My impressions on 'Daredevil Musthafa'

The credit goes to my wife's brother for introducing me to the Kannada movie 'Daredevil Musthafa'. He told me that the movie was crowd funded. It made me interested, but not interested enough to buy tickets for the movie.

NOTE: I will avoid names of people in this blog post.

A couple of weeks later I called upon another relative. This is a person who is very knowledgeable about both Kannada literature and also Kannada movies. While talking, the topic went to movies based on books. We talked of Puttanna Kanagal, Nagara Haavu, Sharapanjara and other movies. The conversation veered to Kannada authors. My relative spoke of the literary giant Kuvempu and his equally talented son Dr. Poornachandra Tejaswi. "There is a movie called 'Daredevil Musthaf'a released based on Dr. Tejaswi's characters and stories. It is his fans who produced the movie. For the first time, there is a poster of an author in a movie theatre instead of the posters of film stars. This can happen only in the Kannada film industry." This was the second time that I had heard praise of the movie. That remark made me really curious about it. I decided that I had to watch it.

Soon, it was available for streaming. I told my wife about both options: the multiplex and streaming and asked her where we should watch it. "Let us watch it in the theatre! The Kannada film industry will benefit!", was her immediate response.

So, one weekend, she and I went to a multiplex to watch Daredevil Musthafa. The quick impression: the movie is "paisa vasool", to use a phrase from Mumbai life. https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/daredevil-musthafa-movie-review-this-adaptation-of-tejaswis-story-is-a-brilliant-achievement/article66866166.ece provides an idea of the story. https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/kannada/movie-reviews/daredevil-musthafa/movie-review/100319286.cms is another review.

At its heart, the movie is about differences and biases. A Muslim boy who calls himself Daredevil Musthafa comes and joins college in Abachuru, a small town that has seen communal disturbances during festivals . Ramanuja Iyengari is angry about his entry for personal reasons. So, he and his friends conspire to make things unpleasant for Musthafa. When the situation turns difficult for Musthafa, he is not one to take things lying down. The story could have been one of violence and confrontation, but instead becomes one of reconciliation and harmony. There is conflict brimming in the movie threatening to escalate, but it changes to harmony.

The conflict is primarily between Musthafa and Ramanuja who are antogonistic to each other, but there is a spectrum of people between them. A couple of Ramanuja's friends bring out points favouring Musthafa as time passes. A girl who fears Musthafa initially gradually learns that he too has feelings, including a sense of difference. A Physical Training teacher from the army considers religious differences and disturbances as "nonsense"!

Director Shashank Soghal's strength is in bringing small town Abachuru to life. The narrow lanes of the town, the students cycling to college, the police station that students fear, the worth of ₹10 and the college itself transport one to the '70s and to life in a small town in Karnataka. I see strong similarities with Shankar Nag's television series Malgudi Days. Just as R. K. Narayan and he created a small town Malgudi that has stayed in its readers' and viewers' memories, Dr. Poornachandra Tejaswi and Shashank Soghal have created a town that will linger with us.

The biases and prejudices that we carry are something that we may be unaware of. It is when we get to know circumstances, people and events better that we learn how wrong or biased we were. Daredevil Musthafa shows this in its initial and final minutes. Ramanuja is shown suppressing a memory in the beginning of the movie. In the end, he restores it.

I have two cribs about the movie: the climax is too much like the Hindi movie "Lagaan". Second, the movie is as much about Ramanuja Iyengari (if not more!) as it is about Daredevil Musthafa. I would have called it "Daredevil Musthafa matthu Ramanuja Iyengari" (Daredevil Musthafa and Ramanuja Iyengari) or something like that! ADDITIONAL REMARK WHICH WAS ADDED ON 05-AUG-2023: A friend has pointed out that the poster of the movie contains the text "Daredevil Musthafa & the syndicate of Ramanuja Iyengar" below the text "Daredevil Musthafa". I had not noticed this. This could have been publicised more.

Light humour is present in the movie throughout. The playfulness of Ramanuja and his friends is fun. The mischievous nature of the students is seen clearly. The interaction between the lecturers kept me entertained. The commentary during the climax is good fun to listen !

The acting is good, whether it is Shishir Baikady as Musthafa, Mandya Ramesh as the proud principal, Aditya Ashree as Ramanuja Iyengari or Nagabhushana as Sarpabhushana.

Finally, the movie is about trust and patience. Musthafa trusts that Ramanuja will play to win and plays accordingly. Ramanuja begins with anger but then changes over time, as he gets to know Musthafa better.

When the movie ended, we saw that members of the movie crew were present in the multiplex. We saw Aditya Ashree who is Ramanuja in the movie and Srivatsa who plays Seena. I shook hands and congratulated the director Shashank Soghal briefly as my wife and I left the multiplex. As we drank coffee in the mall, I asked her how she felt. She said that she enjoyed it and seeing the stars was an unexpected bonus! This was my feeling also! When my brother visited us, I watched the movie again with my mother, my wife and him! In today's polarised times, this is a movie to be watched.