Chitra Varga

To paraphrase the Hungarian-American actor, singer and entrepreneur, Eva Gabor, love is a game that two can play and both can win. But, what if a third person enters that game? Would the win-lose equations change in any way? " ಪಲ್ಲವಿ ಅನುಪಲ್ಲವಿ " (Pallavi Anupallavi) is a 1983 Kannada-language movie that gained great critical acclaim. Belonging to the sub-genre of “ romantic drama ”, it deals with the theme of love and its impermanence, if not transience. The film attempts to connect the dots between love and romance, on one hand, and lust and attraction, on the other . It explores the impact of carnal indiscretions on not only marital separation, but also on casual friendships within the larger milieu of societal norms and behavioral constructs. Great plot to put on celluloid, for sure! The protagonist, Vijay (Anil Kapoor) pledges his love to Madhu (Kiran Vairale), a college student who wants to pursue studies abroad. However, he gets entangled in a close friendship with ...

“ Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit ,”  said the insightful English writer, Eli Khamarov. And, when ill-health conjoins and c ompounds poverty, it is perhaps like punishment for a life you didn't want. But, what if unsought publicity is added to the blend? Director P. Sheshadri takes on that theme for his Kannada movie, " ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ -1 " (“ December-1 ”) and delivers, as only he can. H e packs quite a punch in the film with his brand of satire– comprising of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, yet never short of down-to-earth realism. The flick is about a phyically-challenged mill worker, Madevappa, who ekes out a simple, bare-bones existence in Basupura, a tiny, remote village. H is wife, Devakka sells “ roti s (bread)” to supplement the family income. One fine day they get news that the Chief Minister of the State plans to stay overnight with them on December 1. A bolt from the blue for the rural folks, suddenly now in the limelight! The official machi...

Victor Hugo wrote in Les Mis é rables “There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.” Poignant words! The  multiple-award-winning Kannada movie, " ತಲ್ಲಣ " ( Thalla ṇ a , which translates to: “ Distraught ”) attempts to give a ' ring-side view' of the miseries the poor, the powerless and the under-privileged fringe endures. It showcases the systemic abuse, apathy, deceit and humiliation meted out to this stratum of society. On a different note, the flick also examines the functioning of human relationships within a community– amorphous and informal equations often trump where formal and crystallized definitions fail . The film features the travails of Jaya, a domestic help, whose young daughter, Sushma goes missing. Jaya practically runs pillar-to-post and moves heaven-and-earth in her search with little help from the police authorities, callous and negligent as often. Sadananda, the good Samaritan in whose house...

“ In time of test, family is best ”, so a Burmese proverb goes. It is the “family", or rather, “extended family” that provides the backdrop for the awards-sweeping 1968 Kannada flick, " ಹಣ್ಣೆಲೆ ಚಿಗುರಿದಾಗ " ( Hannele Chiguridaga , which translates to: “ When (an) old leaf springs forth ”). The movie, a ' cult classic ', deals with widow marriage and women emancipation– both themes are socially relevant even today. And boy, what a feast of a feature film, it is! In short, the experience was: “ethereal”, nay, “sublimely ethereal”! The black-and-white film, released in 1968, is based on a novel penned by Triveni– the pseudonym of Anasuya Shankar, a prolific writer who authored about twenty novels in her short life of just 35 years– and impeccably scripted by RN Jayagopal, both veritable doyens of the Kannada literary landscape. An orthodox patriarch gets agitated about one of his sons' romance with a threatre actress. He disapproves too of his w...

The Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist, George Bernard Shaw had apparently said: “ First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity .”  Perhaps he got it wrong, for some may argue it is all about “ a little curiosity and a lot of foolishness ”. " ಗಂಟುಮೂಟೆ " (Gantumoote - meaning “Baggage” ), a critically acclaimed and award-winning Kannada film, explores the theme of innocent “puppy love” and its ramifications. Set in the last decade of the previous millennium, the movie boldly, yet subtly deals with the relationships of a teenaged high school student, Meera, who finds a resemblance between Salman Khan and Madhu, her classmate. That “basal attraction” leads to romantic involvement between the two. But wait! It is no eye-candy, romance, but a tale of hormonal rush and pubescent crush at school– replete with an amalgam of coy glances, awkward kisses, sheepish guilt, boorish bullies and much more...exam blues and burning of midn...

An honest-to-goodness cop needs dough badly; a bad-ass conman is equally desperate for money. The two cross paths during demonetisation. And, the newfound brothers-in-arms hatch a plot to pull off the perfect caper, targeting a bunch of zany characters. Again and again... only till the foolproof plan begins to backfire. That's the plot for the Kannada film: " ಮಾಯಾಬಜಾರ್  2016 (Mayabazaar 2016)".  Director and scriptwriter Radhakrishna Reddy has created magic in his debut venture with a super “thrills-'n-laughs” combo! He takes you on a topsy-turvy ride full of twists and turns. The film is sure to split your sides; that too, with very little cheap comedy of the slapstick kind! The acting is sound all around. Achyuth Kumar and Raj B Shetty are in their elements; the comic delivery is flawless. Prakash Rai, as a corrupt, crooked cop, fits the bill to a T; but, he perhaps could have brought down the theatrics a notch or two. Sadhu Kokila adds to the laughter...

The great Greek philosopher and polymath, Aristotle had observed: “ All human actions have one or more of these SEVEN causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.” The list is interesting and insightful...so too the number SEVEN therein. Days (in a week), notes (to the diatonic scale), colors (of the rainbow), maharishi s, deadly sins, holy steps (to consecrating a Hindu marriage), subtle energies...myriad “lists of seven” exist in every culture. Numeral SEVEN– the biblical number of physical and spiritual completeness and perfection– surely dominates other numerals in symbolism. Little doubt then that it signifies good fortune too! Perhaps numerological considerations played, sub-consciously or otherwise, on the minds of Rishab Shetty, the producer of the Kannada movie “ಕಥಾ ಸಂಗಮ (Katha Sangama – Confluence of Stories)”, for he put SEVEN disparate flicks into the cauldron of this “omnibus film”.The film, hold your breath, features in all 7 direc...

“ We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors— we borrow it from our children ”, despite its triteness, is a poignant and profound expression that all of mankind must remember. The attritional interplay between economic development and environmental protection serves as a canvas for “ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಜೀವ” " ( Bettada Jeeva – Life of the Hill), a Nati onal Award-winning Kannada film. The movie– set in 1942 when the independence movement was at its zenith– is based on Jnanpith Awardee, Dr. Shivaram Karanth's novel by the same name. The plot revolves around the protagonist, Shivaramu, a young freedom fighter on the run, who is lost in the hilly terrain and dense jungle of the Western ghats. Strangers lead Shivaramu to Kelabailu, a small hamlet where he takes refuge in the house of an old man, Gopalaiah. Overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality of his hosts and in deference to their insistence, Shivaramu extends his stay at Kelabailu– an outpost of civilisation untouched by ...

India is a country of stark contrasts and contradictions– as is evident from the disparity between the have's and have-not's. That is the topical exploration film-maker P. Sheshadri ventures out on in his National Award-winning movie: Beru  (' ಬೇರು' meaning ' root'). He pits the weak 'n frail of society against the stout 'n strong in our “system” to produce this “helpless versus heartless” flick! The result: A heady cocktail of creative genius ! The film uses satire as a potent weapon to portray the interplay of the powerless against the powerful. The ridicule is subtle , not aggressive; sarcasm nuanced , not abrasive. A delicate and perfect balance is struck between irony and humour! Sheshadri features an exquisite blend of exaggeration and juxtaposition to parody the inefficiencies and inadequacies of our government. He depicts its flaws– corruption and indifference not excepted– and exposes the apathetic abuse of the law-abiding fringe... b...

Will Durant, an American writer, historian and philosopher, said: “ Family is the nucleus of civilization ”. Well...that is exactly what Harivu (' ಹರಿವು ' meaning 'flow')– an offbeat, “national-award-winning” Kannada film– explores. Specifically, the flick examines deeply, and splendidly too, the spectrum of emotions that underpin “father-son” relationships. It weaves myriad strands of joy and sorrow; of love and care; and of hope and dreams to portray the tapestry of family life on the silver screen. The plot, based on Dr. Asha Benakappa's report of a true story, threads together the lives of two strangers on a road journey– one, a poor farmer who's in Bengaluru for the treatment of his son suffering from a serious illness; the other, a young media professional whose father is hospitalised with a life-threatening condition. Manso Re, the director, takes you on a melancholic roller-coaster ride, in which poverty is pitted against human dignity; and,...