Since the last few weeks, I have heard a new ringtone around me. I commute in the bus to work. I heard the ringtone here as well. It is from the Kannada movie "Avane ShrimanNarayana" (ASN). Most of my Kannada speaking bus mates praised the movie. My wife's brother watched the movie on the first day and recommended it too. It was on 18-Jan-2020 that eleven of us watched ASN. This blog post contains my impressions on ASN.
The trailer of ASN is available at https://youtu.be/Dj-HNEZ59Z4. It shows that the creators classify ASN as "Southern Odd Fiction". The trailer credits the hero of the movie Rakshit Shetty and "the seven odds" as the writers of the movie. Clearly, the movie is a collaborative effort.
The story is as follows: a drama troupe hides a treasure while they are staging plays in a fictional town called Amaravati. The leader of a group of bandits Rama Rama finds them as they are fleeing and kills some of them. The rest mingle in the town. The location of the treasure continues to be a secret. His son Jayarama forcibly takes charge as leader of the Abhiras (the bandits) after Rama Rama but vows to sit on the throne only after he finds the treasure.
Jayarama's half brother Tukarama is exiled by him. He desperately wants the leadership of the Abhiras. He appoints a treasure hunter, whose bodyguards are nabbed by Inspector Narayana. Compelled to enter Jayarama's fort by an upset Tukarama, Narayana becomes a pawn in the power struggle between the brothers. How Narayana and his partner Achyuta locate the treasure and break down the strength of the Abhiras is the story of the movie.
In https://m.cinemaexpress.com/article/stories/the-treasure-hunt-begins-for-asn-here-are-10-things-that-will-work-in-its-favour/16223, Rakshit Shetty states that the inspiration for the movie came from a phrase in the movie "Bhakta Prahlada". This movie narrates the tale of the Narasimha avataar of Vishnu.
In ASN, Inspector Narayana invokes the Narasimha avataar when he defeats Jayarama, placing him on his thighs. People who know the story of Narasimha know that he killed the demon king Hiranyakashipu in a special manner. Hiranyakashipu had obtained a boon that he could be slain by neither a man nor a beast ; neither during day nor in the night ; neither on the ground nor in the sky : neither inside nor outside. To meet these stipulations, Vishnu donned the avatar of Narasimhaa, the man-lion and killed Hiranyakashipu on his thighs, poised on the threshold of a palace at twilight. In ASN, a similar image is invoked at the end of the fight between Narayana and Jayarama.
I feel that there are various influences from other movies, art and mythologies in ASN. I find the following examples:
1.) The dedication and commitment of the travelling drama troupe is an important part of the movie. One of the drama artists remarks in ASN that they could recite the dialogues of the play backwards ! The passion of the drama troupe is brought out well in ASN. In my view, another wonderful Kannada movie that brings out the life of such troupes is the early '80s classic "Ranganayaki". Perhaps, the filmmakers were inspired by it.
2.) The Hindu Puranas narrate stories of Gods. Apart from the movie "Bhakta Prahlada" being the source of the title, the movie itself is shown being screened in the initial part of the movie. I find references to Ramayana, the "Samudra Manthana" (churning of the ocean) and the Narasimha avatar in ASN. The eagle in the movie recalls the Garuda Purana. All major characters in the movie are named after characters in the Hindu Puranas. Not only that, just like Arjuna's bow is named Gandiva, Narayana's gun is called "Hands up" !
3.) The western movies genre in Hollywood finds a place in Amaravathi in the bar of Cowboy Krishna, where Narayana makes his first appearance. The typical swing doors, the dim lighting, the bar environment are all adaptations of the "saloon shoot out" in western movies ! Am I mistaken or did I hear few notes from "The Ecstasy of Gold" (available at Listen to the song: The Ecstasy of Gold (From "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") at https://wynk.in/u/2Q5IQBJOE on Wynk Music) from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in the initial part of the movie?! The classic gun duel almost happens between Jayarama and Tukarama, except that Narayana makes a remark, which pours the proverbial cold water on the confrontation.
4.) The dialogue spoken by Rama Rama to the members of the drama troupe in the beginning reminds me of the famous Gabbar Singh dialogue in "Sholay", where he kills his own men for their supposed cowardice.
5.) I was pleasantly surprised to see a character resembling one in the Tintin comics ! The treasure hunter Harishchandra with his bowler hat and pendulum (towards the end of the movie) appears to be inspired by Professor Cuthbert Calculus in the Tintin adventures ! As a younger boy, I would be laughing at the humour in the Tintin comics ! http://en.tintin.com/personnages/show/id/19/page/0/0/cuthbert-calculus provides an introduction to Professor Calculus. Visiting the web page brought a smile to my lips ! It appears that the director and writers of ASN have been equally entertained !
6.) The cop Narayana donning fashionable sunglasses reminded me of Chulbul Pandey in the Hindi movie "Dabangg".
7.) I feel that the throne that Jayarama refuses to sit in resembles the Iron Throne in the television series "The Game of Thrones".
So, are there any shortcomings to the movie? To me, the final fight sequence lasted longer than required. The role of Shanvi Srivastava as Lakshmi is limited, but she acts well. My biggest criticism is voiced out in https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/avane-srimannarayana-movie-review-6186404/: the movie promises that the hero will become larger than life. That does not happen, unfortunately.
Overall, I like ASN as it is an engaging movie. The performances from the lead actors are good. Both Rakshit Shetty and Balaji Manohar as Jayarama are the stand out actors in ASN. Balaji Manohar shows the right amount of majesty and power hungriness as Jayarama. Achyut Kumar lends vital support to the lead performers. Gopalkrishna Deshpande impresses as the bandmaster in a vital role.
Rakshit Shetty is an extremely entertaining blend of comedy and action as Narayana. He adopts a chatty, conversational style as the hero, for most of the movie. It is only in his introductory and final fight scenes that he goes over the top.
I feel ASN needs to be seen for the following reasons: Rakshit Shetty's acting that combines humour and wit ; fine supporting performances ; a catchy tune that has become popular even as a ringtone ; the combination of various ideas like mythology and cowboy westerns and above all the story that kept me engaged until the end. I commend the writers, the actors and the crew for creating an entertaining work of art.
The trailer of ASN is available at https://youtu.be/Dj-HNEZ59Z4. It shows that the creators classify ASN as "Southern Odd Fiction". The trailer credits the hero of the movie Rakshit Shetty and "the seven odds" as the writers of the movie. Clearly, the movie is a collaborative effort.
The story is as follows: a drama troupe hides a treasure while they are staging plays in a fictional town called Amaravati. The leader of a group of bandits Rama Rama finds them as they are fleeing and kills some of them. The rest mingle in the town. The location of the treasure continues to be a secret. His son Jayarama forcibly takes charge as leader of the Abhiras (the bandits) after Rama Rama but vows to sit on the throne only after he finds the treasure.
Jayarama's half brother Tukarama is exiled by him. He desperately wants the leadership of the Abhiras. He appoints a treasure hunter, whose bodyguards are nabbed by Inspector Narayana. Compelled to enter Jayarama's fort by an upset Tukarama, Narayana becomes a pawn in the power struggle between the brothers. How Narayana and his partner Achyuta locate the treasure and break down the strength of the Abhiras is the story of the movie.
In https://m.cinemaexpress.com/article/stories/the-treasure-hunt-begins-for-asn-here-are-10-things-that-will-work-in-its-favour/16223, Rakshit Shetty states that the inspiration for the movie came from a phrase in the movie "Bhakta Prahlada". This movie narrates the tale of the Narasimha avataar of Vishnu.
In ASN, Inspector Narayana invokes the Narasimha avataar when he defeats Jayarama, placing him on his thighs. People who know the story of Narasimha know that he killed the demon king Hiranyakashipu in a special manner. Hiranyakashipu had obtained a boon that he could be slain by neither a man nor a beast ; neither during day nor in the night ; neither on the ground nor in the sky : neither inside nor outside. To meet these stipulations, Vishnu donned the avatar of Narasimhaa, the man-lion and killed Hiranyakashipu on his thighs, poised on the threshold of a palace at twilight. In ASN, a similar image is invoked at the end of the fight between Narayana and Jayarama.
I feel that there are various influences from other movies, art and mythologies in ASN. I find the following examples:
1.) The dedication and commitment of the travelling drama troupe is an important part of the movie. One of the drama artists remarks in ASN that they could recite the dialogues of the play backwards ! The passion of the drama troupe is brought out well in ASN. In my view, another wonderful Kannada movie that brings out the life of such troupes is the early '80s classic "Ranganayaki". Perhaps, the filmmakers were inspired by it.
2.) The Hindu Puranas narrate stories of Gods. Apart from the movie "Bhakta Prahlada" being the source of the title, the movie itself is shown being screened in the initial part of the movie. I find references to Ramayana, the "Samudra Manthana" (churning of the ocean) and the Narasimha avatar in ASN. The eagle in the movie recalls the Garuda Purana. All major characters in the movie are named after characters in the Hindu Puranas. Not only that, just like Arjuna's bow is named Gandiva, Narayana's gun is called "Hands up" !
3.) The western movies genre in Hollywood finds a place in Amaravathi in the bar of Cowboy Krishna, where Narayana makes his first appearance. The typical swing doors, the dim lighting, the bar environment are all adaptations of the "saloon shoot out" in western movies ! Am I mistaken or did I hear few notes from "The Ecstasy of Gold" (available at Listen to the song: The Ecstasy of Gold (From "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") at https://wynk.in/u/2Q5IQBJOE on Wynk Music) from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in the initial part of the movie?! The classic gun duel almost happens between Jayarama and Tukarama, except that Narayana makes a remark, which pours the proverbial cold water on the confrontation.
4.) The dialogue spoken by Rama Rama to the members of the drama troupe in the beginning reminds me of the famous Gabbar Singh dialogue in "Sholay", where he kills his own men for their supposed cowardice.
5.) I was pleasantly surprised to see a character resembling one in the Tintin comics ! The treasure hunter Harishchandra with his bowler hat and pendulum (towards the end of the movie) appears to be inspired by Professor Cuthbert Calculus in the Tintin adventures ! As a younger boy, I would be laughing at the humour in the Tintin comics ! http://en.tintin.com/personnages/show/id/19/page/0/0/cuthbert-calculus provides an introduction to Professor Calculus. Visiting the web page brought a smile to my lips ! It appears that the director and writers of ASN have been equally entertained !
6.) The cop Narayana donning fashionable sunglasses reminded me of Chulbul Pandey in the Hindi movie "Dabangg".
7.) I feel that the throne that Jayarama refuses to sit in resembles the Iron Throne in the television series "The Game of Thrones".
So, are there any shortcomings to the movie? To me, the final fight sequence lasted longer than required. The role of Shanvi Srivastava as Lakshmi is limited, but she acts well. My biggest criticism is voiced out in https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/avane-srimannarayana-movie-review-6186404/: the movie promises that the hero will become larger than life. That does not happen, unfortunately.
Overall, I like ASN as it is an engaging movie. The performances from the lead actors are good. Both Rakshit Shetty and Balaji Manohar as Jayarama are the stand out actors in ASN. Balaji Manohar shows the right amount of majesty and power hungriness as Jayarama. Achyut Kumar lends vital support to the lead performers. Gopalkrishna Deshpande impresses as the bandmaster in a vital role.
Rakshit Shetty is an extremely entertaining blend of comedy and action as Narayana. He adopts a chatty, conversational style as the hero, for most of the movie. It is only in his introductory and final fight scenes that he goes over the top.
I feel ASN needs to be seen for the following reasons: Rakshit Shetty's acting that combines humour and wit ; fine supporting performances ; a catchy tune that has become popular even as a ringtone ; the combination of various ideas like mythology and cowboy westerns and above all the story that kept me engaged until the end. I commend the writers, the actors and the crew for creating an entertaining work of art.
Nice one..
ReplyDeleteThanks Abhi, I am glad you like it !
DeleteVery well compiled and makes us 80's kids to relate to Tint characters and Kiran seems like you are becoming professional in writing ur movie reviews liked the various perspectives u hv analyzed...Kollywood... Bollywood...to Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the appreciation, Ravichandra, it makes me feel good !
Delete