Kantara - Film Review

 An awesome movie, and a must-see, if you haven't watched it. Saw it (with Hindi dubbing), in Indore.

It is rare for a Hindi film-goer to come across such a film. So rooted in local culture and mythology. Yes, this is also larger than life in parts, where the supernatural element enters the plot. But utterly believable traditions of rural life in India.

The plot never slackens, and the mother's character is really delightful-what a contrast from the Nirupa Roy-style mom of Hindi movies! The hero, his cronies and the villain are well-played. The forest officer character is also portrayed really well. Since I don't know the actors, can't name them.

It's a brilliant screenplay, edited to perfection. No major songs except in the background. The Wow sound that emanates from the Daivi -possessed form, is a great value-add, and makes that character/form memorable, apart from the make-up.

Difficult to describe, but it's an experience you don't want to miss. Rishabh Shetty, hats off!

Book Review- Ghachar Ghochar

This is a book translated from Kannada, written by Vivek Shanbhag. This is worth reading for a brilliant translation alone, the likes of which are hard to find, I am sure.

Its narrator is a businessman whose family gets lucky in a business, and gets rich overnight. Mainly, the story concentrates on the narrator's uncle (Chikkappa in Kannada), his father, mother and wife. Each character is developed from scratch, and their peculiarities and singularities come through nicely.

The impact that the sudden entry of money has on the formerly close-knit family is the theme, and the author effortlessly brings out the breaking of the ties, embellished by the break-up of his sister's marriage earlier (she comes back to live with her family). His own marriage also seems on a tightrope, given his wife's idealistic views and his family's pragmatic ones.

Indian literature must certainly have more gems hidden in different languages. Hope we unearth them. This one is beautifully produced in hard cover.

Some Good Love Stories on Film

There are a few good love stories I remember from the days when I watched films regularly. Of course, the obvious one is 'Love Story' (English) itself. Had a nice pair of lead actors who made it come alive.

Among Hindi films, "Ankhiyon Ke Jharonkhon Se" from Rajshri films is one that I remember. Sachin and Ranjita played the lead. Kabhi Kabhi was also a good one, a mature one for those days. Because the lovers do not marry each other, and do so without tantrums. Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon and the title song were classy.

Another Rajshri film that I liked a lot then was 'Paheli,' starring Namita Chandra and Satyajeet. This is about an urban guy and a rural girl, but very well told. It had some beautiful songs, one that went "Sona kare jhilmil jhilmil,.....vrishti pade tapur tupur, tapur tupur" being the best.

Some Rishi-Kapoor- Neetu Singh films like Khel Khel Mein were also very good. Rajnigandha, Chitchor presented love in a different, and endearing way. Chitchor also had some of the best semi-classical songs in Hindi films- Jab deep jale aana, and Tu jo mere sur mein sur milale for instance. Ravindra Jain was the music director.

Premikudu in Telugu starring Prabhu Deva and Naghma (caled Kathalan in Tamil, and Humse Hai Muqabla in Hindi I think), was pretty good too. But the love story was overshadowed by the dances of Prabhudeva (in particular, the Ole o, song with a Western Cowboy/saloon setting).

Among more recent ones, I also liked a Malayalam film, Swapnakoodu, that had some excellent songs. 'Karuppi nalugu' was one, and 'Ishtamallada' was another. This had Prithviraj and Meera Jasmine, and another pair in the lead.

Among Kannada films, Mungaru Male was a lovely love story, with an unexpected ending. Shot in the rain-drenched parts of Karnataka, pleasing on the eye, and with some great songs.

Pickles From Home- Book Review

An excellent collection of essays, compiled by an Outlook journo called Sugata Srinivasaraju. I happened to pick it up recently. It is edited by a Kannadiga, and some essays are his too. The reason I am going into this is because his explanation is a bit like Think Global, Act Local or to reverse its logic, one way to be global in outlook (pun unintended) is to understand the local immensely well.

Excellent essays on many things I wanted to know but was afraid to ask (not really, but sounds good). For instance, why Dharwad produces so many musical geniuses, like Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal and Bhimsen Joshi. Bhimsen's guru Sawai Gandharva is from Kundagol near Dharwad.

From the Mangalore pub attack (and poems about it by two Kannada women poets), to the Baghdad war, many topics are covered-intelligently. Like land acquisition and the imminent decline of agriculture as a way of life. Rarely have I enjoyed reading essays that are contemporary but deal with such varied Indian themes. Ramayana and its controversial withdrawal from the Delhi Univ. syllabus is the subject of one essay. No holds barred, is how I would describe it, on the whole.

Bendre and Kuvempu, the well-known Kannada poets are also talked about. So are some civil servants like Sharda Prasad who worked closely with Indira Gandhi. Shamlal, a former editor of Times of India, is the subject of another one. And V.K. Murthy, the cinematographer of all the Guru Dutt classics in black and white, such as Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool, and Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam.

Highly recommended!