good Hindi movies that caught my attention. or b.) There is a relative improvement in the quality of Kannada movies or c.) I have simply become more interested in Kannada movies. The pragmatic in me says it is c.) that is more likely. The Kannada fan in me says that it is b.) ;-) In reality, I suppose it is a combination of both a.) and b.)
In this period we watched "Kirigoorina gayyaligalu" (abbreviated in this blog post as Kg) , "Godhi banna saadhaarana mykattu" (represented as GBSM henceforth) and "U-Turn" in that order. It is interesting to note that we have not watched "Thithi" which has earned rave reviews in the media. Clearly, the quality of Kannada movies has improved in recent times. GBSM has a website at http://godhibannasadharnamykattu.com/. I did not find official websites for the other two movies.
In this blog post my impressions and reviews of these three movies follow. It is unfair to compare movies. So I just look at them in the order of my personal preference.
The Kannada movie "U-Turn" is directed by Pawan Kumar. My review of his earlier movie "Lucia" is available at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/2013/09/review-of-lucia-kannada-movie.html. That movie had a strong script backed up by equally effective direction. In comparison "U-Turn" pales, unfortunately.
The first half of the movie builds up well. The focus of the movie is on the flyover on Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, i.e. Double Road flyover. I have driven on this flyover when there was a signal right on top of it. Controlled by a policeman, the traffic criss-crossed on the flyover! The movie picks on this oddity, looking at two-wheeler drivers who could move the stones demarcating the ways to take U-turns illegally. The stones thus moved would rarely be moved back, causing a risk of accident to other motorists, particularly two-wheelers.
In the first half of the movie one such two-wheeler driver is found dead. So who is responsible for his death? Is it the intern reporter who investigates drivers taking illegal angles? Is there a political angle? Is it suicide?
Later more questions arise: Is there a serial killer on the loose? Is there a supernatural element? As the action unfolds on a rainy night in the Baiyapanahalli police station, the movie enticed me with a feeling of what's coming up next.
Sadly, I feel that the second half disappoints. The taut direction slackens even as the Sub-Inspector handling the case uncovers more mysterious deaths. The reporter and he join forces as the movie heads towards its climax.
The movie is worth watching for the way in which Pawan Kumar builds up the suspense in the first half. The disappointment is in the way the story culminates. I also feel that the editing could have been better. There are some unnecessary sequences.
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In comparison, I found Kg directed by D. Suman Kitur more enjoyable. If one can tolerate the irritating silences introduced by the masking of the invective used by the actors, the movie is well worth watching.
The movie recounts the tale of a village where the menfolk squabble over caste and creed and the women folk team up to support each other. Based on author Poornachandra Tejaswi's book set in a village, director Suman Kitur has adapted the story to life on screen successfully.
In an idyllic village Kiragoor complete with a lake, green fields and a rustic landscape, the proverbial snake in the garden of Eden is the village priest. To enhance his power in the village, he introduces distinctions among the forward and backward castes among the menfolk. The men succumb to his manipulations. A rift tears apart the menfolk as some of them are harassed by the police on the basis of a false complaint. The fear of government and officialdom is brought out well when a bank manager visits the village. The men abandon the village and it is left to one of the women to confront the manager. What follows is a hilarious sequence that had the audience in the theater laughing !
In fact, the humour in the movie is the big surprise packet. Apart from the bank manager's visit, there are a couple of other funny incidents that bring the movie alive. The bravado of the character played by Yogesh in a cameo is larger than life in a comic way. One of the menfolk among the forward castes attempts healing a back pain which is traditionally done by the backward caste. He hurts himself in the process. His obstinacy not to get healed by the backward caste men who are now his adversaries results in a funny outcome !
Thus, the humour is superbly used by Suman Kitur.
There are few movies in India that look at how women team up. I can think of Mirch Masala, the Hindi movie as the foremost in that genre. The scene where Smita Patil and other women take a basket of red, spicy chilli and fling it on the oppressor is an iconic one. The other movie that comes to my mind is Gulabi Gang, but I haven't seen it personally; so I can't comment on how the movie is. Kg brings out the spirit of camaraderie among the women successfully.
Despite the differences among the men, the women continue to share confidences among themselves when they meet up at the village lake. A sense of fraternity - or should I say: sisterhood, which would be more appropriate ! - deepens among the women as they see how the rift has affected peace in their village. In the climax of the movie, the women stand up for each other. The protagonist takes a woman who runs away with a priest under her shelter, knowing that her husband is philanderer. Finally, the women bring down the liquor shop in the village.
Kg shows how women can come together and effect a transformation in not just their lives but also those of everybody around them. All performances are good. I feel that above all, Suman Kitur deserves kudos for using humour in a well directed movie with a message.
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A couple of weeks ago my wife, my mother and I also watched GSBM directed by Hemanth Rao.
The story is of a gentleman, a senior citizen who suffers from dementia and is lost. His son is a career-minded professional who tries his utmost to find him. In the process, he falls in love with a care giver doctor who used to look after the gentleman in an old age home. While looking for his father, his son uncovers the myriad small and big sacrifices that his father has made in bringing him up. The narrative shows how the son gradually discovers facts about his father that he had not known earlier. The absence of his father hits him after this realisation of his father's past and the sacrifices made.
A parallel stream in the movie is that of a couple of hitmen. They meet the senior gentleman unexpectedly, have an accident and end up with another man who comes to the spot to help out. The hitmen take the man's family as hostages.
The two streams merge in the end.
The direction by Hemanth is first class. I could easily identify with both the career-minded professional and also the empathetic doctor. The irritation shown by the son when his father picks up a box of crayons at the mall and forgets paying for it is an incident that is portrayed well. Similarly the character of the senior among the hitmen is delineated well. He appears to be a man caught in two minds. His moral quandary is shown well.
Both Rakshith Shetty and Shruthi Hariharan turn in convincing performances as the protagonists. I liked Vasishta Simha's acting as the senior hitman. The father mistakes him for his son. Thinking that his son looks troubled, he provides priceless advice. The senior hitman takes the advice, turns over a new leaf and reveals a heart of gold. Vasisht Simha portrays this transformation sensitively.
However, the best performance in the movie by far is Ananth Nag. I am a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. His acting in the movie "Black" was unparalleled - until now! I feel that Ananth Nag's acting in GBSM almost matches it. My blog http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/2005/03/review-of-black-movie.html has my thoughts on that movie and Amitabh's performance in that movie. Ananth Nag excels in his portrayal of a disoriented old man who loves his son selflessly. Watching him either swinging his legs aimlessly in the last scene or address the hitman as if he were his son, I almost forgot that this was an actor playing a role.
"Godhi banna saadhaarana mykattu" can be watched for many reasons: direction, story and performances. If only one is required, see the movie for Ananth Nag's acting.
The fact that I have seen 3 Kannada movies consecutively shows either: a.) There is a lack of good Hindi movies that caught my attention. or b.) There is a relative improvement in the quality of Kannada movies or c.) I have simply become more interested in Kannada movies. The pragmatic in me says it is c.) that is more likely. The Kannada fan in me says that it is b.) ;-) In reality, I suppose it is a combination of both a.) and b.)
In this period we watched "Kirigoorina gayyaligalu" (abbreviated in this blog post as Kg) , "Godhi banna saadhaarana mykattu" (represented as GBSM henceforth) and "U-Turn" in that order. It is interesting to note that we have not watched "Thithi" which has earned rave reviews in the media. Clearly, the quality of Kannada movies has improved in recent times. GBSM has a website at http://godhibannasadharnamykattu.com/. I did not find official websites for the other two movies.
In this blog post my impressions and reviews of these three movies follow. It is unfair to compare movies. So I just look at them in the order of my personal preference.
The Kannada movie "U-Turn" is directed by Pawan Kumar. My review of his earlier movie "Lucia" is available at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/2013/09/review-of-lucia-kannada-movie.html. That movie had a strong script backed up by equally effective direction. In comparison "U-Turn" pales, unfortunately.
The first half of the movie builds up well. The focus of the movie is on the flyover on Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, i.e. Double Road flyover. I have driven on this flyover when there was a signal right on top of it. Controlled by a policeman, the traffic criss-crossed on the flyover! The movie picks on this oddity, looking at two-wheeler drivers who could move the stones demarcating the ways to take U-turns illegally. The stones thus moved would rarely be moved back, causing a risk of accident to other motorists, particularly two-wheelers.
In the first half of the movie one such two-wheeler driver is found dead. So who is responsible for his death? Is it the intern reporter who investigates drivers taking illegal angles? Is there a political angle? Is it suicide?
Later more questions arise: Is there a serial killer on the loose? Is there a supernatural element? As the action unfolds on a rainy night in the Baiyapanahalli police station, the movie enticed me with a feeling of what's coming up next.
Sadly, I feel that the second half disappoints. The taut direction slackens even as the Sub-Inspector handling the case uncovers more mysterious deaths. The reporter and he join forces as the movie heads towards its climax.
The movie is worth watching for the way in which Pawan Kumar builds up the suspense in the first half. The disappointment is in the way the story culminates. I also feel that the editing could have been better. There are some unnecessary sequences.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
In comparison, I found Kg directed by D. Suman Kitur more enjoyable. If one can tolerate the irritating silences introduced by the masking of the invective used by the actors, the movie is well worth watching.
The movie recounts the tale of a village where the menfolk squabble over caste and creed and the women folk team up to support each other. Based on author Poornachandra Tejaswi's book set in a village, director Suman Kitur has adapted the story to life on screen successfully.
In an idyllic village Kiragoor complete with a lake, green fields and a rustic landscape, the proverbial snake in the garden of Eden is the village priest. To enhance his power in the village, he introduces distinctions among the forward and backward castes among the menfolk. The men succumb to his manipulations. A rift tears apart the menfolk as some of them are harassed by the police on the basis of a false complaint. The fear of government and officialdom is brought out well when a bank manager visits the village. The men abandon the village and it is left to one of the women to confront the manager. What follows is a hilarious sequence that had the audience in the theater laughing !
In fact, the humour in the movie is the big surprise packet. Apart from the bank manager's visit, there are a couple of other funny incidents that bring the movie alive. The bravado of the character played by Yogesh in a cameo is larger than life in a comic way. One of the menfolk among the forward castes attempts healing a back pain which is traditionally done by the backward caste. He hurts himself in the process. His obstinacy not to get healed by the backward caste men who are now his adversaries results in a funny outcome !
Thus, the humour is superbly used by Suman Kitur.
There are few movies in India that look at how women team up. I can think of Mirch Masala, the Hindi movie as the foremost in that genre. The scene where Smita Patil and other women take a basket of red, spicy chilli and fling it on the oppressor is an iconic one. The other movie that comes to my mind is Gulabi Gang, but I haven't seen it personally; so I can't comment on how the movie is. Kg brings out the spirit of camaraderie among the women successfully.
Despite the differences among the men, the women continue to share confidences among themselves when they meet up at the village lake. A sense of fraternity - or should I say: sisterhood, which would be more appropriate ! - deepens among the women as they see how the rift has affected peace in their village. In the climax of the movie, the women stand up for each other. The protagonist takes a woman who runs away with a priest under her shelter, knowing that her husband is philanderer. Finally, the women bring down the liquor shop in the village.
Kg shows how women can come together and effect a transformation in not just their lives but also those of everybody around them. All performances are good. I feel that above all, Suman Kitur deserves kudos for using humour in a well directed movie with a message.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
A couple of weeks ago my wife, my mother and I also watched GSBM directed by Hemanth Rao.
The story is of a gentleman, a senior citizen who suffers from dementia and is lost. His son is a career-minded professional who tries his utmost to find him. In the process, he falls in love with a care giver doctor who used to look after the gentleman in an old age home. While looking for his father, his son uncovers the myriad small and big sacrifices that his father has made in bringing him up. The narrative shows how the son gradually discovers facts about his father that he had not known earlier. The absence of his father hits him after this realisation of his father's past and the sacrifices made.
A parallel stream in the movie is that of a couple of hitmen. They meet the senior gentleman unexpectedly, have an accident and end up with another man who comes to the spot to help out. The hitmen take the man's family as hostages.
The two streams merge in the end.
The direction by Hemanth is first class. I could easily identify with both the career-minded professional and also the empathetic doctor. The irritation shown by the son when his father picks up a box of crayons at the mall and forgets paying for it is an incident that is portrayed well. Similarly the character of the senior among the hitmen is delineated well. He appears to be a man caught in two minds. His moral quandary is shown well.
Both Rakshith Shetty and Shruthi Hariharan turn in convincing performances as the protagonists. I liked Vasishta Simha's acting as the senior hitman. The father mistakes him for his son. Thinking that his son looks troubled, he provides priceless advice. The senior hitman takes the advice, turns over a new leaf and reveals a heart of gold. Vasisht Simha portrays this transformation sensitively.
However, the best performance in the movie by far is Ananth Nag. I am a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. His acting in the movie "Black" was unparalleled - until now! I feel that Ananth Nag's acting in GBSM almost matches it. My blog http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/2005/03/review-of-black-movie.html has my thoughts on that movie and Amitabh's performance in that movie. Ananth Nag excels in his portrayal of a disoriented old man who loves his son selflessly. Watching him either swinging his legs aimlessly in the last scene or address the hitman as if he were his son, I almost forgot that this was an actor playing a role.
"Godhi banna saadhaarana mykattu" can be watched for many reasons: direction, story and performances. If only one is required, see the movie for Ananth Nag's acting.
Nice review, am waiting of when GBSM would be released in Dubai. By the way, watched Thithi and in my opinion, the movie is hyped; owing to its wall marketed team and that is it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Shreedhara. GBSM is worth watching.
ReplyDelete