HUMAN APATHY IS THE WORST OF EVILS

It is often said that government is at its worst when it shows apathy and indifference towards citizens and their problems. With babus and bureaucracy firmly ensconced in place, incompetence too is an added bane in India.

“ತಬರನ ಕಥೆ" ('Tabarana Kathe', which translates to: 'Tabara's Tale') is a 1987 Kannada film that critics went into ecstasies over. The social drama, based on renowned writer, Poornachandra Tejaswi's short story of the same name, is a sad indictment of governance. Little wonder then that it won awards aplenty!

The central character of the movie, Tabara (Charuhasan), a peon in the local municipal office of pre-independence India, appears to have become insane. His diabetic wife, Appi (Nalini Murthy) has a wound on her foot, which needs surgical intervention. But the childless couple is too poor to afford the medical expenses. So Tabara, a retiree, hopes to dip into his pension funds.

That sets in motion for Tabara a saga of servility to the local administrators and struggle for funds that are rightfully his. There is red-tapism to contend with and a zillion questions about Tabara's eligibility that officials pose. Despondently he even contemplates getting the local butcher to chop off his wife's foot.

Does Tabara receive his pension finally?

Director and screenwriter, maestro Girish Kasaravalli has crafted a veritable masterpiece for the silver screen. He is a torchbearer of cinema that portrays contemporary issues plaguing society; he handles the medium without diluting it with stereotypes or glossing over realities. His sense of drama is impeccable; the message is invariably thought-provoking!

In this flick, Girish hits the bullseye with his portrayal of lacunae in the governance apparatus, wherein public servants act like heads of private fiefdoms– in the result, the hapless common man is left frothing at the mouth and wringing hands! Indeed, you wonder if freedom from the British resulted in deterioration of governance standards detrimentally to the common man's interests.

Charuhasan's acting is EXEMPLARY. The rest of the cast supports him ably. L Vaidyanathan's music is super; so too, MN Swamy's editing. Wish the camerawork had been just that tiny bit better.

My rating of this classic is: 9.5 on 10!