It’s been quite some time since there has been a good Kannada movie which covered so many aspects in a very straightforward fashion. There were many sensitive issues covered which involved police, rival gang members and also to project a delicate romantic theme in between. To me all good ingredients together doesn’t make a good movie, but right ingredients in right quantity makes a good movie better and a better one excellent.
First the Positives of the movie -
*Direction by Chaitanya is good and justifies the effort by all. Good cinematography capturing 1980’s reminds me of my childhood days or probably the memories what “Pallavi Anupallavi” brings. To an extent I would include “Pusphak Vimana” in the list as beauty of Bangalore in late 80’s is clearly a visual treat to any old Bangalorean. Golden sunlight breaking the fog and brightening the yellow, orange and lavender flowers on thousands of trees is a scene typical to Bangalore. I always loved Bangalore the way it was in 80’s and wish I could go back. When the pre release clippings were shown on TV I swore to my better half that this movie is definitely going to be a hit as lovely cinematography by H.C.Venu was visible through short clips which oozed quality. I wasn’t disappointed when I watched the movie, In short it exceeded expectations.
Now to the characters –
Chetan fits in good as a young and hot blooded youth waiting to vent steam but can improve on emotions. I felt the he could’ve done better in key scenes esp. when he remembers his girlfriend in the farm house and in the end when his father visits him Chetan fails on few counts to emote well. Heroine doesn’t matter here much as there is hardly any importance in the plot, but I’m glad she’s not any leftover from Kashinath’s movie. A decent new and fresh face. Sharat Lohitashva dons the role of Kotwal Ramachandra who has actually stole the show and Ashish aptly suits the role of Jayaraj. Girish Karnad has acted as a strict father in many movies so the very glimpse of him and you would have guessed his role right. Kudos to efforts taken to shape the script.
I have read Agni’s first edition and was shocked to see there was huge difference compared against cheap language used by similar tabloids, So I had faith in Sreedhar that he would deliver facts in a clear and professional manner without adding “’Masala’’. Girish Karnad is a well acclaimed artist and together with Sreedhar, Chaitanya, Venu they have made their maiden team effort a tremendous hit. Ilayaraja has always been churning melodies and two songs is all what is required for this movie.
Glad they didn’t offer a chance to score music in favor of Sadhu Kokila or Guru Kiran. Not withstanding Guru Kiran’s rap sandwiched between cresendo’s left me dazed the first time I heard somewhere.
If there was a score from any of the above mentioned there would have definitely been a song shot on streets during midnight close to road side “Chitranna stalls”. Dons flashing macchu’s, longu’s, razors, corroded cycle chains etc and dancing to glory. Cabaret artist in forefront would wiggle her waist to cheap https://lyrics. This is the present trend in all rowdism theme based movies and very usual. Thanks to the team for being diffrent and diffrence here is being natural.*
Now to the best scenes -*
Kotwal’s Entry : Riding a blue RD350 as he did during his days followed by host of gang members behind him is truly a good shot displaying his audacity.
Jayaraj’s release : Jayaraj waving to crowd after release with loads of gold on hand (esp. look for big finger ring with huge red stone, it looks awesome)
Bar scene : Chetan shouts, abuses the neighboring table drunkards to shut up and the way Sardar comes to his rescue to get him out of the mess is gripping and fluid.
Attempt to assassinate Jayaraj : The whole sequence is good, look for good background score here. I really liked the way Jayaraj seeks blessings from Lord Venkateswara before he departs to Hotel Kanishka to meet Oil Kumar. I don’t know whether this style of Jayaraj seeking blessing is fictitious or Jayaraj really did the same, but I liked the way it is shown on screen.
Chetan meets Jayaraj again : A very tense moment but handled very well. Ashish has filled this part with lot of weight to character.
All in all most scenes where Kotwal or Jayaraj featured are loaded with ego and powerful dialogues. Sardar was very natural and one of best characters in movie. There is clean flow and some might argue that there are other scenes which are good as well, but these are the ones which immediately comes to my mind. There are couple of scenes which are better but it reveals the plot, so see for yourself.
*What could have been better –
*Obviously the gang members like Bachchan and few other sported Y2K long dyed hair do’s(read John Abraham’s hair style) which is a craze now and was not really known in 80’s. Clothes worn by Sridhar could have had a more bent towards the 80’s era as it looked like a fresh shopping bunch from Shoppers Stop or Lifestyle. Where did Hara jeans and tight Tee Shirts of 80’s go?.
Few cars had tint glass windows in movie which was non existent then.
Furniture in Chetan’s house did look a bit too uncomfortably modern.
Scene involving a small boy abusing people on road was not required at all and it irritated me a bit as this one is a major put off. I don’t know if a boy mischievous to this magnitude existed but it was a total waste of time. But this scene will serve as good smoke break for me when I plan to watch for a second time. Shiraz the character who sends Chetan and co to Kotwal’s rescue looked like ‘Jogi’ to me. Overall a bit more attention to detail would have bettered the efforts. First those rowdies with long dyed hair have to go, next artistes have to be chosen with resemblance to looks as well as behavior as this helps you a lot to connect to real characters.
The artistes who looked strikingly real and connected to real characters were Ashish(Jayaraj) and Sharath(Kotwal). Atul has done a good job. All in all every Kannadiga should take time off and watch this movie as this is an opportunity to watch a classic which are rarely made nowadays. Chaitanya and Sreedhar give us more.