FAMILY: THE FULCRUM OF LIFE

“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 widowed daughter's desire to remarry, which sets the stage for a captivating narrative of familial drama, conceived with the objective of social reform.

Director MR Vittal has created a timeless masterpiece. The acting is extraordinary. For once though, legendary Rajkumar's portrayal has been overshadowed by the splendid performance of R Nagendra Rao (as the patriarch). The background score of M Ranga Rao is memorable; lyricist RN Jayagopal is in his elements.

Little wonder than that the movie collected a slew of state awards.

Plagiarising George Bernard Shaw's “a happy family is but an earlier heaven”, I conclude: “Watching a terrific movie is next to heaven!”

My rating, a tad liberal (I admit): 9 on 10!